Lawmakers say they want to fully fund TOPS, but no one making promises
Legislative leaders told higher education officials Monday they hope to fully fund the TOPS college tuition program in next year's budget, rather than leaving students with only a portion of their tuition paid.
But they stopped short of making promises.
House Speaker Taylor Barras; Rep. Walt Leger, the top-ranking House Democrat; and Sen. Sharon Hewitt, who sits on the budget-writing Finance Committee, said at a conference that TOPS is a funding priority.
"It is probably the thing I get the most phone calls on and emails on," said Hewitt, R-Slidell.
In Gov. John Bel Edwards' 2017-18 budget proposal, TOPS would only pay for about 70 percent of students' tuition next year, just like this year. The Democratic governor proposes $209 million for the tuition awards, $82 million less than needed to pay full tuition for eligible students who meet the performance standards to receive the aid.
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