Published On July 13, 2021 The House Appropriations Committee is planning to mark up an initial draft of its funding bill for federal higher education programs on Thursday for fiscal year 2022. The bill largely aligns with President Biden’s budget and includes substantial increases to student financial aid and science research. Over all, the legislation provides $27.2 billion for federal student aid programs and another $3.43 billion for higher education programs, an increase of $889 million from fiscal year 2021 and $122 million above Biden’s budget request. The bill would increase the maximum annual Pell Grant award by $400, as well as boost funding for the National Institutes of Health to $49 billion -- up $6.5 billion from fiscal year 2021 -- and funding for career, technical and adult education to $2.2 billion. The Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies subcommittee sent the bill to the full committee along a party line vote Monday. Representative Tom Cole, a Republican from Oklahoma, said he was supportive of funding increases to the NIH and increases to the Federal TRIO program and Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP). But the bill's current form is unlikely to be its final form, given that Republicans weren’t happy with the overall spending levels in the legislation and the inclusion of Democratic priorities -- particularly the repeal of the Hyde Amendment, a provision that bars the use of federal funds for abortions, which Cole and others highlighted during the subcommittee markup. “With the bill proposing the highest spending levels since World War II, the price tag alone is utterly unrealistic,” Cole said to Representative Rosa DeLauro, a Democrat from Connecticut and chair of the subcommittee. “Madam Chair, you know the Democrats in Congress do not have the majorities capable of passing this bill on their own. In the days and weeks ahead, it’s my hope that members on both sides of the aisle and in both chambers can negotiate spending that won’t lead to financial disaster. But the first step towards that negotiation will be a full reinstatement of the Hyde Amendment.” Parts of the bill go beyond what Biden requested, especially with respect to financial aid. It would provide $1.03 billion for the Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant program and $1.43 billion for the Federal Work-Study program, which would be a combined $392 million above fiscal year 2021 funding levels. Higher education organizations praised the significant increase, with Deborah Santiago, CEO of Excelencia in Education, highlighting its importance for Latinx students, in particular. “When I looked at the student financial aid increases, they were in grants and work-study -- and those two are core areas for the Latino population that make a significant impact on our ability to afford college,” Santiago said. “To see the increases at that level was powerful.” The bill would also increase the maximum Pell Grant award by $400 to $6,895, the same as what Biden requested in his budget. An increase in the award is necessary for renewing the country’s commitment to low- and moderate-income students, said Mamie Voight, interim president of the Institute for Higher Education Policy. Publication URL Read More
