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.

The Louisiana Student Financial Assistance Commission has revised its Scholarship and Grant program rules to make home study requirements in the TOPS rules consistent with the TOPS statute, delete the provision requiring selective service registration, clarify the eligibility requirements of the Rockefeller State Wildlife Scholarship and clarify the procedure for revising the core curricula for TOPS.

The full compilation of TOPS rules with all changes incorporated to date may be viewed on our website at http://www.osfa.state.la.us. The revisions follow:

Chapter 7. Tuition Opportunity Program for Students (TOPS) Opportunity, Performance, and Honors Awards
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§703. Establishing Eligibility

A. ...

1. Be a U. S. citizen, provided however, that a student who is not a citizen of the United States but who is eligible to apply for such citizenship shall be deemed to satisfy the citizenship requirement, if within sixty (60) days after the date the student attains the age of majority, the student applies to become a citizen of the United States and obtains such citizenship within one year after the date of the application for citizenship. Those students who are eligible for U. S. citizenship and who otherwise qualify for a TOPS award, will continue to satisfy the citizenship requirements for a TOPS award for one year after the date of the student's application for citizenship, at which time, if the student has not provided proof of U.S. citizenship to the Office of Student Financial Assistance, the student's TOPS award will be suspended until such time as proof of citizenship is provided.

A.2. - A.5.c. ...

d. i. successfully complete at the twelfth grade level a home study program approved by BESE; or

ii. if ever was enrolled in a Louisiana public or nonpublic school approved by BESE, successfully completed at least the eleventh and twelfth grade levels of a home study program approved by BESE; and

iii. if having previously attended a Louisiana public high school, a Louisiana nonpublic high school, or an approved non-Louisiana high school, has provided LASFAC with certification by the previously attended high school that said student was in good standing at the time the student last attended such school; and

A.6. - G.2.

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Chapter 8. TOPS-TECH Award
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§803. Establishing Eligibility

A. ...

1. Be a U. S. citizen, provided however, that a student who is not a citizen of the United States but who is eligible to apply for such citizenship shall be deemed to satisfy the citizenship requirement, if within sixty (60) days after the date the student attains the age of majority, the student applies to become a citizen of the United States and obtains such citizenship within one year after the date of the application for citizenship. Those students who are eligible for U. S. citizenship and who otherwise qualify for a TOPS award, will continue to satisfy the citizenship requirements for a TOPS award for one year after the date of the student's application for citizenship, at which time, if the student has not provided proof of U.S. citizenship to the Office of Student Financial Assistance, the student's TOPS award will be suspended until such time as proof of citizenship is provided.

A.2. - 11. ...

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Chapter 9. TOPS-Teacher Award
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§903. Establishing Eligibility

A. ...

1. Be a U. S. citizen, provided however, that a student who is not a citizen of the United States but who is eligible to apply for such citizenship shall be deemed to satisfy the citizenship requirement, if within sixty (60) days after the date the student attains the age of majority, the student applies to become a citizen of the United States and obtains such citizenship within one year after the date of the application for citizenship. Those students who are eligible for U. S. citizenship and who otherwise qualify for a TOPS award, will continue to satisfy the citizenship requirements for a TOPS award for one year after the date of the student's application for citizenship, at which time, if the student has not provided proof of U.S. citizenship to the Office of Student Financial Assistance, the student's TOPS award will be suspended until such time as proof of citizenship is provided.

A.2. - 9. ...

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Chapter 11. Rockefeller State Wildlife Scholarship
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§1103. Establishing Eligibility

To establish eligibility, the student applicant must meet all of the following criteria:

1. be a U.S. citizen or national or eligible noncitizen; and

2. ...

3. submit the completed Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) or the Renewal FAFSA, whichever is applicable to the student, by final deadline set forth in §503.B.; and

4. - 9.b. ...

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Chapter 21. Miscellaneous Provisions and Exceptions
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§2113. Revision of the Core Curricula

LASFAC shall continually consult with BESE and the Louisiana Board of Regents to evaluate the adequacy of the TOPS core curricula to prepare students for postsecondary studies. Upon receipt of a written recommendation to change the core curriculum from BESE or the Louisiana Board of Regents, and to which the other board has concurred, LASFAC shall seek legislative amendment to effect the recommendation.

LASFAC is authorized by law to determine a high school level course to be equivalent to a course described in the core curricula or to authorize the name change of a core curricula course. Prior to initiating rule making to authorize a name change, LASFAC must seek the recommendation of BESE and the Louisiana Board of Regents. The determination of a course as equivalent to a course included in the definition of core curriculum shall be limited to those courses identified in the Secondary Programs of Study contained in the Louisiana Handbook for School Administrators (LDE Bulletin 741). Only those recommendations for a name change or for the designation of an equivalent course which have been submitted by a local school board or other equivalent education agency for private schools will be considered by LASFAC and such recommendations shall be submitted directly to the Office of Student Financial Assistance, Attention: Scholarship and Grant Division.

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Chapter 23. Tuition Payment Program for Medical School Students
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§2303. Establishing Eligibility

A. ...

a. be a U.S. Citizen; and

A. 2. - 9. ...