TOPS

Departing education leader decries funding shortfall

Joseph Rallo, the state’s departing higher education leader, said Thursday that parents and students should “feel outraged” that lawmakers failed for a second time to raise enough revenue to fully fund TOPS and avoid significant cuts at universities.

Tighter TOPS rules in the works

A divided House committee on Thursday approved three bills that would tighten eligibility for the popular TOPS scholarships and require some recipients to first attend two-year colleges. One bill, by Rep.

Governor’s budget eviscerates TOPS

Gov. John Bel Edwards’ proposal to slash the TOPS college scholarship program by 80 percent has raised concerns among both Republican and Democratic legislators and the nearly 49,000 students who rely on it. The governor proposed cutting the popular program in a doomsday budget released on Monday.

Bill moves gambling money to TOPS

Challenging what he calls misleading promises from 20 years ago, Rep. Franklin J. Foil, R-Baton Rouge, is betting he has a way to save TOPS, the publicly funded scholarship program for Louisiana students attending college in-state.