On March 11, President Joe Biden released his proposed budget for Fiscal Year (FY) 2025, requesting $82 billion for the Department of Education, just slightly above current funding levels. The budget announcement came days after the State of the Union address in which he called for teacher pay raises and increasing the Pell Grant.
The request includes a $40 million budget increase for Perkins, which is just under a 3 percent increase over FY23 levels (remember that FY 24 appropriations are still making their way through Congress). Further, the budget proposes $64 million for the continuation and expansion of the department’s Career-Connected High Schools competitive grant program. It is important to note that competitive grant programs only reach a limited number of students at schools that may be more equipped to apply for and manage the grants, whereas formula grant programs, such as the Perkins Basic State Grant, reach all students, so our primary advocacy focus is on the Basic State Grant.
In total, the Department of Education budget proposes an increase of $3.9 billion over the FY 2023 budget, including the following programs:
Secondary
- $18.6 billion for ESSA Title I, a $200 million increase over FY23
- $14.4 billion for the IDEA State Grants, a $200 million increase over FY23
- $215 billion for teacher-preparation grants, including $90 million for the Supporting Effective Educator Development grant
- $173 million for the Teacher and School Leader Incentive Fund to support recruitment and retention of educators
Postsecondary
- $2.7 billion for the Office of Federal Student Aid (FSA)
- $900 increase to the Pell Grant, raising the maximum award from $7,395 to $8,145 for students in public and non-profit institutions
- $1.23 billion for Federal Work Study
For the Department of Labor, the budget $13.9 billion, which is about $318 million over FY23 levels. As part of this request, the Administration is not proposing funding increases for many existing workforce development programs, which is due in part to the budgetary caps established by the Fiscal Responsibility Act. However, there is a newly proposed Career Training Fund, which would be funded at $8 billion over the next 10 years and jointly administered by the Departments of Labor, Education and Commerce. Per the department’s budget materials, this new funding stream would provide “up to $10,000 per worker to support the cost of high-quality, evidence-based training with additional funding for wrap-around supports.”
Additionally, the budget calls for $335 million for Registered Apprenticeship opportunities, with $50 million earmarked to expand existing Registered Apprenticeship programs in clean energy occupations. The budget also allocates $70 million for community colleges to enhance collaborative, high-quality training programs with the public workforce development system and employers.
Comments