In Louisiana, the higher education community has had a tumultuous past six months. In January, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal said that he would not raise taxes in Louisiana in 2015-16, despite a $1.6 billion deficit that would have fallen most heavily on health care and higher education.
In Jindal’s proposed budget, higher education stood to lose 82 percent of its state funds, which many believe would have decimated the system and forced some campuses to close down altogether. The state avoided that fate by wrangling a somewhat convoluted higher education budget that involves using tax credits to make up some of the missing funds and scales back potential costs that the TOPS (Taylor Opportunity for Students) program might incur in future years.
Jindal vetoed the attempt to change the TOPS program, a popular merit-based scholarship program that covers college tuition for Louisiana residents attending private and public schools in state. The trouble with the TOPS program is that it is tied to tuition prices, so, as the cost of tuition rises, so does TOPS’ pricetag. The TOPS program cost the state $250 million in 2014 and is projected to cost $387 million in 2018-19.
Since TOPS has the potential to be so expensive down the line, state legislators looked at changing the program. Under a bill proposed by Sen. Jack Donohue, the TOPS tuition rate would be locked in at its 2015-16 levels, and, instead of automatically increasing each year to match tuition, TOPS increases would require legislative approval.
“TOPS is a fantastic program, but there’s a recognition that its growth really comes out of the same pool of funds that are available for [all of higher education] operating expenses. So there was no desire to minimize that, but, at the same time, [the goal was] to in some fashion put some restrictions on it,” said Dr. Joseph C. Rallo, Louisiana Commissioner of Higher Education.
Jindal vetoed Donohue’s bill last week, stating in the veto letter, “I made a promise to the students and families of this state that a TOPS scholarship would be available to every child who worked hard and met the performance criteria established by law—this legislation would renege on that promise.”
Rallo said he expects that Donohue will try a similar bill in the next legislative session.
