The House Appropriations Committee on Thursday released the all-important Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies fiscal year (FY) 2027 appropriations bill.
The bill, which the Labor-HHS-ED subcommittee will mark up on June 5, incorporates some of the cuts proposed by the Trump administration but also includes funding increases for some key community college priorities.
Community college advocates anxiously awaited to see how the bill would address the looming $16-plus billion Pell Grant shortfall. The measure would provide $250 million in additional funds for the program, enabling a $50 increase to the Pell Grant maximum award, bringing the maximum to $7,445.
While President Donald Trump asked for $10.5 billion to address the Pell Grant shortfall, the House draft would close the gap by ending subsidized undergraduate Direct Loans for new borrowers starting July 1, 2027. These savings would generate $16.3 billion of mandatory funds for Pell Grants in FY27, and $1.2 billion each year thereafter. This would largely eliminate the shortfall, but will face strong opposition, making its prospects in the Senate unclear.
How other programs fare
As was done last year, the bill leaves the door open for nearly all Higher Education Act Title III-A and V funds, which are typically divided among several Minority Serving Institutions programs, to be funneled into a super-sized Strengthening Institutions Program. (The FY26 competition is ongoing; colleges are encouraged to file applications.)
The bill also would provide $11 million more for this function than was provided in FY26. Tribal Colleges and Historically Black Colleges and Universities got bumps of $4 million and $1 million, respectively. But the legislation would cut the Supplemental Educational Opportunities Grant program by 40% (to $546 million) and Federal Work Study by 26% (to $908 million).
Funding for other programs in the higher education account is not spelled out in the bill but rather in a committee report that will be released next week. However, according to a fact sheet released by appropriations committee Democrats, TRIO and GEAR-UP would each see increases by $6 million, while nixing HEA Title VI international education programs.
Boost for Perkins
The bill includes a slight increase of $8 million for Perkins career and technical education programs, but it would eliminate the Adult Basic Education program, according to the Democrats’ fact sheet. This is in keeping with the administration’s request. There is no indication that Trump’s proposal to move all Perkins funds to secondary institutions was endorsed by the subcommittee. This has been a concern for community college advocates, though the same proposal was rejected last year.
In both dollar and percentage terms, the Department of Labor (DOL) fares the worst of the three major agencies funded by the bill. It would cut DOL funding by $3.7 billion, or 27%. Two of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act formula programs – Youth and Adult – would be eliminated, while funding for Dislocated Workers is steady.
$10M more for SCCTG
Community colleges are extremely pleased to see an increase of $10 million for DOL’s Strengthening Community Colleges Training Grants program, to $75 million. AACC members advocated aggressively for this increase, following three years of level funding. Funding for DOL apprenticeships would also increase by $5 million, to $290 million.
Assuming subcommittee approval, the full Appropriations Committee will take up the bill on June 9. The Senate has not scheduled a markup on its corresponding bill.
Jim
