Commissioner of Higher Education, Kim Hunter Reed
A decrease in enrollment and TOPS participation among Louisiana public colleges and universities raises concerns among Board of Regents members. Commissioner of Higher Education Kim Hunter Reed said for the first time ever they’re not asking for more TOPS funding this year. As for why enrollment is down, Reed believes it’s multifaceted.
“With COVID, multiple hurricanes, and more. And so, we’re hopeful that these disruptions that we see in TOPS and in enrollment are short-term disruptions as a result of these major challenges,” said Reed.
TOPS recipients can delay enrollment for up to one year and Reed said they want to find out as to what’s keeping students from enrolling or even possibly postponing their higher education.
“The Board of Regents has set a big goal by 2030 we want to double the number of credentials in our state and so this is an early warning that we are clearly off-track,” said Reed.
A survey indicates a decrease of 2.6% in fall 2021 undergraduate enrollment and 3.1% fewer TOPS-eligible recipients were paid for fall 2021 enrollment.
Reed said this isn’t necessarily a Louisiana problem and the National Clearing House estimates a million fewer college students in the nation right now.
“But Louisiana certainly has had compounding disruptions, the pandemic, plus multiple hurricanes, snowstorms, floods, etc.,” said Reed.
The Regents and Louisiana Office of Student Financial Assistance will continue to monitor the issues and LOSFA plants to hold focus groups among high school and college students to better understand their challenges.
Comments are closed.