LAC 28:IV.907. Maintaining Eligibility

A. To continue receiving the TOPS Teacher Award, recipients must meet all of the following criteria: 1. have received less than four years or eight semesters of TOPS Teacher Awards; and 2. by the end of each academic year, earn a total of at least 24 hours college credit during the fall and spring semesters or fall, winter and spring quarters, as determined by totaling the earned hours reported by the institution for each semester in the academic year. These hours shall not include remedial course work nor hours earned during summer sessions or intersessions or by advanced placement course credits (see also §705.D); and 3. achieve a cumulative GPA of at least a 3.00 calculated on a 4.00 scale at the end of each academic year; and 4. maintain steady academic progress as defined in §301; and 5. continue to enroll each subsequent semester or quarter as a full-time student in a degree program or course of study leading to a degree in education or alternative program leading to regular certification as a teacher at the elementary or secondary level, and maintain an enrolled status throughout the academic term, unless granted an exception for cause by the board; or 6. enter a program approved by BESE which leads to a degree in education or to regular certification as a teacher as soon as sufficient credits have been earned to do so; and 7. submit the renewal FAFSA in accordance with §505.F; 8. have no criminal convictions, except for misdemeanor traffic violations. B. Recipients who do not maintain eligibility under the provisions of §907.A.3 and 4, may be reinstated upon attainment of the required GPA and achieving the GPA required for steady academic progress, as defined in §301, provided the period of ineligibility did not exceed two years.