TOPS FOR ADULTS? - If you’re a Louisiana parent of a college-bound high school grad, then you probably know about TOPS… the Taylor Opportunity Program for Students, the state's popular, merit-based college scholarship program. TOPS pays college tuition for families from all income levels and will benefit more than 51,000 students this academic year. But Adults wanting to go back to school to earn a degree or certification aren’t eligible for TOPS tuition. The president of Louisiana Community and Technical College’s System, Monty Sullivan says more needs to be done to help Louisiana adults who lack education for better jobs. "We are a state of 4.6-million people: 2.3-million of those are working-age adults. 600-thousand of the 2.3-million lack a high school education,” Sullivan explains. “The poverty that we face, the incarceration rates that we face, the health issues that we face – they’re all solved by a common thread: education, education, and education. The challenges that we face require comprehensive financial aid policy – to focus that financial aid strategy toward that adult population.” Louisiana has invested heavily in TOPS, which goes to newly-minted high school grads. One year after graduating from high school, if students don’t use TOPS, they lose it. Adults, often referred to as “non-traditional students”, can’t get it. Instead, depending on their income, adults have to rely on federal PELL grants for assistance. However that financial assistance only pays for base-costs like tuition, fees and textbooks.
