Today, the White House released the President’s FY 25 Budget Request. As the FY 24 appropriations process is still underway, the FY 25 proposal reflects funding levels in comparison to FY 23 enacted levels. The budget proposes to reduce the deficit by about $3 trillion over a decade. The budget does not provide the type of dramatic increases for domestic programs that was included in prior year budgets due to funding caps installed by the Fiscal Responsibility Act last year. As it’s an election year, there is little chance the FY 25 appropriations process will conclude until at some point after the November elections
The President is proposing $82 billion in spending for the Department of Education (ED), a $3.1 billion (3.9%) increase from the FY 23 enacted level. The Department describes its budget as providing targeted investments within the caps created by the Fiscal Responsibility Act.
The Budget would increase the discretionary maximum Pell Grant by $100, and increase the mandatory add-on by $650 for a total maximum award increase of $750 (from $7,395 for the 2024-25 award year to $8,145 for the 2025-26 award year), expanding access and making college more affordable for an estimated 7.2 million students students. Students attending public and non-profit institutions would be eligible to receive the increased mandatory add-on, but not those attending for-profit institutions where the Pell maximum would be $7,495. The Administration’s overall goal is to double the overall Pell maximum grant by 2029.
The budget also calls for eliminating origination fees that are charged to borrowers on new federal student loans.
The budget request proposes a $93 million funding increase above the FY 23 enacted level for HBCUs, TCCUs, and MSIs, as well as a $100 million to expand research and development infrastructure at these institutions. It also proposes offering two years of subsidized tuition to students from families earning less than $125,000 who are enrolled in a four-year HBCU, TCCU, or MSI.
The budget would expand free community college programs through a Federal-State partnership. The Administration proposes two years of free Community College through a $90 billion mandatory program that would create partnerships between the federal government and States, territories, and Tribes for first-time students and workers wanting to reskill. The proposal would provide funding for two years of subsidized tuition up to $4,500 per year for students from families earning less than $125,000.
The budget includes $12 billion mandatory Reducing the Costs of College Fund that would offer competitive grants to public institutions. It would also provide over $7 billion for states to provide access to at least 12 credits of transferable career-connected dual enrollment credits to high school students.
The President is proposing $130.7 billion in discretionary (a $2.2 billion increase from FY 23) and $1.7 trillion in mandatory proposed budget authority for FY 2025 for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
The President’s Budget proposes $636.3 million, a $57 million (9.8%) increase over FY 2023 for the Title VII health professions programs, primarily directed to increases for a consolidated set of behavioral health programs ($253.6 million, a $56.5 million or 28.7% increase) and a proposed new “Health Care Workforce Innovation” program ($10 million), that seeks to incentivize the development of innovative new ways to recruit and train health professionals in order to accelerate progress in addressing workforce shortages.
The budget proposes nearly $72 billion in funding for mental health care over the next 10 years, including funding for the behavioral health workforce and technological infrastructure for behavioral health clinics.
The budget proposes $9.683 billion for the CDC.
The President’s FY 25 budget request may be accessed here. Details on the FY 25 budget request for ED and HHS may be accessed here and here. A funding chart from the Health Professions and Nursing Education Coalition (HPNEC) may be accessed here.