(The Center Square) – Louisiana lawmakers are pushing to expand access to the state’s TOPS-Tech scholarship program and bring more balance to higher education funding priorities, which they say favor four-year degrees.
Two House bills seek to make more vocational and technical students eligible for aid. House Bill 482 by Rep. Chris Turner, R-Ruston, would broaden both the initial and continuing eligibility rules for TOPS-Tech while increasing the award amount for students enrolled in the Louisiana Community and Technical College System.
Under the bill, students attending an LCTCS school as first-time freshmen in the 2026-27 academic year or later would receive a flat $4,500 TOPS-Tech award.
The measure would also loosen academic entry requirements. Current law generally requires students to meet both a minimum 2.5 GPA on the TOPS-Tech core curriculum and either a 17 ACT score or a silver WorkKeys score. Turner’s bill would add a third pathway: completion of at least nine credit hours of early college coursework through academic or technical dual enrollment, or equivalent validated skills and learning measures approved by the Statewide Articulation and Transfer Council.
Rather than requiring students to meet both of the current benchmarks, the bill would allow them to qualify by meeting any two of the three.
The proposal also would make it easier for students to keep the scholarship once enrolled. House Bill 482 would allow part-time enrollment for continued eligibility, lower the required cumulative GPA from 2.5 to 2.0 and let otherwise eligible TOPS-Tech students defer enrollment at an LCTCS college until age 25 while still retaining the award.
A separate proposal, House Bill 325 by Rep. Ken Brass, would make a narrower change. That bill would also add the early-college-credit option and allow students to qualify for TOPS-Tech by meeting two of three academic criteria, but it would not raise award amounts or relax continuing eligibility requirements.
Brass, D-Vacherie, said the change would not require “new funding,” but would mean “more kids would be eligible.”
Richard Nelson, president of the Louisiana Community and Technical College System, said he supports Turner’s broader bill, arguing current rules are too restrictive for many students seeking workforce training.
“The eligibility requirements are very steep,” Nelson told The Center Square.
The push comes as Gov. Jeff Landry has called for the state to put greater emphasis on technical and vocational education. In his opening remarks for the 2026 regular legislative session on Monday, Landry said Louisiana spends more than $300 million a year on TOPS while only about $6 million goes to students pursuing vocational and technical education.
“Yet only 30% of the new jobs we are creating require a four-year degree – 60% do not,” Landry said. “That mismatch does not service our citizens and slows growth.”
Together, the bills reflect a broader effort to align Louisiana’s higher-education incentives with workforce demand, especially at community and technical colleges that train students for jobs in construction, manufacturing, health care, transportation and other skilled trades.
Turner’s proposal would go further by not only expanding access to TOPS-Tech, but also increasing the size of the award and making it easier for nontraditional and part-time students to remain eligible.
