Joe Biden unveiled his FY2024 budget this week. Among its higher ed priorities are an increase in ... [+]
President Joe Biden proposed a budget Thursday that would increase Pell Grants, renews his call for free community college, and significantly boosts federal research spending for fiscal year 2024.
Under Biden’s budget blueprint, which, owing to a divided Congress, has no chance of being passed in its current form, the U.S. Department of Education would receive $90 billion in discretionary spending, representing nearly a 14% increase over the current year. Biden has proposed an overall budget of $6.8 trillion for the federal fiscal year beginning October 1.
Biden said his budget would “lift the burden off families in America,” adding, during a speech in Philadelphia, that he want to invest in all of America. “Too many people have been left behind and treated like they’re invisible. Not anymore. I promise I see you.”
Here are some of the budget highlights that would affect higher education:
Pell Grant Increase
Biden proposed a $820 increase to the maximum Pell Grant, the main source of federal financial aid for students from low and moderate-income families. That increase would bring the maximum total Pell Grant award from its current $7,395 to $8,215 and would be another step toward the administration’s goal of doubling the maximum award by 2029.
Free Community College
Biden has also put nation-wide free community college back on the table. As a starter, he is proposing spending $500 million for an Accelerated Success: Free Community College program. The money would fund grants to community colleges or state systems of community colleges to offer students tuition-free programs that lead to transfers to four-year institutions or that prepare them for good-paying jobs.
Other Financial Aid
Biden also budgeted for a tuition subsidy of up to $4,500 per year for two years for students from families earning less than $125,000 who enroll in four-year historically Black colleges and universities, tribal colleges and universities, or other minority-serving institutions.
More Research Spending
Under Biden’s budget, the National Science Foundation would receive almost $2 billion more in funding, bringing its total to $11.3 billion, and the National Institutes of Health would see an increase of $920 million, a bump of only 2%.
Other Items
Biden proposed more funding for TRIO and Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP), two programs that attempt to help prepare low-income and other underrepresented students for college. TRIO would get $106.8 million over the 2023 enacted level, and GEAR UP would receive $20 million more.
Biden’s budget adds $350 million to enable four-year HBCUs, tribal colleges and other minority serving institutions to improve their research, physical and development infrastructure.
Biden also requested $165 million for Postsecondary Student Success Grants, which would provide competitive grants “to implement or expand evidence-based, institutional level retention and completion reforms that improve student outcomes.” And he asked for $150 million for a new School- and Campus-Based Mental Health Service to address student mental health needs, including the hiring of additional mental health providers.
Republican leaders were quick to condemn Biden’s budget, setting the stage for a protracted battle over federal spending and raising the debt limit. Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley called it “a roadmap to fiscal ruin.” House Speaker Kevin McCarth was quoted by the AP as saying, “it just seems like it’s going to create the biggest government in history. I don’t think that’s what we need at this time.” Still, Republicans in the House have yet to be able to agree on what to put on the budget bargaining table so the prospects for any agreement remain remote at this time.
