(Washington, DC) Today Mayor Anthony A. Williams, the DC State Education Office (SEO) and the University of the District of Columbia (UDC) hosted a historic event: the 1st Annual Mayor’s College Fair for rising high school seniors in the District of Columbia. The fair was the first time all of the DC education systems, colleges from across the country and private scholarship providers came together to promote the goal of going to college. The event kicked off the first college fair of the season and thousands of DC students, parents and education stakeholders attended the fair.
The college fair was held to further enhance the education services provided to parents, students and university partners. DC education stakeholders and students spoke and representatives from over 60 colleges, the U.S. Department of Education, and private scholarship providers answered questions about going to college.
“It is exciting to know that all of the education agencies in the District of Columbia, whether public or public charter, private or parochial joined forces for the first time in an effort to provide our youth with the opportunity to access the necessary information they need to get a higher education,” stated Mayor Anthony Williams.
Under Mayor Williams’s administration, the D.C. Tuition Assistance Grant program (DCTAG), administered by the SEO, has provided nearly 23,000 awards of financial assistance to approximately 10,000 D.C. students attending college, totaling over $100 million dollars since FY 2000! The D.C. Leveraging Educational Assistance Partnership program (DCLEAP) has provided nearly 10,500 awards of financial assistance to D.C. residents, totaling over $13 million dollars since FY 2000.
Deborah A. Gist, the SEO State Education Officer said, “The State Education Office is uniquely qualified to bring all of the education agencies together, we look forward to joint endeavors that provide DC residents with educational opportunities.”
Mayor Anthony Williams was joined by Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, UDC President Dr. William Pollard and other top leaders from the District’s school systems including: Dr. Clifford Janey, Superintendent of DC Public Schools; Dr. Patricia Weitzel-O’Neill, Superintendent of Catholic Schools for the Archdiocese of Washington; Josephine Baker, Executive Director of the DC Public Charter School Board, and Marjo Talbott, a Board Member with the Association of Independent Schools of Greater Washington.