LOUISIANA STUDENT FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE COMMISSION
OFFICE OF STUDENT FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE
Tuition Opportunity Program for Students (TOPS) Bulletin
TOPS BULLETIN NUMBER: T2001- 04
DATE ISSUED: March 14, 2001
EFFECTIVE DATE: As Indicated
DISTRIBUTION:

Louisiana High School Principals and Counselors, City and Parish School Board Presidents, School Board Superintendents, College and University, Technical College and LAICU Chancellors, Financial Aid Offices, Business Offices, Registrars and Auditors, System Governance, Board of Regents, Department of Education, Louisiana Officials, Louisiana Legislators, and Commission Members
TOPIC: TOPS PROCESSING DATES AND ASSOCIATED EVENTS

To assure that your Scholarship and Grant Policy and Procedure Manual remains current, please record this document on your TOPS Bulletin index and retain it with your manual.

MARCH 9, 2001
 Last Day to Web Certify 2000 High School Graduates on LOSFA Web Site: http://www.osfa.state.la.us. The site is presently inactive and will remain so until May 08, 2001.
MARCH 16, 2001
 Letter forwarded to high schools soliciting their participation in electronically certifying 2001 High School Graduates of Academic Year 2000-2001 on the Web.
APRIL 7, 2001
 ACT National Test and DEADLINE for 2001 High School Grads to achieve TOPS qualifying ACT score.
APRIL 13, 2001
 Refunds due LOSFA for all outstanding overpayments.
APRIL 15, 2001
 Last Day for receipt of Free Applications of Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) by Federal processor for PRIORITY PROCESSING.
APRIL 20, 2001
 Last Day for institutions to return Eligible Part Time listing described in TOPS Bulletin T2001-03 dated March 12, 2001.
APRIL 20, 2001
 DEADLINE for High School Requests to participate in electronic certification of TOPS applicants via the Web.
MAY 4, 2001
 Final TOPS MASTER ROSTER processed for academic year 2000-2001. 1S2001, 2S2001, 1T2001, 2T2001 and 3T2001 Payment Requests will continue to be accepted in both electronic and manual form until June 27, 2001.
MAY 5, 2001
 SAT national test date. If used as ACT equivalent, result is award reduction by 1 semester.
MAY 7, 2001
 Final TOPS MASTER ROSTER for 2000-2001 is available for electronic retrieval.
MAY 8, 2001
 1st Mailing of the High School Certification Forms to schools that will manually certify their graduates of 2000-2001. Further mailings will be made May 15, 22, and 29, and June 5 as additional applications are received.
MAY 8, 2001
 Electronic High School Certifications for Gradates of Academic Year 2001 are available to high school counselors at http://www.osfa.state.la.us.
MAY 14, 2001
 Initial TOPS Master Roster for Award Year 2001-2002 available for electronic retrieval.
MAY 14, 2001
 Files open to accept 2S2001 and 3T2001 TOPS Grade Reports electronically.
MAY 18, 2001
 Initial Renewal Processing for Award Year 2001-2002.
MAY 21, 2001
 First date for students to check 2001-2002 TOPS eligibility at http://www.osfa.state.la.us
JUNE 2, 2001
 1st TOPS Initial Eligibility processing date.
JUNE 27, 2001
 Final date for electronic submission of 1S2001, 2S2001, 1T2001, 2T2001 and 3T2001 TOPS Payment Requests. All subsequent billings for these terms accepted as Manual Payment Requests only.
JUNE 30, 2001
 Deadline for 2000-2001 Academic Year High School Graduates to achieve TOPS Eligible ACT or SAT score with 1 semester penalty.
JULY 2, 2001
 DEADLINE for receipt of 2001-2002 FAFSA=s by Federal processor to qualify for full award.
JULY 26, 2001
 Final date for electronic submission of 3S2001 and 4T2001 TOPS Payment Requests and refunds for 3S2001, 4T2001 plus any refunds not previously submitted.
AUGUST 1, 2001
 Resumption of forwarding TOPS High School Certification Forms on a weekly as needed basis.
AUGUST 3, 2001
 Final date for LOSFA receipt of Award Year 2000-2001 Payment Requests.
AUGUST 31, 2001
 DEADLINE for receipt of 2001-2002 FAFSA=s by Federal processor with one semester penalty.
SEPTEMBER 30, 2001
 Final date for electronic submission of 2001 and TOPS GRADE Reports, including Exchange Students, Summer Away students, and Corrected TOPS Grade Reports.
OCTOBER 30, 2001
 DEADLINE for receipt of 2001 - 2002 FAFSA's by Federal processor WITH TWO SEMESTER PENALTY.

Questions concerning Initial Eligibility Processing should be directed to Susan Bohall, TOPS Application Program Coordinator, sbohall@osfa.state.la.us ; Questions concerning Billing, Continuing Students and the Master Roster should be directed to John Bell, TOPS Awards Program Coordinator, jbell@osfa.state.la.us.