Norton’s DCTAG Bill Assuring Expanded Higher Education for D.C. Students Sent to President Today

October 9, 2007

(Reach DCTAG at 727-2824 or click here)

Washington, DC-District of Columbia students and families will continue to reap the tuition benefits of Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton's D.C. College Access Act (H.R. 1124) as a result of today's final House passage of the bill, which extends the D.C. Tuition Assistance Grant Program (DCTAG) for another five years.  The popular benefit technically expired on September 30, at the end of the fiscal year.  However, the necessary funding has been appropriated, and the President, who always has supported the program in the past and increased its funding this year, is expected to sign the bill. The House first passed H.R. 1124 in May, and the Senate approved a bill including a means test affecting a small group of families last month.  Today's House vote on the Senate bill was necessary before the bill could be sent to the President for his expected signature. 

DCTAG provides higher education opportunities for D.C. students equal to those available to other Americans by granting up to $10,000 annually for in-state tuition at most public colleges or up to $2,500 annually to attend private institutions in the city and region.  The program is a substitute for a state university system for the District, which unlike every state, has only one open admissions state university, the University of the District of Columbia (UDC). 

Norton had strenuously fought a Senate amendment to exclude families with taxable income over a million dollars because it undermines an important purpose and intention of Congress in passing DCTAG.  The highly successful and popular program was not designed to be income based.  The Congresswoman said that the program was designed not only to open college doors to many more D.C. students, but also to keep families from leaving the District.  However, Norton was unable to block the amendment because of Senate procedures that allow a senator to hold up a bill.  Norton had no choice but to accept the amendment, that is believed to affect perhaps 20 families, because without Senate passage this year, there would have been no bill and no extension of the program.

The program has gone "over and above meeting its goals and has proven itself worthy of the federal investment many times over," Norton said.  DCTAG is credited with doubling college attendance over five years.  For the 2005-2006 school year, almost 5,000 students received funding from DCTAG to enroll in 646 universities and colleges in 47 states, the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands.  In addition, many of these students are the first in their families to attend college.  The tuition program also has been a magnet for families to stay or move within the city's boundaries, with the District's economy receiving benefits.  Norton said that DCTAG has had the same positive and documented results as her D.C. homebuyer and business tax credits which have markedly increased home ownership and kept taxpaying residents and businesses here.  The regional business community, led by Donald Graham, Chairman of The Washington Post, who has championed DCTAG, has established a complimentary privately-funded program called the College Access Program that offers guidance for college and financial awards.  "DCTAG represents the city's most important progress toward developing a workforce that can meet the increasing education requirements for employment at average wages in the region," Norton said.

Norton also insisted on Historically Black College and University (HBCU) funding for UDC that the District had long sought, when she first sought DCTAG.  The university has received thousands of dollars annually in HBCU funding since 1999, as a result.     

**(Reach DCTAG at 727-2824 or click here)