Congressional Budget Action for Fiscal Year 2012 and Its Impact on Education Funding

The fiscal year 2012 budget process has been anything but typical or predictable. While fiscal year 2012 starts in just a few weeks on October 1, 2011, the annual appropriations process is far from complete and funding for federal education programs has not yet been finalized. Nevertheless, congressional action in the months that have led up to the start of fiscal year 2012 will have important effects on education funding levels in the appropriations process as well as for other programs, such as student loans and education tax benefits.

This brief by the New America Foundation's Federal Education Budget Project explains how the congressional budget process affects education funding, with special emphasis on the unique circumstances of the fiscal year 2012 budget process. It provides a summary and analysis of the 2012 budget process to date, relevant points of the Budget Control Act of 2011, and little-understood loopholes like advance appropriations.

Read the full issue brief here.