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Advocacy Update

May 15, 2009

President Obama’s FY10 Budget Request

President Obama released detailed budget plans for Fiscal Year 2010 on May 7. The following is a summary of key areas that BHEF is focusing on:

  1. Department of Education (ED)
    a. P-12 Education
    b. Higher Education
    c. Education Research
  2. Science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education across agencies
  3. Research and development (R&D) across agencies

1. Department of Education

In addition to funds committed for FY09 and FY10 through ARRA, the President has requested $46.7 billion in discretionary appropriations for ED. This represents an increase of $1.3 billion over the discretionary total provided in the regular 2009 appropriations act.
President Obama outlined five pillars for reforming America’s schools that guide both the implementation of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) and his President's FY10 Budget request for the Department of Education (ED):

  • Investing in early childhood education and expanding access to quality childcare.
  • Challenging States to adopt world-class college- and career-ready academic standards and assessments.
  • Recruiting, preparing, and rewarding effective teachers.
  • Promoting innovation and excellence in America's schools by expanding charter schools, extending learning time, and turning around low-performing schools.
  • Increasing the number of people pursuing higher education and earning a postsecondary degree or certificate.

To build on the Recovery Act, the President has requested $46.7 billion in discretionary appropriations for ED. This represents an increase of $1.3 billion over the discretionary total provided in the regular 2009 appropriations act. Below are some highlights on budget requests for each section of the education pipeline. Other key proposals in the President’s FY10 Budget request for ED can be found in the full budget request.

A. P-12 Education
The President’s FY10 Budget request for K-12 education builds on the historic increases for education provided by the Recovery Act, and on the significant State level reforms promoted by the Recovery Act, to provide more targeted support in areas that President Obama has identified as critical for reforming our schools. The request includes the following highlights:

  • $800 million towards the President's Zero-to-Five initiative to improve early childhood education: $500 million for a new program of Title I Early Childhood Grants and $300 million for the first phase of the Early Learning Challenge Fund.
  • $517 million to the Teacher Incentive Fund, a $420 million increase that would increase the incentive for States and school districts to reform educator compensation systems in order to reward successful teaching and school leadership, and to expand financial incentives for our best teachers and principals to work in our most challenging schools.
  • $10.0 million for the Promise Neighborhoods initiative to provide 1-year planning grants to non-profit, community-based organizations to enable them to develop plans and establish partnerships for the development of comprehensive neighborhood programs for children and youth, from birth through college, to help them succeed in education and life.
  • $1.5 billion for Title I School Improvement Grants, an increase of $1 billion over the regular 2009 level, to continue helping States and school districts to expand their capacity to identify and implement effective turnaround strategies. The request also would require States to ensure that 40 percent of these funds are spent on improvement activities in middle and high schools.
  • $13.0 billion for Title I Grants to Local Educational Agencies, a decrease of $1.5 billion that reflects the unprecedented increase provided for this program through the Recovery Act, much of which will remain available in fiscal year 2010. The proposed decrease would permit the reallocation of significant resources to two Administration priorities that are likely to help improve low-performing schools: a $1 billion increase for Title I School Improvement Grants and $500 million for a new program of Title I Early Childhood Grants.
  • $100 million for the What Works and Innovation Fund, which will help identify, evaluate, and scale up proven strategies for improving student achievement and closing achievement gaps in low-performing schools.
  • $50 million for a High School Graduation Initiative to provide assistance to LEAs to test and implement strategies for increasing the graduation rate, particularly in those high schools (and their feeder schools) with unacceptably low rates.
  • $410.7 million for State Assessment Grants to encourage States to strengthen their State academic content and achievement standards, including by developing and implementing rigorous college- and career-ready standards and high-quality assessments that are valid and reliable for all students.

