High school students are facing potentially life-altering decisions due to possible cuts to the Taylor Opportunity Program for Students.

TOPS scholarships have been available to Louisiana residents since 1997, meaning the current generation in the education system has grown up with TOPS as an option for making college affordable. The way TOPS is structured now, students who meet the required grade point averages and ACT scores receive awards equal to the cost of tuition. Some also receive a $400 or $800 stipend depending on their GPA and test scores.

Joseph Schonacher, a senior at E.D. White Catholic High School said, “We’ve planned our college ambitions and dreams the last four years of high school around having TOPS.” He also said that he and his classmates have taken action by contacting the state’s legislators regarding the issue.

Shelby Ellis, a senior at E.D. White Catholic High School, said about contacting the legislation, “I reminded them how hard the students have worked for their TOPS awards and how frustrating it is when the government continuously cuts education money.”

Ellis’ frustration mirrors that of Klint Landry, a senior from Thibodaux High School who said, “I took the ACT seven times, and six of those were out of my pocket because I wanted to be able to have TOPS.”
Landry and many other students are being hit with the possibility of having the TOPS.

ACT score requirement raised to a 28, which Landry says “makes my hard work pointless because not many kids have that.”
Landry proposed this solution, “They could make students take out a loan for their college tuition and if the student graduates college then TOPS could pay it back to you because there are so many kids that go to college for two to three years and then drop out, wasting the money.” He later said that he wants the legislation to do the most they can in keeping students informed because graduation is right around the corner and students cannot afford more confusion.

The wave of confusion caused by the state’s officials does not stop at the students who are graduating this spring, but affect all high school students, their parents and educators. Austin Cortez, H.L. Bourgeois freshman said,

“Even though I’m just in ninth grade, how much more will my class’s future be affected because of our state making empty promises?”

Holly Westerman, a parent of a high school student, agrees with Landry that legislators need to take a second look at the situation and put TOPS back into place. Westerman said TOPS is important in “motivating kids to keep up their grades in school if they have TOPS in mind.”

Bernadette Mabile, a retired school board official with a master’s in education, said, “To cut this program would be very detrimental to the state.” Mabile is adamant that if the state of Louisiana will flourish, the young people need to have affordable education. She said, “We’re pushing the whole common core effort on young students to be more high-level thinkers, yet you’re taking high-level education away from them.”

Shelby Stegall, a junior at H.L Bourgeois High School, is among many students who are worried college will be too expensive without TOPS due to lack of other scholarships offered by universities.

H.L. Bourgeois High School junior Alyssa Gros said, “It doesn’t even pay to stay in state when you can go somewhere else for college and get better scholarships.” She also suggested similarly to Landry’s idea that TOPS be offered on a loan system, agreeing that much of the state’s money is being wasted on college drop outs.In addition to facing the reality of financial and educational roadblocks in the absence of TOPS, high school students are looking into how cutting the program will affect Louisiana’s economy as a whole.

Hayden Piper, a senior at E.D. White Catholic High School said, “The fundamental point of a democracy is that the people run the government.” He compared the funds for a student receiving TOPS for four years to the income and tax revenue of a Louisiana worker after 10 years that revealed over 150 percent in returns to the state. He said, “TOPS is going to generate more revenue long-term than moving money away from TOPS will. You can’t make money by holding it, and in a democracy, the best place to invest is in the people.”