Latest news with #TaylorOpportunityProgramforStudents
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Louisiana students might qualify for TOPS with conservative-backed ACT alternative
Rep. Raymond Crews. (LAI photo) Louisiana high school students might soon be able to take a conservative alternative to the ACT exam to qualify for the state's popular college scholarship program. State lawmakers quietly approved an amendment to a bill Monday that would make results from the Classical Learning Test acceptable to qualify for the Taylor Opportunity Program for Students, which provides tuition assistance for qualifying Louisiana students. Conservative educators are the chief proponents of the Classical Learning Test, which evaluates students on math, writing and grammar with an emphasis on classic literature and historic documents. Its supporters frequently tout that the exam emphasizes texts that 'shaped Western culture.' The test has been embraced by conservative lawmakers in Oklahoma, Florida and Arkansas. and has the support of the conservative Cato Institution and Heritage Foundation. Oklahoma lawmakers extensively debated embracing the test to qualify for their version of TOPS, with Democrats arguing it doesn't meet the same academic rigor and anti-cheating measures as the ACT. In Louisiana, only Louisiana Christian University and the University of New Orleans Honors College accept the test for admissions, according to the CLT website. The change to TOPS acceptance standard was made through an amendment to House Bill 77 by Rep. Chris Turner, R-Ruston, which creates a new level of TOPS awards for high-achieving students. There was no debate on the amendment and it passed without objection. The House approved Turner's bill in a 91-4 vote. Rep. Raymond Crews, R-Bossier City, sponsored the amendment. Crews said Jeremy Tate, founder and CEO of Classical Learning Initiatives, which created and administers the test, asked him to do so. Crews said he had not heard of the Classical Learning Test before Tate brought it to him, and he did not know that Tate was associated with the test. Turner's bill was also amended on the House floor to allow students who leave the state for their undergraduate education to use their TOPS awards if they return to Louisiana to attend medical school. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Major tweaks to TOPS scholarships in Louisiana scrapped due to cost
The University of Louisiana Monroe library, photographed from Northeast Drive. (Greg LaRose/Louisiana Illuminator) Louisiana lawmakers have advanced a new TOPS award for high-performing students, scrapping language from an original proposal that would have dramatically changed the popular scholarship program. House Bill 77 by Rep. Chris Turner, R-Ruston, was amended Tuesday in the House Committee on Appropriations because it would have increased state spending nearly $50 million annually at a time when lawmakers are working under budget constraints. In its current state, Turner said his proposal comes with a $12 million cost that can be covered with unused TOPS awards. Originally, Turner's bill would have created a flat rate for each level of TOPS award rather than a unique allotment for each school. The new rate would have meant students at LSU, its two medical schools and the University of New Orleans would pay more out of pocket, while students at other Louisiana schools would pay less. The provisions drew the criticism of Phyllis Taylor, whose late husband Patrick F. Taylor was responsible for the creation of the Taylor Opportunity Program for Students, a merit-based scholarship program for Louisiana students who attend in-state schools. With the new amendments, Turner's bill creates the TOPS Excellence award, which is available to any student with a 3.5 grade point average and a score of 31 or higher on the ACT. The scholarship will equal tuition and fees at the public university the student chooses or $12,000, whichever is less. The new Excellence award would go to students who enroll in college starting in the upcoming fall semester or later. Turner added amendments to his bill that incorporate language from House Bill 70 by Rep. Ken Brass, D-Vacherie. It would expand the number of students eligible for the TOPS Tech award, which covers up to two years of study in a skill or occupational training program. The bill will next be debated on the House floor. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
18-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
TOPS tweaks trouble cofounder Taylor: ‘Let's not throw the baby out with the bath water'
LSU's Memorial Tower rises above the trees on Monday, March 20, 2023, on Tower Drive in Baton Rouge, La. (Matthew Perschall / Louisiana Illuminator) It had been many years since Phyllis Taylor, widow to the creator of the TOPS program, had sat behind the presentation desk of the Louisiana House Education Committee. Her late husband, Patrick F. Taylor, a wealthy oilman who had served for many years on the LSU Board of Supervisors, is perhaps best remembered for creating the program that's now known as the Taylor Opportunity Program for Students. The program began with 183 students that Taylor personally paid tuition for. After this pilot's success, Taylor convinced the legislature to begin a state-financed version, which inspired similar programs in numerous other states. Started in 1989, it pays a significant chunk of tuition costs for qualified Louisiana students who attend college at state colleges and universities. Hundreds of thousands of students have paid for college with TOPS, many who would have otherwise been unable to afford an education. Every year, lawmakers debate tweaks to TOPS, some minor, some major. But Phyllis Taylor, a soft-spoken octogenarian philanthropist and one of the richest people in Louisiana, has refrained from weighing in — until this week. What piqued Taylor's interest was House Bill 77 by Rep. Chris Turner, R-Ruston. It would create a flat rate for each TOPS award amount, rather than having a unique allotment for each school. The new rate would mean students at LSU, LSU's two medical schools and the University of New Orleans would be paying more out of pocket, while students at other Louisiana schools would pay less. The bill would also create a higher award amount for high-achieving students. In its original state, Turner's bill – designed to keep high-performing students in Louisiana – would add around $50 million annually to the cost of the TOPS program. That's not a small sum as the state tightens its belt amid difficult fiscal times. 'I come to remind everyone that we want, by all means, to preserve TOPS, even if that means that some changes might have to be deferred for a later time, because I realized that the state of Louisiana is going to be under dire fiscal constraints,' Taylor said. 