B. Higher Education
The President's FY10 Budget requests over $129 billion in new grants, loans, and work-study assistance in 2010, a 32 percent increase over the amount available in 2008. The request also includes $2 billion for Higher Education Programs. The request includes the following highlights:

  • Asks Congress to end entitlements for financial institutions that process Federal postsecondary student loans to students and make all new loans through the direct lending program. Using direct lending to originate and service all new postsecondary student loans is projected to save an estimated $21 billion over 5 years.
  • Establish a Pell Grant maximum of $5,550 for the 2010-11 academic year and then index the maximum grant to grow faster than inflation in future years (at a rate equal to the consumer price index plus 1 percentage point). The budget would also make Pell Grant funding mandatory, rather than discretionary. These changes would result in a 2-year increase in funding for Pell Grants (from the 2008-09 school year to the 2010-11 school year) of $10.4 billion, or 57 percent. The number of recipients would rise by nearly 1.5 million, or 24 percent, over the same period.
  • $6 billion a year in new Perkins loan volume—six times the current volume—for up to 2.7 million students at roughly 2,700 additional postsecondary education institutions. The loans would have the same 5 percent interest rate and allowed loan amounts (both undergraduate and graduate) as in the current Perkins program. Institutional loan forgiveness costs on existing loans, currently supported by discretionary appropriations, would be fully funded from the Federal share of Perkins Loan collections. To make loans more broadly available and help finance the expanded Pell Grant, interest on the loans would accrue while students are in school. The Department would service Perkins Loans along with other Federal loans, with estimated overall savings totaling $3.2 billion over 5 years.
  • $500 million for the proposed College Access and Completion Fund in 2010 and $2.5 billion over five years to build a Federal-State-local partnership to improve college success and completion, particularly for disadvantaged students. This program would make flexible grants for States and national entities to carry out innovative programs designed to increase postsecondary enrollment and completion, with an emphasis on data for evaluation and improvement.
  • $454 million in discretionary funding for the Aid for Institutional Development programs, an increase of $31.6 million, or 7.5 percent, over the 2009 level. The request provides a 5 percent increase over the 2009 level for virtually all of the Title III discretionary grant programs and first-time discretionary funding for two newly authorized programs. The request also provides a 5 percent increase over the 2009 level for the Developing Hispanic-serving Institutions program to improve and expand their capacity to serve Hispanic and low-income students.
  • $118.9 million for the International Education and Foreign Language Studies programs to develop expertise in foreign languages and area and international studies.
  • $905.1 million for Federal Trio Programs in combined discretionary and mandatory appropriations to maintain college preparation and college student support services for participants.
  • $313.2 million for the Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP) programs to provide an estimated 765,000 middle and high school students preparing for college. 
  • $47.4 million for the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education, including funds for a new initiative designed to improve postsecondary education at community colleges.
  • $1 million for the Erma Byrd Scholarship program and $81.4 million for merit- and need- based scholarships and fellowships to postsecondary students under the Byrd Honors Scholarships, Javits Fellowships, and Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need (GAANN) programs.

C. Education Research
The President's FY10 Budget requests $689.3 million for IES activities, an increase of $72.1 million over the 2009 level. This request would increase funding for programs of research, development, and dissemination about learning and instruction, including support for new research initiatives focused on how students learn to read for understanding and to help identify and scale up promising educational innovations.

The request also would maintain the Administration's commitment to supporting high quality statistics and assessment programs, including a new longitudinal study of teachers and a new international assessment of adult competencies; implementation of the 2010 national U.S. history, civics, and geography assessments under the National Assessment of Educational Progress; and assistance to help States improve the quality of longitudinal student data systems. Finally, the request would provide continued funding for an evaluation of the Regional Educational Laboratories (REL) as well as the final year of the REL contracts.

2. FY10 Budget Requests for STEM Education across agencies

The President's FY10 Budget requests  $3.7 billion in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) in more than 100 education program throughout the federal government, an increase of $98 million or 2.7 percent over the 2009 enacted level for these programs. Significant new investments will be made in programs at NSF and Department of Energy. In addition, ARRA provides an additional $276 million for these programs in FY09 and FY10. The request includes the following highlights:

  • $122 million for the National Science Foundation (NSF) to triple the number of Graduate Research Fellowships (GRF) to 3,000 by 2013.
  • Funding for the Math and Science Partnerships (MSPs) sustained at $179 million for the Department of Education component in the 2010 budget, and $58 million for the NSF component. Both components facilitate partnerships between local school districts and higher education institutions to improve math and science education.
  • $115 million for Department of Energy (DOE) to launch a new DOE Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) RE-ENERGYSE (REgaining our ENERGY Science and Engineering Edge) program. The program will form the core of DOE’s participation in a joint DOE-NSF initiative to inspire American students to pursue STEM careers, particularly in clean energy.
  • $64 million, an increase of $12 million, for NSF’s Advanced Technological Education (ATE) program to promote partnerships between higher education (focused on two-year institutions) and employers to educate technicians for high technology fields.
  • $37 million, up from the $28 million 2009 enacted level, to expand the Department of Defense’s (DOD) Science, Mathematics and Research for Transformation (SMART) program of physical sciences and engineering graduate scholarships with a government service component.

