Political Horizons for Nov. 1

• By MARK BALLARD
• Advocate Capitol News Bureau
• Published: Nov 1, 2009

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LSU System President John Lombardi is a breath of fresh air among Louisiana officials.

He repeatedly kicks a sacred cow by suggesting limits to TOPS, the scholarship that pays college tuition for above-average students. His latest salvo came last week during a meeting of a commission that purportedly seeks ways to streamline the state’s many, many colleges and universities. His statements were so strong that commissioner member Belle Wheelan told him she felt “chastised by you, rather than informed.”

But the Postsecondary Education Review Commission ignored Lombardi and recommended that universities graduate more students six years from now. Just how this would help higher education’s financial dilemma is unclear.

Gov. Bobby Jindal wants the state’s colleges and universities to whack another $150 million or so off a roughly $3 billion budget that is already about $185 million leaner since January.

Every time one of these government-efficiency commissions sits down, its members repeat, like the Daily Bread grace, “everything is on the table.” Then they quietly start clearing the biggest plates.

TOPS is one of the untouchables.

The Taylor Opportunity Program for Students cost taxpayers $122.8 million in 2008-2009. It provided an average award of about $2,890 — roughly half the $5,340 cost of attending LSU — for 42,511 student, according to the Louisiana Office of Student Financial Assistance.

Because TOPS covers tuition costs at public colleges in Louisiana, any moves by the colleges to raise tuition to cover cuts would come directly out of the same state budget that needs to lower spending in the first place. The state Legislature reassumed authority to approve any tuition increases, making Louisiana the only state that requires two-thirds assent by legislators to raise tuition.

TOPS is called a “merit” scholarship, but let’s be clear: It is given to nearly any student who is above the average, regardless of how far above.

The qualifications for TOPS spells out that any student with a 2.5 grade-point average on a scale of 4.0 — a solid C — on core curriculum courses and the state average 20 — out of 36 — on the ACT (a standardized national test used for college admissions) is eligible for free tuition and some fees at public colleges and universities in the state.

In 2009, ACT reported that 27,901 Louisiana students who had taken the core curriculum in high school also took the test. Only 14,366 of those students — slightly more than half — scored below 20 on the test.

Students scoring higher than average get money in addition to free tuition. For instance, a student with a low B — 3.0 grade point average — and a 24 score on the ACT also receives a $400 annual stipend. Scores of 28 or more — 2,492 students from the Class of 2009 — get $800 per year.

But Lombardi doesn’t focus on changing the low hurdles to free tuition. Instead, he recommends capping the award and eliminating it for the students whose families make more than $100,000 per year – roughly a third of those receiving the scholarship. The state could save $19 million a year by not giving TOPS to the state’s most comfortable, he said.