BATON ROUGE — Louisiana students can now qualify for the TOPS scholarship by taking a conservative alternative to ACT and the SAT exams, but it is not currently accepted for admissions to any public university in Louisiana.

According to the Louisiana Illuminator, the Classical Learning Test, or CLT for short, evaluates students on math, writing and grammar with an emphasis on classic literature and historic documents that “had a lasting influence on Western culture,” according to the CLT website.

Its primary proponents are conservative educators. In addition to Louisiana, Oklahoma accepts the CLT for qualification for its version of TOPS. 

The Classical Learning Test was launched in 2015 by Classic Learning Initiatives. It is accepted for admissions primarily by private Christian schools and a small number of public schools, primarily in Republican-controlled states, including every state university in Florida.

The exam is still relatively obscure, but it has recently received high-profile attention when U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth approved it for acceptance into the U.S. military academies.

Earlier this year, the Louisiana Legislature approved the CLT as an alternative for qualifying for the Taylor Opportunity Program for Students, which provides tuition assistance for qualifying Louisiana students. Last month, the Louisiana Board of Regents approved the CLT equivalent to the ACT scores needed to qualify for each level of TOPS. The equivalencies scores are only good for TOPS qualification, as the CLT is not used for admissions at the vast majority of Louisiana universities.

Earlier this month, a billboard went up in Baton Rouge advertising the Classical Learning Test to students. The display ad refers to one of LSU’s football rivals, the University of Alabama.

“Bama isn’t your team. ACT isn’t your test,” the purple and gold billboard along Interstate 10 near College Drive reads. “Louisiana students take the CLT. Now accepted for TOPS.”

The billboard discourages students from taking the ACT, which in Louisiana is the most popular of the two standardized college admissions tests commonly taken by high school students before they apply for college. But students should know the CLT is not an acceptable alternative for admissions in most cases.

In Louisiana, only Louisiana Christian University in Pineville accepts the CLT for admissions. Students seeking admissions to any public university or any of the other private universities in the state will need to submit an ACT or SAT score.

Critics of the Classical Learning Test argue it doesn’t meet the same academic rigor and anti-cheating measures as the ACT.

The Iowa Board of Regents released a review of the exam and found no peer-review research supporting the test’s ability to predict student outcomes and subsequently recommended the exam not be used for admissions.

Louisiana high school students were able to qualify for TOPS using the Classical Learning Test starting with the current fall semester. So far, just one student has applied for TOPS using their CLT score, Board of Regents spokesman Chris Yandle said.

The Louisiana Legislature approved the CLT exam for TOPS with little discussion earlier this year as an amendment to a bill creating a new TOPS award level for high-achieving students. Rep. Raymond Crews, R-Bossier City, sponsored the amendment. Crews said Jeremy Tate, founder and CEO of Classical Learning Initiatives, asked him to do so.

Classical Learning Initiatives is a for-profit company, as is Nexus Capital Management, which purchased the nonprofit American College Testing last year. The College Board, which administers the SAT, is a nonprofit organization.