Proposal has little
chance of being enacted
President Trump on Monday
called for $5.6 billion in cuts to the Department of Education’s budget for FY
2021, a move that would weaken critical higher education programs that support
low- and middle-income students and families.
The “Budget
for America’s Future” also would reduce funding for scientific research
across most federal agencies.
The proposal largely echoes the
past three budget requests from the Trump White House, which Congress each year
has declined to support. Last year’s final spending package for FY 2020 allocated
$72.8 billion to the Education Department, $8.7 billion above what the
president had requested.
Among the provisions this year,
the administration again wants to eliminate the Public Service Loan Forgiveness
and Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant programs, and give campuses more
choice in limiting borrowing by individual students. It also would cut the
Federal Work-Study Program by more than half, and level-fund Pell Grants so the
maximum award remains flat at $6,345.
On the research front, the budget
request cuts overall research funding at the National Science Foundation
(NSF) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) by 7 percent. In the face of
a similar request last year, the final FY 2020 spending bill boosted funding
for NIH by $2.6 billion, a 6.5 percent hike, and for NSF by $203 million, a 2.5
percent increase.
In terms of new proposals, the administration
suggests opening Pell Grants to students in nontraditional, short-term programs
and to certain students who are incarcerated. The budget also would significantly
increase funding for technical and career education.
It is important to remember
that the president's budget has no binding authority on Congress, and almost
all of these proposals require legislative action to be enacted. The next step
in the budget process will be for the House and Senate Budget Committees to
write and then pass budget resolutions of their own. These resolutions also are
non-binding but serve as a roadmap for the appropriations process and set
overall spending limits for federal agencies.