LOUISIANA STUDENT FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE COMMISSION
OFFICE OF STUDENT FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE
Tuition Opportunity Program for Students (TOPS) Bulletin
TOPS BULLETIN NUMBER: T2002-1 - Revised
DATE ISSUED: February 15, 2002 - Revised
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:

2002-2003 TOPS PROCESSING CALENDAR FOR SECONDARY AND POSTSECONDARY INSTITUTIONS

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.

An error was discovered in Bulletin T2002-01, 2002-2003 TOPS Processing Calendar for Secondary and Postsecondary Institutions, originally dated February 5, 2002. We have revised the bulletin, as follows. Please replace the original with this revised edition.

MARCH 1, 2002 Letter forwarded to high schools soliciting their participation in electronic certification of 2002 High School Graduates on the Web.
APRIL 12, 2002 Last Day to Web Certify 2001 High School Graduates on LOSFA Web Site: www.osfa.state.la.us.
APRIL 12, 2002 Postsecondary institution refunds due LOSFA for all 2001-02 outstanding overpayments.
APRIL 12, 2002 DEADLINE for receipt of High School Requests to participate in electronic certification of TOPS applicants via the Web.
MAY 1, 2002 Last Day for receipt of Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) by Federal processor for PRIORITY PROCESSING.
MAY 2, 2002 Final TOPS MASTER ROSTER processed for academic year 2001-2002. (Payment Requests will continue to be accepted in both electronic and manual form until June 27, 2002.)
MAY 3, 2002 Final TOPS MASTER ROSTER for 2001-2002 is available for electronic retrieval.
MAY 6, 2002 1st Mailing of the High School Certification Forms to schools that will manually certify their graduates of 2001-2002, and weekly thereafter through May. Certification processing will not be interrupted for High Schools with Web access during June and July.
MAY 6, 2002 Electronic High School Certifications for Gradates of Academic Year 2002 are available to high school counselors at www.osfa.state.la.us. (Check on TOPS Portal)
MAY 10, 2002 1st TOPS Master Roster for Award Year 2002-2003 (FY-2003) available for electronic retrieval. (Status Code: Pending Renewal)
MAY 13, 2002 Files open to accept 2S2002 and 3T2002 TOPS Grade Reports electronically.
MAY 16, 2002 1st Renewal Processing for Award Year 2002-2003.
MAY 16, 2002 1st TOPS Initial Eligibility processing date contingent upon receipt of April ACT TEST Data*
MAY 20, 2002 First date for students to check 2002-2003 TOPS eligibility at www.osfa.state.la.us. (Click on TOPS Portal)
MAY 30, 2002 Deadline for 2002-2003 graduates to have achieved TOPS eligible ACT or SAT score without penalty
JUNE 27, 2002 Final date for electronic submission of 1S2002, 2S2002, 1T2002, 2T2002 and 3T2002 TOPS Payment Requests. All subsequent billings for these terms accepted as Manual Payment Requests only.
JUNE 30, 2002 Deadline for 2002 High School Graduates to have achieved TOPS Eligible ACT or SAT score with 1 semester penalty.
JULY 1, 2002 DEADLINE for receipt of 2002-2003 FAFSA's by Federal processor to qualify for full award.
JULY 15, 2002 Final Date for Submission of Manual Payment Requests for 1S2002, 2S2002, 1T2002, 2T2002 and 3T2002 and refunds for 3S2002, 4T2002 plus any refunds not previously submitted.
JULY 25, 2002 Final date for electronic submission of 3S2002 and 4T2002 TOPS Payment Requests.
AUGUST 1, 2002 Resumption of forwarding paper TOPS High School Certification Forms on a weekly as needed basis. This does not pertain to schools with WEB access. Web schools should continue to monitor web site for additional students through December.
AUGUST 30, 2002 DEADLINE for receipt of 2002-2003 FAFSA by Federal processor with one semester penalty.
OCTOBER 3, 2002 Final date for electronic submission (including the web portal) of TOPS 2002 GRADE Reports, including Exchange Students, Summer Away students, and Corrected TOPS Grade Reports.
OCTOBER 29, 2002 DEADLINE for receipt of 2002-2003 FAFSA by Federal processor WITH TWO SEMESTER PENALTY.

*ACT, INC test data is received via Electronic Tape; therefore an exact date of receipt of data by LOSFA cannot be specified.

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.