Changes to Louisiana's State Scholarship Program: Increase in Dual Enrollment Offerings - National Council of Teachers of English

Reports

Changes to Louisiana’s State Scholarship Program: Increase in Dual Enrollment Offerings


State: Louisiana
Level: Higher Education
Analyst: Ratliff, Clancy

Louisiana’s longstanding merit-based scholarship program, TOPS (Taylor Opportunity Program for Students), will likely be changing as a result of budget cuts to higher education. TOPS scholarships that once covered 100% of tuition are now covering only a portion of tuition (more on that here: http://www.theadvocate.com/new_orleans/news/education/article_2d0c1ec2-ab61-11e6-806c-878b0b6dbbda.html)

The latest recommendations from the Board of Regents include:


1. A reduction of funding the first two years of college and “earn as
you go” model. Tuition coverage would increase for the junior and
senior years.


2. An increased minimum-hours requirement.
Currently, students have to take 24 credit hours per year to retain TOPS funding, and the proposal is to increase it to 30 hours per year.

3. Naming rights for TOPS offered to businesses. A story from TV station KPLC says:

“Allow companies to basically bid on sponsoring TOPS,” said [Joseph Rallo, Commissioner of Higher Education]. “The TOPS students, they are the types of employee companies wants to hire, so what better way to make sure you have the type of student you want than to support them.”


4. More college credit during high school.
The proposed goal is that
eligible students would graduate high school with up to 30 hours of college
credit.According to the Board of Regents’ report summary, they intend
to:“develop policy or recommend changes to ensure availability of opportunities for eligible high school students to earn up to one year of college credit through dual enrollment agreements, typically 30 credit hours. The Board of Regents will develop statewide guidelines for Dual Enrollment that will address: access and eligibility, faculty qualifications, rigor and delivery, and costs and funding.”

http://regents.state.la.us/assets/others/619Docs/Act619RecommendationChart.pdf

http://regents.state.la.us/assets/others/619Docs/619Finaldraft.pdf

One key NCTE/CCCC position statement relevant to this matter is “Dual Credit/Concurrent Enrollment Composition: Policy and Best Practices”: https://cccc.ncte.org/cccc/resources/positions/dualcredit