The House Appropriations Committee on June 30 approved a funding plan that would increase funding for the Department of Education by 13 percent for fiscal year 2023.
The bill, approved by the committee by 32 to 24 votes on the party line, will allocate $ 3.9 billion for higher education, $ 968 million from FY 2022, and $ 24.6 billion, $ 59 million, for federal student support programs.
Funding for the Pell grant is the most significant difference between the House Committee’s budget plan and the executive budget proposal released by President Biden in March. The House Budget Plan will extend a total of $ 7,395 by স 500 to the maximum annual Pell Grant Award. This is lower than Biden’s proposal to extend the maximum Pel Grant Award to $ 2,175, bringing the total annual prize to $ 8,670.
Many high-aid leaders were optimistic about the larger growth in Pelle Grant that would set the framework for doubling it in the near future. Although the increase proposed by the House is more modest than Biden’s proposal, many of those who supported the increase are satisfied.
John Fansmith, assistant vice president of public relations at the American Council on Education, said, “Five hundred dollars is the biggest increase in a decade.” We’ll move closer to doubling Pel সময় at any time. That’s not bad news – it’s just small. “
The Pell Grant House proposed increase would have a greater impact on students attending colleges with lower tuition costs.
“Five hundred dollars is really a significant increase for our lower-middle-income students.” Said David Byam, senior vice president of government relations at the American Association of Community Colleges. For community college students who pay an average of $ 3,800 a year in tuition, Baim said, “This increase increases student success to the point where students can study more and work or borrow less.”
The Senate Committee on Allocations has not yet put forward its budget plan, and many have said the process could extend beyond the midterm elections in November, after the end of fiscal year 2022 in October.
“It seems unlikely that Congress will finalize the allocations before the end of the fiscal year,” said Craig Lindworm, vice president of public affairs at the Association of Public and Land-Granted Universities. “There is still no bilateral agreement on spending levels for the next fiscal year, and so until that happens, much more remains to be done.”
Other key costs of higher education
- Student help: The budget plan would provide more than .6 24.6 billion to fund the Federal Student Aid program, an increase of $ 59 million over the previous year. Although the budget plan fell short of Biden’s proposed increase in grants, it included increased funding for federal work-study (a $ 34 million increase) and a supplementary educational opportunities grant program (a $ 25 million increase), both of which received no surplus. Funding for the President’s budget proposal.
- Extends Federal Student Support for Dreamers: The bill would amend the language in the Higher Education Act of 1965 to allow all students who have temporary residency status through the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (Dream) Act to qualify for PE grants and other federal student loan programs. The provision has strong democratic support but will face criticism in the Senate, where a 50-50 split between Democrats and independents and Republicans will likely block the proposal in the debate.
- HBCU and MSI: Of the $ 3.9 billion allocated for higher education activities, $ 1.1 billion will go directly to minority-service institutions and historically to black colleges and universities, $ 225 million more than the previous year. Of this bill, Howard University would receive $ 394 million, more than Biden’s proposed $ 84 million. Tribal colleges will receive an additional $ 9 million, a total of $ 53 million, for FY 2023. An allocation of $ 520 million will be made for the Department of Education’s Fund for Improvement of Post Secondary Education (FIPSE) which will provide $ 255 million for research and development infrastructure grants. College Fansmith was pleased to see this increase. “Historically, it’s not a secret,” he said [MSIs and HBCUs] Less funding than other organizations. They have many power issues due to discriminatory funding. The work that needs to be done should be done and it is good to see the House doing it. ”
- Increases accountability for profit: The budget plan includes new languages that will require for-profit colleges to raise more revenue from non-federal sources. The House budget plan proposed an amendment to the Higher Education Act that would reduce the revenue ratio that colleges could receive from federal funding to 90 percent to 85 percent for profit. According to Tom Netting, executive director of the Career School Private Education Network, for-profit colleges are opposed to change, which represents career, training and certificate-specific programs, including many for-profit colleges. He said that as additional federal resources are used to finance financial aid programs, changes to the threshold could increase tuition to avoid losing the eligibility of federal funds for profit.
- Career, technical and adult education: The budget plan will allocate $ 11.8 billion for employment and training administration under the Department of Labor to increase funding for adult workforce and educational opportunities by $ 1.3 billion from the previous year. The bill includes রাজ 3.1 billion in funding, state grants under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunities Act (বৃদ্ধি 256 million increase), $ 303 million (an $ 68 million increase) for registered apprenticeship programs, and a $ 100 million empowerment community college training grant ($ 50 million) an increase. Programs that help finance education in high-demand skills through community colleges and four-year partners. Baim, who praised the additional funding, said, “Because of the labor shortage, the job training that our organizations can provide is essential to strengthen the federal government.”
- Child care: The $ 95 million bill, an increase of $ 30 million, means Child Care Access means the Parents in School program, which provides childcare subsidies to college-going parents.
- Other higher education activities: Increased funding was allocated for the Federal Trio Program ($ 1.3 billion, an বৃদ্ধি 161 million increase), GEAR UP ($ 408 million, a $ 30 million increase), and the Teacher Quality Partnership ($ 132 million, a $ 73 million increase).
Funding for other organizations
The proposed budget also includes funding for research-supporting organizations. However, their funding levels fell short of those proposed by President Biden.
Under the House budget plan, the National Institutes of Health will receive $ 47.5 billion, a 5.6 percent increase that is $ 1.4 billion less than Biden’s proposal. This money will fund research on cancer, Alzheimer’s disease and other public health concerns.
In addition, the National Science Foundation will receive $ 783 billion, a 9 percent overall increase that is less than half of the 19 percent increase requested by Biden. The NSF conducts research on climate change and clean energy, and Lindworm says this funding is “critically important” for public research universities.
