Federal Education Budget Project

The Congressional Democratic majority has made increasing education funding a priority in its fiscal year 2008 spending plan. Their Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies (Labor-H) appropriations conference agreement proposes increases in education for fiscal year 2008 that, if enacted, would result in one of the largest year-over-year increases (in nominal terms) in Department of Education funding since the No Child Left Behind Act was passed in 2002.

The New America Foundation released two reports today on the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) reauthorization and the pending federal education budget. The reports identify steps Congress may choose to pursue in expanding early childhood education and eliminate a budget “gimmick” utilized by Democrats and Republicans in Congress to fund next year’s education program before a full federal budget is created. The reports were released today at an event held at the New America Foundation attended by leading experts… more

The candidates for the 2008 presidential nominations have not been as detailed about education policy as in some recent elections. But that doesn’t mean the stakes of the Democratic and Republican races aren’t high for K-12 schools. ...

As the campaign edges closer to the stage when votes are cast, candidates will start answering those questions in more detail, suggests Marc Lampkin, the executive director of Strong American Schools, a nonpartisan effort aimed at encouraging the presidential candidates to lay out… more

Director, Federal Education Budget Project
As Director of the Federal Education Budget Project for the Education Policy Program at the New America Foundation, Jason Delisle develops and manages content for the project, including a database containing federal funding information on every school district in the country, issue briefs on the federal education budget process, and… more

One month after President Bush reluctantly signed legislation requiring the government to auction the rights to make student loans, the Education Department is calling the new program unworkable and inflexible. Even some proponents of auctions agree, while the loan industry says that the plan will hurt borrowers by narrowing their lender choices.

The auction program is included in the College Cost Reduction and Access Act that Bush signed on September 27 despite a veto threat. The bidding requirement attracted little… more

... The 2008 fiscal year began Oct. 1. Congress has passed a measure that continued to finance most federal programs at fiscal 2007 levels until mid-November.

If President Bush follows through on his threat, Democrats in Congress would likely attempt to override a veto of the Labor-HHS-Education bill, but most observers say it doesn’t appear that congressional leaders would have the necessary two-thirds majority.

The House approved the Labor-HHS-Education spending bill by a vote of 276-140 on July… more

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TRIO Programs

The TRIO programs, established by the Higher Education Act of 1965, are early intervention outreach programs that primarily promote college access in middle school and high school. A small portion of TRIO funding supports continuing higher education for adults. The programs specifically target first-generation, low-income students. The government now funds six TRIO outreach programs, the largest of which are Upward Bound, Student Support Services, and Talent Search.  {Insert Chart Listing TRIO Program}  These programs provide academic, career,… more

In addition to loans and grants, the federal government offers a series tax benefits to students and their families to help lessen the cost of higher education. There are twelve higher education-related tax benefits included in the Internal Revenue Code. The six largest are detailed below. They are: (1) the Hope Scholarship Credit; (2) Lifetime Learning Credit; (3) the Tuition and Fee Deduction; (4) the Student Loan Interest Deduction; (5) Coverdell Education Savings Accounts; and (6) Qualified Tuition Program… more