For the first time, UDC students get financial aid from D.C.

In 1999, Congress created the D.C. Tuition Assistance Program, or DC TAG, to help District residents pay for college. Students graduating from high school could get up to $10,000 toward tuition at public universities in Maryland, Virginia and the rest of the country, and up to $2,500 toward tuition at area private schools and historically black colleges.

There was just one problem: D.C. students who enrolled at the city’s own public university got zilch. Essentially, the city was telling its own college-ready students to hit the road.