'There is more need than there is money,' she added. Taylor made her position on Turner's bill clear; she's unhappy with the proposal that would hurt LSU students, who make up the majority of TOPS recipients in the state. She reminded the committee that while they may want to reward the best and brightest, TOPS was meant to provide an opportunity for all students – not just those with the best ACT scores. 'Let's not throw the baby out with the bath water and jeopardize a program as a whole in order to maybe provide for a few that might not be as contributing to our state as we need,' Taylor said. The committee unanimously advanced Turner's legislation, though only after adding amendments that would partially close the gap for students at LSU's main campus and undergraduate programs at its medical school in New Orleans. Members also lowered the new award amount for high-achieving students from $12,000 to $11,300. House Education Chairwoman Laurie Schlegel, R-Metairie, one of the co-authors on Turner's bill, said she believed the amendments would lower the TOPS cost increase from around $50 million annually to $30 million to $35 million. Because it involves spending state money, the bill must receive a second hearing in the House Appropriations Committee, which oversees the state's budget. Though Appropriations Chairman Rep. Jack McFarland, R-Jonesboro, acknowledged the need to keep the best and brightest in Louisiana, he said it would be very challenging to find the money to fund Turner's bill, especially as lawmakers are digging into couch cushions to find the change necessary to prevent a K-12 teacher pay cut. 'Before we go and we commit ourselves to more, I think we need to address what we currently have in front of us,' McFarland said. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Turner said his bill is meant to address what he sees as inequities among Louisiana colleges in the amount of TOPS assistance available to their students. 'It wasn't fair to give this university more and not the other one,' Turner said in an interview. 'All the institutions would be treated equally.' The bill is being sold as a market solution: the money follows the student, who can make a financial decision about how they would like to use it. But its critics say that choice could potentially disfavor the LSU flagship campus. Currently, LSU students who receive TOPS pay about $5,000 out of pocket annually, while students at Louisiana Tech University, in Turner's district, pay $5,202. If Turner's bill passes, the base-level amount, which approximately half of Louisiana TOPS students receive, would be $6,000 annually. TOPS Performance students, who must have at least a 3.25 GPA and a 23 ACT score, would receive $6,500. TOPS Honors students, with at least a 3.5 GPA and a 27 ACT score, would receive $9,000. The bill's proposed TOPS Excellence award, the new highest amount, would be $11,300 per qualifying student, who must earn at least a 31 on the ACT and a 3.5 GPA. LSU and LSU Health New Orleans students would receive an additional $700 per year on top of whatever award level they earn. That would mean baseline TOPS students would pay out of pocket approximately $5,770 to attend LSU and $4,755 to attend Louisiana Tech. For some schools with lower tuition and fees, the new award amounts would provide some students with an excess. Under present law, that money has to be applied to students' room and board expenses, which typically are paid out of pocket. But under a law the legislature approved last year, schools have complete autonomy to raise their fees, meaning they could increase the cost of attendance to meet the new award amount — and add to their revenues. Increasing the out-of-pocket costs for LSU students came as a bit of a surprise after the House Education Committee held a series of hearings over the past year in which they repeatedly questioned university administrators about why so many Louisiana students were leaving the state — and why LSU was admitting so many out-of-state students. Lawmakers have raised this concern so frequently over the past year that LSU launched new software, LSU Insight, designed to answer questions lawmakers frequently put to the university about where LSU students live and work. They unveiled the new program at a Senate budget hearing earlier this month and with an email to each lawmaker. Legislators frequently raised the issue that students in their community were being offered more money to attend Alabama or Ole Miss. They then asked why LSU couldn't offer more to keep them home — and why LSU offered thousands of dollars in tuition assistance to out of state students at the same time. LSU President William Tate said the university profits only about $500 over four years from an in-state student. But even with a generous financial aid package, the margin for each out-of-state student is so high that it subsidizes the tuition assistants for two Louisiana enrollees. Increasing out-of-pocket costs for Louisianians at LSU could lead more students to accept generous financial aid packages at its competitors, or to go to schools like Louisiana Tech or the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Any loss of in-state students would ultimately lead LSU to seek more out of state students, compounding the problem lawmakers have raised to them for months. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
16-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Louisiana Legislature examines proposal to offer TOPS to some medical students
Kaniya Pierre Louis, left, is a third-year medical student shadowing family medicine physician Dr. Zita Magloire. (Sarah Jane Tribble/KFF Health News) Louisiana students who qualify for TOPS tuition awards but attend college out of state could still get that money if they decide to return home for medical or dental school. The legislature is considering a measure to lure them back home, but with conditions. House Bill 275 by Rep. Stephanie Berault, R-Slidell, would require those students to pay back the aid unless they work full time in their field in Louisiana for at least three consecutive years after graduation. The proposal is aimed at addressing a physician shortage in Louisiana, where the Cicero Institute reports 60 out of 64 parishes have a shortage of health care professionals. The bill has the support of Gov. Jeff Landry and was unanimously approved Wednesday by the House Education Committee. TOPS, short for the Taylor Opportunity Program for Students, is a merit-based scholarship program that helps Louisiana students attend in-state colleges and universities. About 34 new medical and dental school students each year will qualify for TOPS under the legislation, according to a cost estimate for the bill. The cost will gradually increase over four years, when it is forecasted to level out at about $1.3 million annually. Berault has also proposed House Bill 539, which would create a student loan repayment program for doctors who practice in Louisiana's rural areas. It has not yet been scheduled for a hearing. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
