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TOPS

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Health Care Educator Loan Forgiveness. www.osfa.la.gov. It pays. to make good grades! ... Or a small portion of the tuition for members of the Louisiana Association of ... – PowerPoint PPT presentation

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Title: TOPS


1
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2
LOSFA
  • College Access and Outreach
  • Louisiana Guaranteed Student Loans
  • TOPS
  • START Saving Program

3
LOSFA
  • Early Start
  • Go Grant
  • LA LEAP Grant
  • Rockefeller State Wildlife Scholarship
  • Health Care Educator Loan Forgiveness

4
  • It pays
  • to make good grades!

5
What TOPS is
  • Scholarship
  • Created and funded by the State Legislature
  • Administered by the Louisiana Office of Student
    Financial Assistance (LOSFA)
  • Portable

6
What TOPS does
  • In very simplified terms
  • Pays
  • an amount equal to
  • the base
    tuition

  • at any
  • Louisiana public college or university
  • Or a small portion of the tuition for members of
    the Louisiana Association of Independent Colleges
    (LAICU)

7
Louisiana Association of Independent Colleges
(LAICU)
  • 1343 per semester for Academic Year 2008-2009
  • Centenary College
  • Dillard University
  • Louisiana College
  • Loyola University New Orleans
  • New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary
  • Our Lady of Holy Cross College
  • Our Lady of the Lake College
  • St. Joseph Seminary College
  • Tulane University
  • Xavier University

8
How to earn TOPS
  • High school students
  • Take the TOPS Core Curriculum
  • classes in school,
  • Make at least a 2.50 GPA
  • on those classes,
  • AND
  • Score at least a 20 on the ACT test

9
TOPS Award Process
  • When LOSFA has all three requirements (ACT,
    grades, application) our computer merges them
    and determines eligibility
  • Eligibility immediately appears on TOPS Master
    Roster
  • LOSFA immediately sends letter to student
  • ONLY official notification

10
General Eligibility Requirements
  • Citizenship
  • Residency
  • No criminal convictions
  • Complete the TOPS Core curriculum
  • (Tech Scholarship has a choice of 3 curricula)
  • Apply for the Scholarship

11
TOPS Core Curriculum
  • TOPS Core Courses must be completed as of the
    date of graduation
  • Distance learning courses and college courses
    taken in the classroom, online, or by
    correspondence, may be used to qualify for TOPS
    provided that they are determined to be
    equivalent courses and appear on the students
    official high school transcript

12
TOPS Core Curriculum
  • Four English classes I, II, III, and IV
  • Three math classes
  • Algebra I
  • Algebra II
  • And one math elective
  • Geometry, Pre-Calculus, Calculus, Advanced Math
    I, Advanced Math II, Probability and Statistics,
    Discrete Mathematics, Algebra III, Applied
    Mathematics III, or Integrated Mathematics III

13
TOPS Core Curriculum
  • Three science classes
  • Biology
  • Chemistry
  • And one science elective
  • Earth Science, Physical Science, General
    Science, Environmental Science, Biology II,
    Chemistry II, Physics, Physics II, or Physics for
    Technology

14
TOPS Core Curriculum
  • One additional Math or Science elective
  • Geometry, Calculus, Advanced Math I, Advanced
    Math II, Pre-Calculus, Probability and
    Statistics, Discrete Mathematics, Algebra III,
    Applied Mathematics III, Integrated Mathematics
    III,
  • or
  • Biology II, Chemistry II, Physics, or Physics II

15
TOPS Core Curriculum
  • Three social sciences
  • American History
  • Civics and Free Enterprise (1 unit combined),
    Civics (1 unit), or AP American Government
  • And one social science elective
  • World History, Western Civilization, World
    Geography, or European History

16
TOPS Core Curriculum
  • Foreign Language
  • Two units in the same language
  • English is not considered a foreign language
  • American Sign Language (2 units)
  • Any additional foreign language classes may be
    treated as electives

17
TOPS Core Curriculum
  • Fine Arts Survey
  • or substitute two units of performance courses
    in music, dance or theater
  • or substitute two units of studio art
  • or substitute two units of visual art
  • or substitute Speech III and Speech IV (two
    units)
  • or substitute 1 unit of an elective from among
    the other subjects listed in this core curriculum
  • The two units of
    performance or studio art
  • or visual
    art may be any combination of
  • whole and
    half units

18
TOPS Core Curriculum
  • ½ unit of Computer Science, Computer Literacy, or
    Business Computer Applications
  • or substitute at least ½ unit of an elective
    course related to computers that is approved by
    the State Board of Elementary and Secondary
    Education (BESE)
  • or substitute at least 1/2 unit of an elective
    from among the other subjects listed in the core
    curriculum

19
Award-Specific Requirements
  • Each award level has its own requirements for GPA
    ACT
  • Opportunity 2.50 GPA and 20 ACT
  • Performance 3.00 GPA and 23 ACT
  • Honors 3.00 GPA and 27 ACT
  • Tech 2.50 GPA and 17 ACT

20
High School GPA
  • The TOPS core grade point average (GPA) will be
    calculated using only those grades achieved in
    the core curriculum courses
  • Highest grade
  • For high schools using any grading scale other
    than a 4.00 scale, all grade values must be
    converted to a 4.00 scale
  • GPA cannot be rounded up

21
ACT
  • Highest composite score will be considered
  • TOPS does not consider the Essay portion of the
    ACT in calculating the composite score needed to
    qualify
  • ACT Registration
  • TOPS Code 1595
  • Social Security Number

22
ACT
  • ACT Deadlines
  • Without penalty April of senior year
  • Loss of one semester eligibility June of senior
    year
  • A June ACT score cannot be used to upgrade an
    Opportunity award to an Honors or Performance
    award
  • Students who fail to achieve a qualifying ACT
    score by July 1 of the graduating year shall not
    be considered for an award

23
SAT
  • An equivalent SAT score may be substituted for
    the ACT score
  • TOPS does not consider the Essay portion of the
    SAT
  • SAT Registration
  • Scholarship Code 9019
  • Social Security Number
  • SAT Test Deadlines
  • Without Penalty March of senior year

24
Award-Specific Benefits
  • Opportunity, Performance and Honors awards pay
    base tuition for eight semesters at any Louisiana
    public college or university, for students
    pursuing academic degrees, non-academic degrees,
    or technical certificates or diplomas (Or a small
    portion of the tuition at colleges that are
    members of the Louisiana Association of
    Independent Colleges)
  • Performance award adds 400 per year
  • Honors award adds 800 per year

25
Award-Specific Benefits
  • Tech award pays base tuition for four semesters
    at any of the forty campuses of the Louisiana
    Technical Colleges, or for the technical
    programs at seven community colleges, LSU-Eunice,
    or Our Lady of the Lake College.

26
Free Application ForFederal Student Aid
  • for ALL forms of Federal financial aid
  • for ALL forms of Louisiana financial aid
  • including TOPS
  • for most institutional financial aid
  • FAFSA

27
Award Acceptance
  • Must enter an eligible institution as a full-time
    student by the fall semester following the first
    anniversary of high school graduation
  • Fall 2011

28
Deadlines
  • TOPS application must be submitted between
    January 1 and July 1 of the students senior year
  • Students should verify the aid deadline for the
    institution they plan to attend. The school
    deadline will probably be much earlier than the
    deadline for TOPS

29
Contact TOPS
  • Louisiana Office of Student Financial Assistance
  • www.osfa.state.la.us
  • custserv_at_osfa.state.la.us
  • (800) 259-5626 Ext. 1012
  • (225) 922-1012
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