LOUISIANA STUDENT FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE COMMISSION
OFFICE OF STUDENT FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE
Tuition Opportunity Program for Students (TOPS) Bulletin
TOPS BULLETIN NUMBER: T2002-18
DATE ISSUED: December 2, 2002
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:

Scholarship and Grant Program Revisions Concerning the Required FAFSA Version, Filing Deadline and TOPS Tech Clarification

To assure that your Scholarship and Grant Program Rules remain current, please record this document on your TOPS Bulletin index and retain it with your manual.

The Louisiana Student Financial Assistance Commission has revised the Scholarship and Grant Program Rules at its November 20, 2002 meeting to provide for the version of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) to be filed by students graduating from high school during or after the 2001-2002 Academic Year (High School), to fix the deadline for filing the FAFSA for those applicants and to clarify that TOPS Tech applicants who demonstrate they are not eligible for federal grant aid may file the alternate application.

The full compilation of the TOPS rules with all changes incorporated to date may be viewed on our web site at www.osfa.state.la.us. The revisions, with inserted language underlined and stricken language struck out, follow:

Title 28

EDUCATION

Part VI. Student Financial Assistance—Higher

Education Scholarship and Grant Programs

...

Chapter 5. Application; Application Deadlines and Proof of Compliance

§501. Application

A. Initial Application

1. Except as provided in Subparagraph A.2 below, all new applicants for Louisiana scholarship and grant programs must apply for federal aid by completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) for the academic year following the year the student graduated from high school. For example, if the student will graduate from high school in school year 2000-2001, submit the 2001-2002 version of the FAFSA.


2. All new applicants for TOPS Opportunity, Performance, Honors and TOPS Tech Awards who graduate from high school during or after the 2001-2002 Academic Year (High School) must apply for federal aid by completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) for the Academic Year (College) the applicant will be a First Time-Full Time Student. For example, if the applicant will graduate from high school in the 2002-2003 Academic Year (High School) and intends to enroll as a First Time-Full Time Student in the fall semester of 2004, he must submit the 2004-2005 version of the FAFSA.

a. All applicants for TOPS Opportunity, Performance and Honors awards and TOPS Tech awards (except those students who can demonstrate that they do not qualify for federal grant aid because of their family's financial condition) must complete all applicable sections of the initial FAFSA.
b. Applicants for TOPS Opportunity, Performance and Honors awards and TOPS Tech awards who can demonstrate that they do not qualify for federal grant aid because of their family's financial condition must complete all applicable sections of the initial FAFSA except those sections related to the income and assets of the applicant and the applicant's parents.
c. In the event of a budgetary shortfall, applicants for TOPS Opportunity, Performance and Honors awards and TOPS Tech awards who do not complete all sections of the FAFSA will be the first denied a TOPS award.

B. - C. ...

...

§503. Application Deadlines

A. - A.4. ...

B. Final Deadline for Full Award

1. a. Except as provided in Subparagraph B.1.b below, in order to receive the full benefits of a TOPS award as provided in §701.E, the final deadline for receipt of a student's initial FAFSA application is July 1st of the Academic Year (High School) in which a student graduates. For example, for a student graduating in the 2000-2001 Academic Year (High School), the student must submit the initial FAFSA in time for it to be received by the federal processor by July 1, 2001.
b. For applicants graduating from high school during or after the 2001-2002 Academic Year (High School), in order to receive the full benefits of a TOPS award as provided in §701.E, the final deadline for receipt of a student's initial FAFSA application is the July 1st immediately preceding the Academic Year (College) in which the applicant will be a First Time-Full Time Student.
c. Examples:

i. If an applicant graduates in the 2002-2003 Academic Year (High School) and will be a First Time-Full Time student in the fall semester of 2003, the applicant must submit the initial FAFSA in time for it to be received by the federal processor by July 1, (2003).
ii. If an applicant graduates in the 2002-2003 Academic Year (High School) and will be a First Time-Full Time student in the fall semester of 2004, the applicant must submit the initial FAFSA in time for it to be received by the federal processor by July 1, (2004).

d. Students must also apply in time to meet the First Time Freshman enrollment deadlines specified in §703.A.4 (TOPS Opportunity, Performance and Honors) and §803.A.4 (TOPS Tech).

B.2. - E. ...

...

Chapter 8. TOPS-TECH Award

§803. Establishing Eligibility

A. - A.2. ...

3. submit the completed initial Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) or renewal FAFSA in accordance with §501 by the applicable state aid deadline in accordance with the requirements of §503; and

A.4. - A.10. ...

...