COLLEGE COSTS - When it comes to picking a college, you have to consider what you’re good at, what you’d like to do for a career and What college or university has a curriculum to match your goals. But perhaps the most important factor to consider is what the cost will be. To help, there’s financial aid programs, grants and federally-backed student loans. Director for the Louisiana Office of Student Financial Aid, Sue-Wan Boutté recently shared some insights on this with the Louisiana legislature’s TOPS Task Force. “Now let’s talk about where you can afford to go, and where can you attend with the greatest ratio of gift aid to the lowest ratio of loan debt,” explained Boutte'."Cost of attendance at LSU is $32,822 per year. LSU Baton Rouge’s TOPS award is $7,463."
To appreciate the cost you have to consider other factors like Pell Grants at $5,920 per year, state GO Grants which top out at $3,000, and federally-backed student loans capped at $5,500 yearly. What you wind up with is a gap of $11,000 for attending LSU for one year. Other factors include when and if TOPS and similar programs will be funded as that won’t be known until June. According to the Louisiana Office of Student Financial Aid: TOPS, accounts for 1 percent of the total state budget and appears evenly distributed among all family income levels.
