Benefits of being a high school graduate in DC

[Anonymous]

My child will be in 9th grade next year. My family is debating leaving DC and going to Maryland. I’ve heard that high school graduates in DC have more opportunities for scholarships/ grants/ universal state tuition for college than high school graduates from states. Is this true?

[Anonymous]

DC residents can get a $10,000 grant if they attend a state school (and a smaller grant if they attend a HBCU). But this is no where close to make state schools be as cheap as in state tuition and doesn't have any of the admissions benefits.

[Anonymous]

I will only speak to your last point. DCtag gives you something like 10,000 a year for state schools but not the full difference between in school and out of state tuition.

[Anonymous]

Got it. Thank you. So is the $10,000 through DcTag the only advantage of being a DC graduate vs a graduate in another state?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Got it. Thank you. So is the $10,000 through DcTag the only advantage of being a DC graduate vs a graduate in another state?

It's not really an advantage and yes, it is the only one.

[Anonymous]

DcTag also has an income threshold so make sure you'll actually eligible for it.

Second, the education in the burbs will be superior to the education you get in DC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DcTag also has an income threshold so make sure you'll actually eligible for it.

Second, the education in the burbs will be superior to the education you get in DC.

Maximum income is around 500,000 annually so most people qualify.

[Anonymous]

Would you mind clarifying that- “the scholarships are an illusion”? Are you saying the money doesn’t last beyond freshman year? Thanks.

[Anonymous]

How do these parents do this? Out of state tuition is insanely expensive. It has us questioning when we should move out of DC.

[Anonymous]

Smart kids from DC do well in college. Many kids in DC, regardless of intelligence, have the challenges that come from growing up attending inner city schools and are making up for earlier gaps.

DC TAG is great, but it is not going to get you the equivalent of in state tuition. The cost of the UCs with DC tag is around 60K/year, similar for UVA. The cost of Pitt for my kid would have been 35K/ year between DC Tag and a small merit scholarship.

My kid is attending a private LAC (in top 40) with decent merit for about 65K/year.

The calculation is different for different families.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Got it. Thank you. So is the $10,000 through DcTag the only advantage of being a DC graduate vs a graduate in another state?

It's not really an advantage and yes, it is the only one.

Yes, it is to make up for the lack of DC in-state Universities but in the end it is not worth keeping your kid in a poor DC high school by any means

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Got it. Thank you. So is the $10,000 through DcTag the only advantage of being a DC graduate vs a graduate in another state?

It's not really an advantage and yes, it is the only one.

Yes, it is to make up for the lack of DC in-state Universities but in the end it is not worth keeping your kid in a poor DC high school by any means

+1 and it’s is not even close enough to make up the difference.

If you are looking at it from a purely financial standpoint, VA is the best with all the great state schools and reasonable in state tuition. As a DC resident, you will pay so much more and the 10k is just a fraction of the total cost.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How do these parents do this? Out of state tuition is insanely expensive. It has us questioning when we should move out of DC.

They save a lot of money for years and years (by not attending private) or they make a lot of money or both.
I live in JKLM/Deal/JR land and almost every kid I know has a giant college fund and parents who can pay $70-90K/year for undergrad.
All those kids going to Michigan or Wisconsin or Harvard or Cornell or whatnot from Jackson Reed? If their parents make more than about $200K combined they're
not getting financial aid. They're paying sticker price.

[Anonymous]

Crap, liberal arts colleges cost $65K a year now?

[Anonymous]

I can only speak anecdotally, but it seems like DCPS kids (I only know JR and Walls) seem to punch above their weight in college admissions.

I hear horror stories from parents in VA about how their kid was rejected by VT or UVA and their kids have incredible grades, stats, etc...and then I look at the kids I know from JR and Walls getting accepted into those schools with scores, stats, etc. that are nothing incredible. I don't know what majors kids are applying for which could impact it or what...that is why it is all anecdotal.

We also know a number of parents with kids at SJC and JR and they will make the same comment...that kids that have been friends (or even siblings) and were similar at Deal and have similar classes at JR and SJC and similar test scores...the JR kids seem to get "better" college acceptances.

Perhaps DCPS schools are all considered challenged...I honestly don't know.

One final comment on DC TAG...if you look beyond the expensive state flagships (UVA very expensive OOS...Michigan and Cal schools also expensive OOS), then DC TAG can be meaningful. There are a number of state flagships like University of Nebraska, University of South Carolina and others that offer in-state tuition as merit inducement for OOS candidates. In that instance, you receive in-state tuition, plus DC TAG and can attend those schools for very little out-of-pocket $$$s on a net basis.