<p>His family is quite well off, and this enrages me. I (living in a state that is not DC) could use some help with my family's tuition bill. But no, only in DC. University of Maine is shit, do in-state students there get 10K to go anywhere they want? No. Why is DS' roommate so special that the federal government gives him money to go to college? I find this truly enraging, just plain awful and a waste of Federal dollars.</p>
<p>My understanding is that this program is intended to make up for the fact that DC residents donât have any instate options and therefore must pay out of state tuition at every public institution. Doesnât seem outrageous to me. If your son attends an instate school, heâs also getting a benefitâlower tuitionâpaid for by taxpayers and not dependent on his financial status.</p>
<p>No. Because theyâre IN-STATE. They already get a discount for being instate. </p>
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<p>Letâs be very clear. If theyâre getting 10k towards the OOS tuition because they donât HAVE an in-state option, they are really still getting the VERY short end of the stick. </p>
<p>How does this enrage you? He gets 10K off the out-of-state tuition because DC does not really have an extensive public university system. DC kids pretty much must go to college out-of-state (because they do not technically belong to any state). Otherwise, DC students would have to pay the out-of-state tuition 50K a year just to go to a public university. All that this 10K does is bring the tuition down to the level of an in-state level. They still do not get the in-state privileges as far as admission is concerned - they must compete with the greater pool of out-of-state kids for fewer spots at any public school. </p>
<p>Would you suggest sticking a DC kid with a bill of 200K+ just to send their kid to any state school? Consider the living expenses in DC are significantly high as well, yet they do not have their own state university system to benefit from. Even if this one student is quite well off, not all kids from DC are.</p>
<p>Seriously, I canât see how more than a few thousand kids fall under this category. In the grand scheme of things, itâs not a big deal. Certainly not enraging.</p>
<p>There is a University of the District of Columbia, but it does not appear to be considered attractive by good students, as its six year graduation rate is only 16%.</p>
<p>Of course you can be outraged but have you noticed that DC is a CITY and not a state? The reason behind DCTAG is so there are in-state options for DC residents, otherwise they have no in-state/city option. UDC is a joke, a barely functioning college. Iâm surprised itâs even accredited. $10,000 is not unreasonable and in many states, it wonât wipe out the difference between OOS and instate tuitions.</p>
<p>As for Maine residents not getting $10K, well, Maine residents are already paying a lower tuition than OOS students. </p>
<p>I think others have covered it well. No state U for DC residents. So no state dollars or programs for them. When you look at states like FL, GA, WV with state grants, note that income does not come into play in getting them. In fact, most of those grants do go to those who donât need them, to the upper socio/income groups due to the fact that one has to take the PSATs or other steps ahead of time to meet the requirements, plus there is that strong, indisputable link between family income and academic achievement on a large population basis. </p>
<p>Iâm more outraged that those who are in states with limited options available for college and high tuitions. </p>
<p>Most students have the option to attend solid community colleges and the choice of many state schools in their home states. DC students do not.
All other posters have explained the reason for the grant well so hopefully the outrage will lessen. And hopefully OP did not rant on and on about this with her/his son and have him do the same with his roommate. I am not from DC but I donât begrudge them this 10k.
As for the income of the family receiving the 10k, how is that relevant? Should a family in VA that is well off and has a student get into UVA have to pay more for in state tuition?</p>
<p>DC does have many âin -cityâ universities and since there is a publicly funded one, this is a waste of taxpayer dollars. If people went to UDC, the school would get better. A bit of a chicken/egg thing. Living in DC, as in any other locale is a personal choice. I travel there frequently and MANY people live outside the district, even if they work inside. </p>
<p>Perhaps if there was some need-based check here as the city itself has an extremely large number of entitled individuals who have no business using tax dollars to pay for school. </p>
<p>Since DC-TAG was enacted by the U.S. Congress, am I correct in assuming that my federal income taxes are paying for this? </p>
<p>I am a U.S. citizen residing abroad and donât have in-state options for my kids. I am paying super hefty taxes to Uncle Sam on my foreign earned income. Whereâs my Expat-TAG goody bag? </p>
<p>GMtplus7 - donât you get 90K exemption as an expat? You also get foreign tax credit as well, meaning you donât need to pay taxes to both your host country and US. Some of us in the US pay super hefty taxes and also get nothing.</p>
<p>Even w the exemption & foreign tax credit I still pay hefty US income taxes. Now I know why; itâs to subside other peopleâs kids in Wash D.C. X( </p>
<p>Other people are subsidizing YOUR exemptions and tax credit, GMTplus7. And this is from someone whose dad worked overseas for many years I didnât have a state school either because my parents did not keep up any state residency requirements. So when I went to college, I had no in state tuition options. Hopefully, you are putting away the amount of tax credits and goodies you are getting, so that you have money put away for your kids for college out of the tax break you are getting. </p>
<p>The fact of the matter is that the only ones that are going to be affected are those who do go to OOS publics. The differential probably averages $10K for in vs out of state, so the number makes sense, and would be a lot less expensive than setting up a DC university. My kid goes to an OOS school and thatâs about how much more I pay than the residents of that state to send my kid to college there. A fair deal, IMO.</p>
<p>I think DC does try to encourage those who stay in the city, middle and low income folks, and give them reasonable college options. With MD and VA right there, without such incentives, it would make more sense to move to one of those states with excellent in state colleges, a privilege one loses for living in DC propers. So to me, the $10k in tuition makes sense. Yes, those who donât need it take advantage of it too, but many of those kids go to private schools. It also helps many in DC go to college, and there is a large population of DC that is poverty level. </p>
<p>"Even w the exemption & foreign tax credit I still pay hefty US income taxes. Now I know why; itâs to subside other peopleâs kids in Wash D.C. "</p>
<p>If youâre getting a $90k exemption and are still paying hefty taxes, then youâre making a very high salary. The taxes that you are paying are to support your country. You can change citizenship if you want.</p>
<p>Jesus, people. The city has its own budget over and above the federal payment, much of which compensates for the higher cost of providing security around here and the decimation to the property tax base inherent in having so many tax-exempt federal facilities. Moreover, unlike any other major city in America, the District is barred by federal statute from imposing a source-based income tax â i.e., collecting from all the folks who work in town but live in the 'burbs, as is done in NYC, Philly, etc. Finally, as noted above, UDC is not much of an option as public schools go. The tuition program was started, in part, to make DC a more attractive place to stay once your kids reach school age and stop the perennial drain of middle to higher income families to the suburbs (which only exacerbates the cityâs fiscal and social issues). </p>
<p>And, just to top it off, unlike the rest of yâall running off to â â â â â to your member of Congress, residents of the District have no voting representation in Congress. </p>
<p>Or to sum up for the TL;DR crowd: âShut up, he explained.â</p>
<p>Someoldguy, alas, NYC no longer has a commuter tax. NYC doesnât have home rule to impose it and it was eliminated by the state legislature many years ago. NYC canât impose taxes on its own residents, much less out-of-city ones; everything has to be approved by Albany. Our new mayor wants to impose a very small surtax on the wealthiest New York City residents to provide full-day pre-k to all city kids but it doesnât look like the Democratic governor (up for reelection this year) will allow it.</p>
<p>Donât like it, complain through the channels. Doesnât make my list of complaints, and I have a long one. Iâd prefer to take away the overseas exemption, even as I am in a family who has benefitted and will likely benefit from it. I think thatâs a very nice ripe place to make some cuts. </p>