How to Fill Out and Submit the TOPS Exception Form (0004R)

If a pregnancy, illness, deployment, family death, or other circumstance beyond your control has put your TOPS scholarship on the chopping block, the TOPS exception request form is how you ask the Louisiana Office of Student Financial Assistance (LOSFA) to reinstate it. You download the form from the LOSFA website, pick the numbered category that matches your situation, attach a personal letter and the supporting documents that category requires, and submit the package by email, fax, or mail within six months of the date on your cancellation notice.¹

What the Form Can and Cannot Fix

TOPS requires you to enroll full-time as a first-time freshman by a specific deadline, stay continuously enrolled each fall and spring, and earn at least 24 credit hours per academic year. The exception form addresses failures of those enrollment rules when something outside your control caused the gap.¹

It cannot fix a GPA problem. If your cumulative GPA has fallen below the threshold required to keep your award, LOSFA has no authority to grant an exception. The GPA requirements are set by statute, and there is no administrative workaround.²

Pick Your Category

The form lists 13 numbered exception categories. Find the one that fits before you start gathering documents, because the paperwork you’ll need is tied to the category you select.¹

1 — Parental Leave. Pregnancy, caring for a newborn, or caring for a newly adopted child under one year old. Limited to the equivalent of one full academic year per child.
2 — Physical Rehabilitation Program. Limited to four consecutive semesters (or six consecutive quarters) per occurrence.
3 — Substance Abuse Rehabilitation Program. Must be prescribed by a qualified professional. Limited to two consecutive semesters (or three consecutive quarters), available once.
4A — Temporary Disability (Self). Recovery from accident, injury, illness, mental illness, or surgery. Limited to two full academic years.
4B — Care of Immediate Family Member. Continuous care for a spouse, dependent, parent, stepparent, or custodial guardian with a temporary disability.
5 — Permanent Disability. A permanent disability that affects your ability to attend school.
6 — Exceptional Educational Opportunity. A one-time academic opportunity that conflicts with normal enrollment.
7 — Religious Commitment. A religious obligation requiring you to miss one or more semesters.
8 — Death of Immediate Family Member. Parent, stepparent, custodial guardian, spouse, sibling, or dependent.
9A — Military Service (Student). You are called to active duty.
9B — Military Service (Spouse). Your spouse is called to active duty, requiring you to relocate or leave school.
10 — Transfer to a Selective Enrollment Program. You are transferring into a limited-enrollment program that doesn’t align with normal scheduling.
11 — Unavailability of Courses. Required courses for your degree were not offered during the semester in question.
12 — Natural Disaster. A declared natural disaster prevented you from attending.
13 — Exceptional Circumstances. A catch-all for situations not covered by categories 1 through 12.

Categories 1 through 12 have objective criteria. If you supply the right documents proving the right facts, the decision is straightforward. Category 13 requires subjective judgment from reviewers, so the bar is higher.

What to Attach

Every submission includes three pieces: the completed and signed form, a personal letter from you, and the supporting documents your category requires.¹ Keep the letter factual and chronological, and connect the dates of what happened to the specific semester you missed or dropped below full-time.

Documentation requirements for the most commonly filed categories:

Parental Leave (1). A physician’s written statement with the pregnancy diagnosis date and anticipated or actual delivery date, or a copy of the birth certificate. For adoption, written documentation from the person or agency completing the adoption.
Physical Rehabilitation (2). A written explanation of why rehabilitation was needed and a statement from a qualified medical professional confirming the rehabilitation, including start and end dates.
Substance Abuse Rehabilitation (3). A statement of the reason for rehabilitation and written confirmation from a qualified professional or facility director with treatment dates.
Temporary Disability — Self (4A). A description of the disability and a written statement from a qualified professional certifying that the disability exists, the dates of treatment, and an opinion on how it affected your ability to attend school. For mental health conditions, a statement from a clergyman is also accepted.
Death of Immediate Family Member (8). A death certificate, obituary, or other official documentation of the death, with a letter explaining how the loss disrupted your enrollment.
Military Service (9A and 9B). A copy of official military orders showing the dates of active duty service.

For the remaining categories, the form itself contains the specific documentation requirements. Download it and read the chart on the second page before you start assembling anything.

Filling Out the Form

The form is a two-page PDF available on the LOSFA TOPS Forms page.³ You will fill in:

Your full name, date of birth, mailing address, and LOSFA student ID. Do not write your Social Security number anywhere on the form. It explicitly warns against including one.¹
The numbered exception category that matches your situation.
The specific semester or semesters affected.
Your signature and the date. If you are a dependent student, a parent or court-ordered custodian may sign and submit on your behalf.⁴

Write the personal letter as a separate document. Describe what happened, when it started and ended, and why it kept you from enrolling or attending full-time. Attach it to the form along with your supporting documents.

Where to Send It

LOSFA accepts exception requests through three channels:¹

Email: TOPS.exceptions@la.gov
Fax: (225) 208-1618
Mail: LOSFA, Legal — Exceptions Section, 602 North 5th Street, Baton Rouge, LA 70802

Email is the fastest way to get confirmation that your package arrived. You can also track your submission through the LOSFA Student Hub at osfa.la.gov. For questions before submitting, the LOSFA public information line is 1-800-259-5626, ext. 1012, or locally 225-219-1012; the email address for general questions is custserv@osfa.la.gov.

The Six-Month Deadline

You have six months from the date on your cancellation notice to submit the request. The exact deadline appears on the notice itself.² You can also file before your award is officially canceled if you already know an interruption is coming, such as upcoming surgery or deployment.

If you are filing based on your own active duty service (Category 9A), the six months runs from the date of your discharge from continuous active duty rather than from a cancellation notice.⁴

Forms received after the deadline will not be considered, and there are no extensions. Send your package as soon as you have the documents together.

After You Submit

LOSFA reviews the form, your letter, and your documents against the criteria for the category you chose. If reviewers need more documentation, they will contact you, and you have 30 days from the date of that request to respond. Missing the 30-day window can result in a denial.

If your request is approved and you meet all other continuation requirements, including GPA, your TOPS award is reinstated for the next eligible semester without losing any total eligibility periods.² LOSFA notifies you of the decision by mail or email.

Reasons LOSFA Will Not Accept

Some reasons are treated as nonappealable. LOSFA will deny them without further review:

Financial hardship. TOPS is merit-based, not need-based, and inability to pay for school expenses is not an accepted reason for missing enrollment.
Dropping, failing, or withdrawing from a course to protect your GPA.
Being unaware of TOPS enrollment requirements.
Acting on bad advice, whether from an advisor, a friend, or anyone else.
Voluntary withdrawal, including leaving school to move out of state or pursue other interests.
Assuming that NCAA or other scholarship enrollment rules apply to TOPS.

If your denial falls under one of these categories, the decision is final. For a Category 13 (Exceptional Circumstances) denial that is not based on one of these objective disqualifiers, you may appeal the decision to the administering agency’s commission.

1
Louisiana Office of Student Financial Assistance. Request for Exception Form
2
Louisiana Office of Student Financial Assistance. TOPS Exceptions FAQ
3
Louisiana Office of Student Financial Assistance. TOPS Forms
4
Legal Information Institute. Louisiana Administrative Code Title 28 Part IV Section 2103 – Circumstances Warranting Exception to the Initial and Continuous Enrollment Requirements