Senate Reserves Funds for D.C. Initiative
The U.S. Senate has voted to reserve funds for a new District of Columbia tuition initiative — even though members have yet to agree on a precise plan of action.
Senators agreed to reserve $17 million next year to launch the initiative, through which D.C. students would become eligible for discounted, in-state tuition rates at public colleges and universities outside the District.
The exact reach of the initiative is still unclear, however. A House-passed bill would extend the discounts nationwide, while a Senate plan awaiting action would limit the discounts to colleges in Maryland and Virginia.
The Senate reserved the money in its fiscal year 2000 D.C. spending bill approved just before Congress' July 4 recess. The bill takes no position on the structure of the program. Congress would have to make that decision in a final bill later this year.
The D.C. issue also has implications for historically Black colleges and universities, since both the House and Senate bills would affect the status of the University of the District of Columbia, a public institution that serves as the district's main source of public higher education. Both bills would give UDC status as an HBCU so it could receive funds under Title III of the Higher Education Act. However, sponsors have requested that UDC get aid through the tuition discount bill so that its eligibility for Title III funds would not cause other HBCUs to lose federal money.
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