Congress ultimately decided to bump the department’s budget by a full $100 million more than they had appropriated in 2018! Following, we break down ED’s budget for FY19 with a specific eye towards grant funding; we’ll tell you what programs received funding increases, as well as which ones are funded at the same level as last year.

Congress ultimately decided to bump the department’s budget by a full $100 million more than they had appropriated in 2018! Following, we break down ED’s budget for FY19 with a specific eye towards grant funding; we’ll tell you what programs received funding increases, as well as which ones are funded at the same level as last year.

On July 31st President Trump signed into law the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act. This bill effectively reauthorizes the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006. Perkins funds are commonly known for being the federal government’s primary vehicle for supporting Career and Technical Education (CTE) at high schools and community/technical colleges across the country. This is a win for career education advocates who have spent the last 6 years arguing for updates to Perkins law in effort to make it more consistent with previous changes to the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (made in 2013).

With the fiscal year 18 budget recently approved, the Department of Education has released funding for a slew of highly-anticipated grant programs. Many of these newly-opened grant opportunities also happen to align with the current administration’s push for more STEM education. So now that “grant season” is upon us, how did our predictions turn out? Read on to find out about programs open now!

The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2018 includes modest to significant increases across the board, increasing defense allocations by $26 billion and non-defense domestic appropriations by $33 billion. In total, Congress passed a budget that essentially rolls back the draconian cuts that were instituted in 2013 - known as sequestration - surpassing the administration’s request by $143 billion.

Curious to know where we are in this process and how this may impact future education grant funding? Read on!