The 2005 Deficit Reduction Act (DRA) further decreased
welfare recipients’ ability to attend college by increasing
pressure on states to place welfare recipients in
“employment-related activities”. PRWORA required states to
have at least 50% of single parents participating in a specific
set of work activities, including paid employment, workfare/community
service, and education/training. Before DRA,
states could deduct each percentage point of caseload reduction
since 1995 from their work participation rate target.
Since caseloads declined steeply following PRWORA, this requirement
was not binding for most states, including Colorado.
DRA reset the base year to 2005 and imposed additional
limitations on welfare recipients to count higher
education towards their participation requirements. Specifically,
recipients were further limited to a total of 12 lifetime
months of education that must be combined with another,
employment-related activity, essentially limiting individuals
to, at most, one year of part-time college attendance while
receiving welfare.