A Louisiana bill would require college students to repay their TOPS (Taylor Opportunity Program for Students) scholarship money if they drop out or lose eligibility. House Bill 385 (PDF File), would apply to students graduating high school during or after the 2025-2026 school year.

Students can lose scholarship eligibility for many reasons, including failure to maintain a cumulative 2.3-2.5 GPA for TOPS Opportunity and a 3.0 GPA for TOPS Performance. Students would also become ineligible if they drop below a 2.0 GPA in any given semester. 

This means, even if you wanted to course correct after one bad semester, you’d be on the hook to repay the scholarship. The bill has cleared a House committee and now heads to the full House for debate.

Why It Matters: TOPS is one of the largest state-funded merit scholarship programs in the country. If this bill becomes law, Louisiana would be the only state requiring students to repay merit scholarship funds they earned in high school. The change could discourage students from enrolling in college altogether, or trap struggling students in programs they want to leave for fear of taking on unexpected debt.

By The Numbers

• $320 million+: Annual taxpayer investment in the TOPS program.
• 13%: Share of TOPS recipients who lose their scholarships each year.
• ~$50 million: Estimated annual cost of scholarships awarded to students who don’t complete their degrees, according to Rep. Bamburg.
• 0: Number of other states that require repayment of merit scholarship funds, per the Patrick F. Taylor Foundation, which works with 22 states on similar programs.

The Fine Print: HB 385 does include exceptions. The Louisiana Board of Regents would define rules for circumstances where repayment would be waived, including parental leave, disability, military service, substance abuse rehabilitation, death of an immediate family member, natural disasters, and “exceptional circumstances.” The bill also authorizes the state to charge interest on unpaid amounts and use all available collection methods. This is very similar to how federal TEACH Grants can turn into loans.

It still needs full House approval and a Senate vote before reaching the governor’s desk.

How This Connects: About one-third of college students drop out without earning a degree, and 41% of dropouts cite money problems as the reason.

For students who do leave, the financial fallout is already significant: federal Return of Title IV Aid rules can require returning a portion of federal Pell grants, and student loan payments kick in six months after withdrawal. Adding a state scholarship clawback on top of existing penalties would make the cost of leaving college even steeper.

For more on what happens when students walk away, see The College Investor’s coverage of the financial impact of dropping out and what happens to financial aid if you drop out.

What Happens Next: The bill heads to a full House vote. If it passes, it moves to the Louisiana Senate. Lawmakers on the committee were already split, and reaction has been mixed, suggesting a contentious floor debate. If signed into law, the repayment requirement would apply starting with the high school class of 2026.

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