Lawmakers approved $1.7 trillion spending package for fiscal year 2023, with the Department of Education allocated a total of $79.6 billion in discretionary funds—an increase of $3.2 billion from last year’s discretionary funds.

$24.6 billion for Federal Student Aid programs was allocated this year, an increase of $34 million from last year’s. This includes $7,395 for the maximum Pell Grant, $910 million for the Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant Program, and $1.2 billion for the Federal Work Study. 

The bill provides an increase of $137 million more for historically underfunded institutions—Historically black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs)— $396 million for HBCUs, an increase of $33 million from last year. $228 million for Hispanic Serving Institutions and $52 million for Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities.

The bill also provides investments in higher education programs like Federal TRIO programs, allocated $1.2 billion, an increase of $54 million from last year, $388 million for GEAR UP, and $70 million for Teacher Quality Partnerships. 

$75 million for the Child Care Access Means Parents in School, $15 million for Hawkins Centers of Excellence, $50 million for new HBCU,TCU, and MSI Research and Development Infrastructure Grants program, and $45 million for Postsecondary Student Success grants.

Despite the additional funding, the Biden administration had requested $13 billion more, as reported by Inside Higher ED.

“We hoped for more support than that,” said David Baime, senior vice president for government relations for the American Association of Community Colleges in a statement with Inside Higher ED. “Our students and our colleges are facing increased costs and challenges with enrollment in most places, and they rely upon the federal government for support.”