Reply to When will DC TAG be expanded??

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=jsteele][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=jsteele][quote=Anonymous]Never. Poor kids can get financial aid. DC is broke and isn't going to spend more money to subsidize upper middle class kids' college degrees [/quote]

It's federal money so it doesn't cost DC anything.

In 2021 Eleanor Holmes Norton succeeded in getting the House to pass an expanded program. But, that language was stripped by the Senate. Expanding DC TAG is normally one of Norton's priorities so I am sure she will keep trying. This year she may be distracted with the RFK transfer. You can read the discussion about Norton's previous attempt here:

https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/990354.page

I am not sure if she did anything with regard to DC TAG last year. If she did, I didn't hear about it.
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Sh didn't. I kept expecting to see the announcement for an increase to $15,000. I mean, sure, the program was meant to close the gap between in state and OOS tuition, but the exponential rise in tuition makes this a nice grant, but nothing close to par.  One thing people should know...it is now means tested.[/quote]

That's too bad. The point of it was for DC residents to have some parity with the opportunities in the 50 states.[/quote]

It's called UDC. If DC wants a research university, they can fund one. DC Tag should be cancelled or extended to all Americans [/quote]

Then DC can tax MD and VA residents working in DC. [/quote]

A commuter tax is prohibited by the Home Rule Act.

With the declining fiscal picture in DC I would NOT expect this amount to be increased any time soon. [/quote]

Once again, DC TAG is federally funded. It has nothing to do with DC 's fiscal picture.
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But DC should invest more in higher ed. In MD or VA my tax dollars would get me access to a range of more affordable colleges. [/quote]

Virginia has 8.6 million residents, which is more than 10 times D.C.'s population. Maryland has 6.2 million. For D.C. to have even just one campus that's even just the same size as the UMD or UVA flagships, let alone on the same level of quality, would require raising taxes significantly on the residents we have.

UDC does now have a community college branch that's similar in affordability to Montgomery College or Nova Community College, though.[/quote]

Perhaps it is similar in affordability, but not in quality.  MoCo College and NVCC are among the best community colleges in the country.  DC's is among the worst.  [/quote]

At least for schools like these TAG is great…assume it brings the cost to nearly $0.[/quote]
These are not four year colleges. Families that stay in DC through HS deserve a break. The $$ is nominal. If the federal government want to insist we can’t have self determination then they can pony up the pittance to bring college costs on par with the average US state college.[/quote]

This sentiment is silly (and I plan for my kids to graduate from DCPS high schools in a few years). Families don't "deserve" money just for living in D.C. If anything, they should be means-testing this benefit so it isn't primarily giving upper NW residents (like me) a discount on Big 10 schools.[/quote]

What in the world? Don’t you have friends and relatives living in other states? Why do you think it's somehow out of bounds to want affordable access to a public university?[/quote]

I don't think it's out of bounds, but the idea that we in D.C. somehow deserve this benefit because we didn't move away seems silly. And I suspect, though I don't really know for sure, that this particular benefit is, like 529 plans, largely something upper-middle-class families take advantage of. If it's still available when my kids go to college (no reason to think it wouldn't be, it's not that far off), and they qualify, I'll take it, but let's not pretend it's somehow serving some great higher pursuit of justice in the process.[/quote]

Your reasoning is so off. DC residents deserve the same as MD or VA residents: access to high quality higher education. And no, it’s not just a benefit for the UMC. A DC LMC who can get into a good college is harmed too. That’s the basic point: higher education is something that ought to be provided to all, but DC gets a  giant pass on, despite having similar population size & tax revenue as states with decent universities. [/quote]

That's more persuasive than the PP, who framed this benefit around being some kind of reward for having stayed in the District. I guess I'd be interested to see the income breakdown of who is claiming the TAG — if it's mostly not benefiting people in Ward 3, maybe there's a better case to make for expanding it.[/quote]

Why should it be means tested? Every state university system offers the same tuition based only on residency. [/quote]

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