Students worried about TOPS future

Business owner and pediatrician are gainful careers, but two LSUE students are worried about the future of the TOPS program and what could happen to how they fund their education for their future careers.
Heidi Pitre, a freshman pre-med student from Eunice, said, “I pay for everything that TOPS doesn’t cover. If they cut TOPs, I will have to pay for everything — tuition and some books are $200 a piece.”
The state legislature is in a special session to fix the state’s budget, and the future of the popular TOPS program is one of the biggest concerns as the state faces the biggest budget shortfall in its history. Without any changes to the budget, only $65 million, money that must go to TOPS from a state tobacco trust fund, will be available to fund the program. This year, the program cost the state $265 million to fund.
In 2015, 871 students in the Tri-Parish area were eligible for TOPS. Of those students, 386 were from St. Landry Parish, 288 were from Acadia Parish and 188 were from Evangeline Parish.
For the 2014-2015 school year, 481 students at LSUE received TOPS, and Pitre was one of 2,508 students enrolled at the school last fall. LSUE had the most TOPS awardees of the state’s two-year institutions for the 2014-2015 academic year, and the school received $1,106,211 from TOPS for that academic year.
Pitre, who has a job on campus and other part-time jobs, said she does not want to ask her parents for assistance with her college tuition and expenses, and the young woman said she would take out student loans to continue her education if necessary. The Eunice High graduate plans to attend LSU medical school to study pediatrics, and she expressed frustration with the cloud the TOPS situation has placed over her educational future and the educational future of others.
“I don’t think it’s fair,” she said. “We were told to take all these courses in high school so we could get TOPS. Not a lot of people will be able to come back to school if they cut TOPS. I probably won’t be able to go to LSU without TOPS. Tuition is $10,000 a semester plus the cost of housing in Baton Rouge. I’ll pay for medical school with student loans if I get in.
“I will apply for more scholarships, anything that will help.”
Fellow student Mikayla Hollier, a sophomore business management major from Leonville, said her parents will likely assist her if TOPS is cut or if changes to the TOPS requirements make her ineligible, but like Pitre, she is also concerned for those who may not have any other ways to fund their education.
“Some people wont be able to come back to school,” she said. “They will either have to take out loans or just won’t be able to afford to come back at all. I think my parents will likely help me out, but most people can’t afford college on their own. I want to come back to school and think they (parents) want me to as well.”
Hollier added, “High school students do all that hard work to get TOPS to just to see it vanish.”
Hollier, a graduated of Beau Chene High School, plans to transfer to the ULL to complete her degree and she would like to own her own company or work her way up in management at an existing company.
High school students and their parents are also concerned with what may become of TOPS.
Eunice High School Principal Mitch Fontenot said, “When it (news of possible TOPS cuts) came out, students were uneasy. Parents were also concerned, but things are a little better after the governor said he was not going to cut TOPS for this semester.
“I think the Legislature will do what it needs to do to keep the program. I know people are calling their legislators. People are uneasy, but I think they will do what they need to do to keep TOPS.”