On March 11 President Biden released his Administration's FY25 proposed budget (PBR), which sets overall spending at $1.629 trillion, including $895 billion in discretionary defense spending, and $734 billion in non-defense discretionary spending. The PBR proposes to increase funding for the Department of Education (ED) to $82 billion in discretionary funding, a $3.1 billion (3.9 percent) increase over the 2023 enacted level. 

Student Aid and Higher Education

Pell Grant: The PBR proposes to increase the maximum Pell Grant award to $8,145 for the 2025-2026 academic year through a mix of both mandatory and discretionary spending, an increase of $750 or 10 percent over the 2023-2024 academic year. On the discretionary spending side, the PBR proposes a $100 increase over FY2023 levels. The PBR also includes a $650 increase to the mandatory add-on award for Pell, which would only be available for public and nonprofit institutions, thus excluding for-profits.

TRIO Program: The budget proposes $1.2 billion, an additional $26 million over FY2023 appropriations, representing an increase of 2 percent.

GEAR UP: The budget proposes $398 million, a $10 million or 3.1 percent increase over FY2023.

Child Care Access Means Parents in School Program: The budget proposes to increase funding to $80 million, an increase of $5 million or 6.7 percent over FY2023.

Supplemental Education Opportunity Grant (SEOG) Program: The budget proposes to flat fund the program at $910 million and provide a $2 million (0.2 percent) increase to the Federal Work Study (FWS) program to $1.2 billion.

Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need (GAANN) Program: The budget proposes to flat fund the program at $23.5 million.

Title VI: The budget would cut Title VI international education programs by $4 million or 5 percent, for a total of $81.5 million.

Title III: The budget proposes $1 million for Aid for Institutional Development, an increase of $71.7 million or 9 percent over FY2023. Title III funds Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs), and Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs), as well institutions eligible for the Strengthening Institutions Program (SIP).

Title V: The budget proposes $276.3 million in Title V aid for 5 Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs), an increase of $21.2 million or 8 percent more than FY2023.

The Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE): The budget proposes an increase of $262 million, up $78 million over FY2023. As a part of this increase, the Postsecondary Student Success Grant (PSSG) program would more than double to receive $100 million, an increase of $55 million over FY2023. It would also include $100 million for the existing HBCU, TCCU, and MSI Research and Development Infrastructure Grants program, and create three new programs: $25 million for a new student mental health and nonacademic needs program, $15 million to states for statewide improvements to improve postsecondary access and success, and $10 million for a Postsecondary Advancement and Success Technical Assistance Center. FIPSE’s budget would include $12 million for the Open Textbooks Pilot Program.

Institute of Education Sciences (IES): The budget proposes $815.5 million for the IES, and furthermore, proposes to rescind $25 million in unobligated FY2024 balances from the Statewide Longitudinal Data Systems and Regional Educational Laboratories accounts expected to be carried over into FY2025. Thus, the result is a proposed FY2025 appropriation of $790 million, a cut of $18 million or 2.3 percent below FY2023.

Student Aid Administration: The budget proposes $2.7 billion, a $625 million increase over the FY2023 level.

Reducing the Costs of College Fund: This is a new proposal from the PBR, a $12 billion mandatory program over 10 years, including Incentivizing Excellence, a $2.4 billion competitive grant for public institutions to scale up strategies that deliver a quality affordable education.

Research and Development:

National Science Foundation (NSF): The budget requests $10.2 billion, a $1 billion increase from the FY2023 enacted level ($9.06 billion). The budget request highlights a proposed $900 million for the CHIPS and Science Act.

National Institutes of Health (NIH): The budget provides $48.3 billion for the NIH base budget (excluding the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H)), an increase of $841 million or 1.7 percent above FY 2023 enacted. The proposal also calls for $1.5 billion for ARPA-H.

Department of State Educational and Cultural Exchange (ECE) Programs: The budget proposes $777.5 million, the same as FY2023 levels, of which $378.8 million is marked for Academic programs. The PBR includes $15.9 million for the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship Program, a 6 percent increase from FY2023 funding.

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA): $1 billion for the Office of Science and Technology, a 33 percent increase over FY2024 levels. All programs within the Office received increases, with the Clean Air and Climate and Homeland Security programs receiving particularly robust increases.

NASA: The budget requests $25.4 billion for NASA, a level equal to FY2023 funding. Higher education organizations are closely following and reacting to the proposed budget. 

National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH): The budget requests $200 million for NEH, a 3.3% decrease over FY2023.

Department of Interior: The Department of Interior Joint Fire Science Program and the USDA Forest Service both request $ 4 million each with a total request of $8 million, an increase of $2 million compared to FY2024 enacted level. Additionally, the request includes $29.7 million for Cooperative Research Units within the US Geological Survey (USGS). And increase of $1.5 million over FY2024.

National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST): The budget includes $27 million for the Manufacturing USA Program (formally knows as the National Network for Manufacturing Innovation), the same funding level as FY 2024. The request level continues support for two institutes sponsored by Commerce, nine by the Department of Defense, and seven by Energy.

Association of Public and Land-grant Universities President Mark Becker said in a statement, “The public university community applauds the administration’s strong proposed investments in the Pell Grant program, but investments in science and research fall well short of what are needed to assure that the United States continues to lead the world in innovation and economic prosperity.”