(The Center Square) — Louisiana’s top-performing high school graduates are increasingly leaving the state to attend universities elsewhere, a trend that threatens to worsen as participation in the Taylor Opportunity Program for Students continues to decline.
Data shows that the most highly qualified students — those eligible for the “Honors” tier of TOPS — are the least likely to accept the state-funded scholarship, with many opting for out-of-state schools offering better financial aid packages and competitive recruitment, according to Dr. Sujuan Williams Boutté, the executive director of LOFSA Programs at the Louisiana Board of Regents.
Among “Honors” students who decline TOPS, 10.7% enroll in out-of-state institutions, compared to just 4.4% of those in the middle-tier “Performance” group and 2.9% of base-level “Opportunity” recipients. While 84.4% of “Opportunity” students and 88.5% of “Performance” students accept their TOPS award, only 78.8% of the highest-qualified “Honors” students do so.
The pattern suggests that Louisiana’s brightest students are increasingly being lured away by out-of-state universities, contributing to a “brain drain” that threatens the state’s future talent pool.
Williams attributed the loss of those students to the inability for TOPS to cover the full cost of attendance.
The loss comes at a time when overall participation in TOPS is declining, as previously reported by The Center Square. According to the Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana, nearly 46,000 students received TOPS scholarships in the last school year, a 14% decrease from four years ago.
State spending on the program has also dropped by $43 million during that time, which means less money for Louisiana universities which are already faced with threats of budget cuts.
The decline is partly due to a shrinking pool of eligible high school graduates. Since 2017, the number of students eligible for TOPS has fallen by over 3,600, representing a 17% decrease.
According to the U.S. News & World Report 2025 college rankings, LSU was ranked 179th among US colleges, outperforming only the University of Arkansas (189th) and Mississippi State (214th).
Outmigration is not a trend specific to higher education. In 2023, Louisiana saw a net loss of 29,692 people, reflecting a 0.6% decrease in its population. The state has been losing residents for at least the past four years, with a staggering total of 110,709 people leaving for other states since 2020.
Worse yet, Louisiana has a long history of facing budget shortfalls that often lead to significant cuts in higher education funding. Currently, the Louisiana Legislature is expecting a budget deficit of $1.5 billion in the next three years.
As a consequence, higher education institutions are bracing for a $250 million budget reduction, a scenario that could severely impact the state’s efforts to enhance educational attainment and keep students in Louisiana after high school
Despite historically low educational attainment rates, Louisiana has made progress in recent years. Current data show that over half of job postings in 2023 required an associate’s degree or higher, emphasizing the need for higher education.
“The high school diploma no longer puts you on the first rung of employment,” said Kim Hunter Reed, commissioner of the Board of Regents. “So it is our responsibility to upskill high school students so they graduate with more, so they can do more.”
