Jason Delisle
Director, Federal Education Budget Project
Making sense of the federal education budget and the appropriations process can be a frustrating task for education advocates, state and local policymakers, the media, and the public. The now concluded fiscal year 2009 appropriations process is no exception due to numerous stopgap funding measures and emergency economic stimulus legislation.
Congress completed the fiscal year 2009 appropriations process on March 10th, 2009, finalizing annual funding for nearly all federal education programs through September 2009 at $62.6 billion, up $3.4 billion from the prior year. The President signed the bill into law the same day.
The New America Foundation’s Federal Education Budget Project has released a guide to the appropriations process and recently enacted 2009 education funding, including economic stimulus funding signed into law earlier this year through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
Federal Education Appropriations(fiscal year, budget authority $ in billions) |
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| Program | 2008 | 2009 | 2009 Stimulus1 |
| Title I | 13.90 | 14.49 | 10.00 |
| Title I school improvement grants | 0.49 | 0.55 | 3.00 |
| Reading first state grants | 0.39 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| IDEA special education state grants | 10.95 | 11.51 | 11.30 |
| Improving teacher quality state grants | 2.94 | 2.95 | 0.65 |
| Educational technology state grants | 0.27 | 0.27 | 0.65 |
| Career and technical education state grants | 1.16 | 1.16 | 0.00 |
| Pell Grants2 | 14.22 | 17.29 | 15.64 |
| Academic Competitiveness/SMART grants3 | 0.40 | 0.07 | 0.00 |
| Supplemental educational opportunity grants | 0.76 | 0.76 | 0.00 |
| Work-study grants | 0.98 | 0.98 | 0.20 |
| TRIO programs | 0.83 | 0.85 | 0.00 |
| GEAR UP program | 0.30 | 0.31 | 0.00 |
| State fiscal stabilization fund | 0.00 | 0.00 | 53.60 |
| Other Education | 11.64 | 11.46 | 1.72 |
| TOTAL EDUCATION APPROPRIATIONS | 59.21 | 62.65 | 96.76 |
The report, 2009 Education Appropriations Guide, by Education Program Research Director Jason Delisle, includes an overview of the appropriations process, a timeline of the now completed 2009 education appropriations, and a table comparing 2008 and 2009 education funding levels by program, including 2009 economic stimulus funding.