Jack Evans Report: Strengthen and Increase the DC Tuition Assistance Grant

The DC Tuition Assistance Grant (DCTAG) is a program, created and funded by the Federal government, that provides grants to high school graduates from the District to pay tuition rates similar to in-state students at public universities across the country.
By all accounts the program has been successful in achieving the original goal of creating more high-quality, affordable college options for students from D.C. However, the program’s current grant limit of $10,000 per year no longer fully funds the difference between in-state and out-of-state tuition.

As tuition rates increase, and the grant amount stays the same, the program’s ability to promote affordable college options for DC students is significantly hampered.

That is why I introduced a resolution this week to call on Congress to expand funding for the DCTAG program to fund the entire difference between in-state and out-of-state tuition for DC students at four-year public colleges and universities throughout the US, Guam and Puerto Rico.

The DCTAG program was established by the District of Columbia College Access Act in 1999. The legislation capped the grant amount $10,000 per year and $50,000 per student over a lifetime. Additionally, the program provides up to $2,500 per academic year towards tuition at private colleges and universities in the District and private Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and two-year colleges nationwide.

My resolution calls on Congress to authorize grants up to the full difference between in-state and out-of-state tuition and fees at four-year public colleges and universities, and to increase the amount available for tuition at other colleges and universities. In order to continue to achieve the success that this program had over the past 15 years, it’s time to raise DCTAG.