District of Columbia Education Stimulus

Summary

The District of Columbia will receive education-related funding from the American Recovery and Reinvesting Act of 2009 (ARRA), through two principal avenues:

• $153 million to be distributed through the U.S. Department of Education.
• $89 million through the State Fiscal Stabilization Funds. These funds go directly to governors to use for what they determine to be "critical services", which can include funds to public colleges and universities and local school districts for financial aid and operating costs. Governors can also direct money from this fund to private colleges and universities to modernize facilities or for other purposes.

District of Columbia Education Stimulus Breakdown

Higher Education Funds

The educational stimulus package includes a variety of higher education and vocational training funds and grants for the District of Columbia:

• An increase in 2009 Pell Grant funding of $27 million over 2008 funds. The 27,000 current Pell Grant recipients in the District of Columbia will receive an increase in the average award for the 2009-10 academic year from $3400 to $3,850.
• An additional $2.7 million for student financial assistance through grants to institutions to assist in the operation of work-study programs under the Higher Education Act.
• $16.4 million for Special Education Part B State Grants to help improve educational outcomes for individuals with disabilities.
• $3.1 million in education technology funds to purchase up-to-date computers and software and provide professional development.
• $47.3 million for Title I Education for the Disadvantaged.

The District of Columbia’s higher education students and institutions are also eligible to apply for the following grants funded by the stimulus package:

Community College and Career Training Grants

An institution is eligible for one grant up to $1,000,000. To qualify, it must demonstate that it has reached out to employers to identify shortcomings in existing training opportunities within the community.

Teacher Certification and Training

Teacher quality enhancement grants are available to schools and eligible partnerships in the District of Columbia on a competitive basis.

Education and Human Resources

Provides colleges and universities in the District of Columbia with grants to attract math and science teachers, and grants to improve math and science in K-12 schools.

Health Professional Training Program

Provides funding for the National Health Services Corporation (NHSC), which recruits and trains health care professionals to deliver health services in underserved communities in the District of Columbia.

Demonstration Program to Integrate Information Technology into Clinical Education

Provides grants to medical schools and medical related graduate schools for demonstration projects and to develop academic criteria integrating EHR technology in the clinical education of health professionals.

Education tax credits

The education stimulus package includes the American Opportunity Tax Credit to potentially benefit 10,000 more students in the District of Columbia. This modifies the federal higher-education tax credit established in 1997, which benefited middle-income students by offsetting their tax liability. The new credit is “refundable,” meaning that lower-income households in the District of Columbia that have limited or no federal income tax liability can now receive a partial credit in the form of a tax “refund" of up to 40 percent of qualifying expenses for a maximum refund of $1,000.

Stimulus Breakdown (2008 vs. 2009)