Letter To The Editor

Black Issues in Higher Education, April 15, 1999

An Important Contribution

Dear Editor:

I read your editor's note in your March 4 edition and note that Black Issues has started its 15th year.

I have seen progress in your publication and am one of those who has been a consistent reader from my days in the United States Senate. I applaud you and your staff for the important contribution you are making.

PAUL SIMON, former U.S. Senator and director. Public Policy Institute, Southern Illinois University-Carbondale

Some D.C. Students Left Out of Davis' Legislation

Dear Editor:

While it's great that the D.C. College Access Act sponsored by Virginia Congressman Tom Davis (R) provides some relief for the University of the District of Columbia (See Black Issues, March 4), your article misses a real injustice lurking in the Davis bill. Aside from the relatively modest support for UDC, the bill will aid only those D.C. residents who attend public colleges and universities outside of the District. D.C. students who remain in D.C. to attend a private college get nothing, regardless of their financial need.

Thirty-eight percent of the residents of the District of Columbia who are full-time students in D.C. colleges and universities attend private institutions -- including Howard, Georgetown, American, George Washington, Galludet, Catholic, and Southeastern universities, and Trinity College. Many of these students are in grave need of additional financial support.

At Trinity, for example, 60 percent of the student body is African American and more than 40 percent of the students are residents of the District of Columbia -- 28 percent of the full-time freshman are graduates of the D.C. Public Schools this year. These students receive more than $1 million in Trinity grants, or six percent of the colleges' total budget. These students also receive an additional $4 million in federal financial aid. But even that's not enough.

The Davis legislation offers no relief for these students. Because the Davis bill is not need-based, a wealthy student will be able to receive the same subsidy to go out-of-state -- worth $10,900 at the University of Virginia, for example -- as a student from a low-income background. But D.C. students who attend the local private colleges choose those institutions because they offer the kinds of programs, personal support, advising, and convenience that help these students to become successful. These students also have huge financial need, and many experience academic problems because financial worries prevent them from focusing on their studies. Others have to drop out in order to work more to pay the bills and support their families -- these are "traditional-aged" students with middle-aged challenges.

The District's private colleges have asked Congressman Davis to amend his bill to add a $3,000 Tuition Assistance Grant for those D.C. students who remain in the city to attend one of the private institutions. This is a modest request, but one that can really make a difference for the several thousand D.C. students who are otherwise left out of the Davis legislation.

PATRICIA McGUIRE president, Trinity College