DIVISION OF STUDENT FINANCIAL AID

TOPS Hours Earned Per Academic Year

All TOPS recipients must maintain continuous full-time enrollment.  A student must be enrolled in at least 8 semester credit hours at Louisiana Tech University to be considered as full-time.  They must also earn 24 hours of credit each academic year or the number of hours needed to complete their undergraduate degree.  Failure to do so will result in cancellation of their TOPS award.  The academic year is defined as the Fall, Winter, and Spring quarters.  Summer hours DO NOT count toward the 24 hour requirement.

Students transferring from a semester school to Louisiana Tech University are required to complete 24 hours during the academic year.  Thus, a student who attends Fall semester and earns 12 hours at another school would have to enroll in and complete an additional 12 hours in the Spring quarter at Louisiana Tech University to meet the requirements.

Earning 24 credit hours each academic year is the responsibility of the student.  If you are taking repeat/delete or correspondence courses, you must consider how your school will record and report these hours.  The summer term and inter-sessions are not part of the academic year and credits earned will not be counted toward the 24 credit hour requirement.  Remedial courses which are required by Louisiana Tech will count toward your 24 hour requirement.  Advanced placement credits (CLEP) will not be counted toward your 24 hour requirement and does not result in hours earned.