2017 Education Budget Request

• By Deb Moore
• 02/15/16

On February 9, 2016 President Obama released his Fiscal Year 2017 Budget. The President's budget request for FY 2017 includes $69.4 billion in discretionary funding, an increase of a 2 percent ($1.3 billion) over the 2016 appropriation.  The focus of the 2017 Budget includes increasing equity and excellence; providing support for teachers and school leaders; expanding access, affordability, and completion in higher education.

The budget supports the implementation of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) signed by President Obama on December 10, 2015. This bipartisan measure reauthorizes the 50-year-old Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), and replaces the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act, the previous version of the law that was enacted in 2002.

Details of the budget proposal include:

• $15.4 billion for Title I Grants to school districts
• A commitment to early learning as a path to opportunity anchored by President Obama's Preschool for All proposal
• $120 million for a new Stronger Together Grants program
• $4 billion in mandatory funding over three years for the new Computer Science for All program
• $138 million for more vigorous enforcement of our nation's civil rights laws
• $1 billion mandatory investment to support a nationwide effort to attract and retain effective teachers in high-need schools
• $125 million for the proposed Teacher and Principal Pathways program
• $10 million for Teach to Lead grants
• $61 billion in mandatory funding over the next decade for America's College Promise
• Support and encourage on-time degree attainment through Pell for Accelerated Completion
• Increase the Pell Grant by an additional $300 through the On-Track Pell Bonus
• Reward colleges that successfully enroll and graduate a significant number of low-income students through the new College Opportunity and Graduation Bonus program
• Expand postsecondary opportunity to incarcerated individuals eligible for release through the Second Chance Pell proposal

More information on the Department of Education's budget request can be found at www.ed.gov/budget.