College Admission and Financial Aid Officers to Offer Counseling at Norton's College Expo

Many College Admission and Financial Aid Officers to Offer Individual Counseling at Norton's 2010 College & Financial Aid Expo on Saturday

September 17, 2010

WASHINGTON, DC -- All the top financial aid organizations and 30 colleges and universities will offer unique one-stop shopping at Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton's (D-DC) 2010 College & Financial Aid Expo,Saturday, September 18, from11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., at the National Building Museum, 401 F Street NW. Admissions officers and financial aid advisers from the broadest spectrum of colleges, from Howard University to the military academies, will offer one-on-one counseling and invaluable information to college-bound students and parents.

"The cost of a college education has skyrocketed in the midst of the huge recession hole the country is digging its way out of," said Norton. "Even so, the message from our Expo is that we know how you can still get into college and put together the necessary funding. Our students and parents will get a unique opportunity to speak directly and individually with admissions officers and financial aid representatives to get the vital information they need."

Norton's popular D.C. Tuition Assistance Grant (DCTAG) program, which provides higher education opportunities for D.C. students equal to those available to other Americans, is only one of the many aid programs that students will learn about at the Expo. Residents get up to $10,000 annually for in-state tuition at most public colleges, and up to $2,500 annually to attend private institutions in the D.C. area. Through DCTAG, a D.C. only benefit, college attendance has doubled in D.C., now up to 60 percent, which is ten points above the national average.

DCTAG is a substitute for a state university system in the District, which, unlike every state, has only one public university, the University of the District of Columbia. This year, the Congresswoman got $10 million for the District's new community college, the Community College of the District of Columbia, in the House version of the D.C. appropriations bill.

WHO: The Office of Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, College Recruiters, Admission Counselors, and Financial Aid Advisers

WHAT: 2010 College & Financial Aid Expo

WHERE: National Building Museum, 401 F Street NW

WHEN:Saturday, September 18, from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.