Some Applicants May Have Experienced Barriers to College Access

Of the nearly 2,500 applicants who were eligible for the tuition assistance  grant, 21 percent—or 516 applicants—did not use the grant in academic  year 2000-01 and some of these applicants may have faced barriers due to  college entrance requirements and the absence of minority outreach  programs. Whether caps on the number of out-of-state residents who can enroll at an  institution served as a barrier to college access for these eligible TAG  applicants is unclear. Although Most Initial Concerns Have Been Resolved, Some Administrative Issues May Hinder Program Operations

Although most concerns about administration of the TAG Program that  were initially raised by four large institutions were largely resolved by the  revision of the regulations in December 2000, some administrative issues  exist that may hinder program operations. In  fact, all four institutions have now signed a Program Participation  Agreement with the mayor of the District of Columbia, formally agreeing  to participate in the grant program. We wanted to explore  several issues, such as the extent to which TAG-eligible applicants who  did not use the tuition assistance grant faced barriers to college access,  how student enrollment at the University of the District of Columbia  (UDC) has changed since the TAG Program began, whether UDC and TAG  serve similar freshmen populations, and whether there are program  administration issues that could potentially hinder the TAG Program  operations.
What GAO Found

Twenty-one percent of grant-eligible applicants who did not use the District of Columbia's tuition assistance grant (TAG) funding to attend a participating college or university may have encountered such barriers as college entrance requirements and the absence of minority outreach programs. Whether enrollment caps at colleges posed a barrier for applicants is unclear. In the program's first year, 516 of the nearly 2,500 eligible applicants did not use the grants. About 21 percent of the institutions in which applicants expressed interest restrict the number of out-of-state students that they will accept, although the extent to which this played a role in limiting access to these institutions is unclear. Enrollment at the University of the District of Columbia (UDC) changed little during the TAG program's first year. The TAG program and UDC appeared to serve different freshmen populations, which may account for the TAG program's minimal impact on UDC enrollment. Although concerns about TAG program administration were largely resolved with the revision of program regulations in December 2000, other administrative issues may hinder program operations, including the determination of applicant eligibility and the distribution of information on institutions participating in the program.