(a) A student pilot may not act as pilot in command of an aircraft:
(7) When the flight cannot be made with visual reference to the surface; or

While a student pilot flying "over the top" ("on top" is an IFR
clearance) is dumb, the rule cited above does not (IMHO) prohibit it.
One can have visual reference to the surface while not legally being
able to fly to the surface due to cloud clearance or visibility
restrictions.

That is, a layer can be broken enough to provide visual reference to the
surface, but not broken enough to descend VFR through.

Any FAA decisions to the contrary?

Jose
--
"Never trust anything that can think for itself, if you can't see where
it keeps its brain." (chapter 10 of book 3 - Harry Potter).
for Email, make the obvious change in the address.