3. FY10 Budget Requests for Research and Development across agencies

The President's FY10 Budget requests $147.6 billion for the Federal investment in research and development (R&D), an increase of $555 million or 0.4 percent more than the 2009 enacted level. In 2009, 2009 enacted appropriations and preliminary allocations of Recovery Act funding increase the Federal R&D investment to a record $165.4 billion; Recovery Act funds will be spent in 2009 and 2010 These investments, spread across two dozen Federal departments and independent agencies, reflect the Administration’s recognition that science, technology, and innovation are critical tools for making progress toward the national goals of a prosperous economy, a clean energy future, a healthy American people, and a strong and secure America.

The President’s budget is also focused on the Administration’s goal of doubling the budgets for three key basic research agencies – the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Department of Energy’s Office of Science (DOE SC) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

The 2010 budget includes a special emphasis on basic and applied research to fundamentally improve our understanding of nature, revolutionize key fields of science, and foster radically new technologies. The 2010 Federal research portfolio (comprising basic and applied research) totals $59.0 billion, and provides $84.1 billion in development funding. Agency highlights include:

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) budget proposes $30.8 billion in appropriations for NIH, an increase of $443 million or 1.5 percent above the 2009 enacted level. In addition, NIH received $10.4 billion in Recovery Act funding, which will be spent in 2009 and 2010. After relatively sustained funding between 2004 and 2008, the Recovery Act provides an unprecedented increase for NIH.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) budget proposes an increase in funding to $7.0 billion in the 2010 budget, 8.5 percent more than in the 2009 enacted level, and will support more researchers, students, post-doctoral fellows and technicians contributing to the innovation enterprise.

- The Department of Defense (DOD) budget maintains scientific and technological preeminence for our armed forces with a total R&D investment of $79.7 billion, a decrease of $1.9 billion from the 2009 enacted level due to proposed cuts in lower-priority weapons development programs and congressional projects. The budget proposes $3.2 billion for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), 4 percent more than the 2009 enacted level, and sustains DOD’s commitment to increasing its support for basic research with a $1.8 billion investment, including $90 million in funding for the National Defense Education Program (NDEP), an increase from $69 million in 2009.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) budget provides $18.7 billion for space-based research that supports the Administration’s commitment to deploy a global climate change research and monitoring system, space exploration involving humans and robots, the safe flight of the Space Shuttle, continued use of the International Space Station, and a renewed commitment to aeronautics research. NASA’s R&D portfolio totals $11.4 billion in the 2010 budget, an increase of $1.0 billion or 10 percent over the 2009 enacted level.

The Department of Energy (DOE) R&D portfolio totals $10.7 billion in the 2010 budget, an increase of $119 million or 1.1 percent over the 2009 enacted level (excluding $2.4 billion in preliminary allocations of Recovery Act funds for R&D activities). DOE’s Office of Science (DOE SC) Budget of $4.9 billion is 3.5 percent more than the 2009 enacted level, and increases funding for both research and cutting-edge facilities, as part of the President’s commitment to double funding over a decade. The budget focuses on improving our understanding of climate science, continues the U.S. commitment to international science and energy experiments, and expands Federal support at the frontiers of energy research and includes a proposed $280 million to fund an initial eight multi-disciplinary Energy Innovation Hubs to support cross-disciplinary R&D focused on the barriers to transforming energy technologies into commercially deployable materials, devices and systems.

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) R&D increases to $1.1 billion in the 2010 budget, up $29 million or 3 percent from the 2009 enacted level.

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) invests in technological innovation through research, advanced measurement, and standards development. The 2010 budget of $652 million for NIST’s intramural laboratories will improve NIST’s research capabilities by providing high performance laboratory research and facilities for a diverse portfolio of basic research in areas such as health information technology, the digital smart grid, and carbon measurements.