The DC Tuition Assistance Grant (DCTAG) has increased the maximum amount of financial aid available to a student from $10,000 to $15,000 annually, starting with the class of 2026. This increase in DCTAG will be extremely helpful to Jackson-Reed and DCPS students, with students now able to receive up to $75,000 over the course of their college career.
Since DC is not a state, it does not have state universities that are federally funded and offer reduced tuition to in-state residents at the same academic level. State Universities are a huge resource for students, and recognizing this discrepancy and the financial barriers to DC college students attending select Universities.
Applicants for DCTAG are required to have been DC residents for 12 months prior to their first day of college, and have to remain DC residents until graduation to continue receiving the grant. However, if participants are under 24, then proof of residency is based on the parent/guardian.
For students starting college in the 2026-2027 school year, the maximum taxable family income is $642,544. Students whose families combined taxable annual income is above this number are not eligible to receive DCTAG. Students are required to submit the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and the DC OneApp application.
There are 300 eligible universities for DCTAG recipients. The majority of these universities are public, however there are some private universities. Applicants attending public universities are eligible to receive up to $15000, however applicants at private DC universities, Historically Black Universities and Colleges (HBCUs), and other eligible private universities can receive up to $3750 each academic year.
Historically, about half of the students receiving DCTAG awards have come from the three DC wards with the lowest household incomes, making this funding vital for educational equity. Currently, 50% of JR seniors have completed the FAFSA, a prerequisite to DCTAG applications.
The College and Career Center, run by Ms. Levenson offers many resources to seniors to support them through applying. According to Levenson, rumors of a DCTAG increase are annual occurrences that almost never become true, and “in a perfect world, DCTAG would cover the out-of-state to in-state cost,” which can vary from thousands to tens of thousands of dollars.
