BATON ROUGE — A bill that would require some students to repay their TOPS scholarship awards if they lose eligibility is headed to the Louisiana House floor Tuesday afternoon, where it faces what is expected to be a contentious debate.
House Bill 385 by Rep. Dennis Bamburg, R-Bossier City, narrowly cleared the House Education Committee last week on a 6-5 vote. Chairwoman Rep. Laurie Schlegel, R-Metairie, cast the tiebreaking vote in favor but said she has not committed to supporting the bill on the floor.
If passed, Louisiana would become the only state in the country to require repayment of merit-based scholarship funds, according to the Patrick F. Taylor Foundation, which works with 22 states on similar programs.
What the bill does
The Taylor Opportunity Program for Students, known as TOPS, is Louisiana's signature merit-based scholarship program. It receives roughly $320 million in state funding each year and served more than 48,000 students in the 2024-25 academic year, according to the Louisiana Office of Student Financial Assistance.
Under current law, students who fail to meet TOPS requirements simply lose the scholarship going forward. HB 385 would go further, requiring students to repay the full amount of TOPS money they received if their award is suspended or canceled for failure to maintain eligibility.
The repayment requirement would apply only to students in the program's bottom two tiers, TOPS Opportunity and TOPS Performance. Students who initially qualify for the higher-level TOPS Honors and TOPS Excellence awards would be exempt, as would students who enroll in a qualifying high-wage, high-demand program through the Louisiana Community and Technical College System during or immediately following the semester of suspension.
The bill, if signed into law, would apply to students who graduate from high school during or after the 2025-26 school year.
Exceptions
The bill directs the Louisiana Board of Regents to promulgate rules implementing the repayment requirement, including provisions for collecting amounts owed and interest on unpaid balances. It also directs the board to establish exceptions for students facing certain circumstances, including parental leave, physical rehabilitation, substance abuse rehabilitation, temporary or permanent disability, an exceptional educational opportunity, religious commitment, death of a family member, military service, transfer to a selective enrollment program, unavailability of courses, natural disasters, and exceptional circumstances.
Arguments for and against
Bamburg has argued that the current system lacks accountability and that taxpayers deserve a way to recover scholarship dollars when students fail to meet program requirements. He has estimated that scholarships awarded to students who do not complete their degrees cost the state roughly $50 million a year. About 13 percent of TOPS recipients lose their scholarships annually, according to reporting by The College Investor.
Opposition has come from higher education advocates, some lawmakers, and students. Dr. James Caillier, a former executive director of the Patrick F. Taylor Foundation, has argued that merit scholarships are, by definition, not repayable, and that requiring repayment fundamentally changes the nature of the award.
Rep. Phillip Tarver, R-Lake Charles, raised concerns during committee debate, saying a student who earned the scholarship through academic performance in high school should not be treated as though they had taken out a loan. Rep. Barbara Freiberg, R-Baton Rouge, has suggested a narrower approach that would require repayment only for the semester in which a student lost eligibility, rather than the full award amount.
A similar proposal by Rep. Peter Egan, R-Covington, House Bill 1021, was deferred in committee earlier this session. Egan agreed to work with Bamburg on a unified approach.
What happens next
If HB 385 passes the House on Tuesday, it moves to the Senate for consideration.
Livingston Parish News will follow the debate and provide coverage of the vote later today.
