Earlier this week, the DC Council held a hearing on the DC Promise Establishment Act of 2013. This proposed bill would set up a college scholarship fund for DC students who stay in the public school system — either traditional or charter schools — through at least high school, with greater funding amounts for those who stay through middle and high school.
In summary, DCFPI wholeheartedly supports the premise of the legislation — that all DC public school students should have the opportunity to attend college and be able to pay for it. This creates an incentive for families to invest in our public schools, which is important to the future of our city. However, given limited resources, DCFPI supports targeting this program to students who need it the most. In its current form, the bill could be very costly for the District, which could make it difficult to fund other education priorities, such as updating the Pre-K-12 school funding formula and adding a weight to direct more resources to schools with large numbers of low-income students.
DCFPI made the following recommendations to the education committee:
- Narrow the income eligibility guidelines of DC Promise to prioritize our neediest students. The proposal would provide financial assistance to families with incomes up to $250,000. Concentrating funding to the participants on the lower end of the income spectrum would allow DC Promise to cover the full range of living expenses associated with college attendance, beyond tuition and fees. Funding could also be made available to long-term DC residents who attended a private middle/high school but still need help to pay for
- Reconsider the structure and timing of the DC Promise funding awards to cover costs of attendance before all federal financial aid is exhausted. The bill could require students and their families to take on a variety of student loans, including so-called PLUS loans, before DC Promise funding kicks in. One way to change the legislation is to allow low-income students to be eligible for DC Promise awards before student loans are taken into account — given the problems that high student debt often create — and to allow middle-income families to seek help after taking out basic Stafford loans but before the add-on PLUS loans.
- Add a stipulation that participating institutions of higher education and individual programs must be accredited. Limiting assistance to students in accredited schools will help ensure that students who shift from one college to another can transfer credits and not lose the progress and investments made in their first college.
- Track students receiving DC Promise funding to generate data on impacts of the program. The District needs to examine the capacity of the Office of State Superintendent for Education’s longitudinal data system, SLED, and ensure the city is able to track student attendance between sixth and twelfth grade. The bill should also add some language around outreach efforts to ensure all DC residents, particularly those with children in the sixth grade, are well aware of the program, if implemented.
DCFPI looks forward to working with the committee and education chairman Catania as the bill moves forward.
