Funding levels match requests made by the higher education
community
The House appropriations subcommittee charged with funding
the Department of Education (ED) approved a bill yesterday that would increase
spending for the department by 6 percent—or $4.4 billion—for FY 2020, including
a boost for the maximum Pell Grant award and a $2 billion increase for the
National Institutes of Health (NIH).
The legislation, unveiled by House appropriators Monday, is
a starting point for negotiations for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1.
The bill provides $75.9 billion in discretionary funding for
ED in the upcoming fiscal year, compared to the $71.5 billion it received for
FY 2019. Included in this total is $24.9 billion for federal student aid
programs ($492 million above FY 2019) and $2.7 billion for higher education
programs ($431 million above FY 2019). The funding levels match requests made
by the higher education community earlier this year.
The Trump administration requested $64 billion for ED as
part of its FY 2020 budget request released in March, a 12 percent cut from FY
2019. The president’s request included reducing overall Pell Grant funding by
$2 billion, eliminating the Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants
program, and slashing nearly $5 billion in funding for NIH, among other cuts.
However, the president has proposed deep spending cuts on
both domestic programs and entitlement programs in his two previous budget
requests, and each time Congress has ignored them. Lawmakers actually provided
increases to student financial aid and a substantial increase for research
funding in the last two years. It does remain to be seen if the
Republican-controlled Senate will go along with the level of spending increases
proposed by the House this year.
Higher education highlights in the House bill:
- $6,345 for the maximum Pell Grant, an increase of $150 above
FY 2019 and the president’s budget request.
- $1 billion for the Federal Supplemental Educational
Opportunity Grant program, an increase of $188 million above FY 2019. The
president’s budget request proposes to eliminate this program.
- $1.4 billion for Federal Work Study, an increase of $304
million above FY 2019 and $934 million above the president’s request.
- $41.1 billion for NIH, an increase of $2 billion above FY
2019 and $6.9 billion above the president’s request.
- $375 million for Historically Black Colleges and
Universities, an increase of $93 million above both the FY 2019 level and the
president’s request.
- $150 million for Hispanic Serving Institutions, an increase
of $26 million above FY 2019. The president’s budget proposes to consolidate
this and other Minority Serving Institution programs into a single grant
program.
- $1.1 billion for federal TRIO programs, an increase of $100
million above FY 2019 and $210 million above the president’s request.
- $395 million for GEAR UP, an increase of $35 million above
FY 2019. The president’s budget proposes to consolidate the program into the
TRIO programs.
- $10 million to restart the Centers of Excellence for
Veterans Student Success Program.
The full Appropriations Committee will consider the measure
at a May 8 markup.