Governor says TOPS cuts have 'failed' Louisiana's students

(AP) — Gov. John Bel Edwards says Louisiana risks forcing students out of college or pushing them into greater debt because of upcoming cuts to the TOPS free college tuition program.

The Democratic governor issued a statement Tuesday saying that Republican-led efforts to "front-load" the TOPS program — with near full funding in the fall semester and deep cuts to tuition payments in the spring — were a gimmick that gave students "false hope."