The Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday approved, 25-3, an $80 billion funding plan for the U.S. Department of Education in fiscal year 2025, or about $1 billion more than the current budget. Included in the proposal are a $100 increase in the maximum Pell Grant award to $7,495 and increases to Title I ($280 million) and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act ($295 million).

The Senate’s bipartisan plan falls below President Joe Biden’s request for $82 billion but stands in stark contrast to the House Appropriations Committee bill, which recommends funding the Education Department at $72 billion.

A Bipartisan Effort to Increase the Maximum Pell Grant

Both Republicans and Democrats on the committee praised the proposed higher education, K-12 and early childhood education funding levels at a markup meeting on Capitol Hill.

The bill, part of a larger proposed appropriation with funding for the departments of Labor and Health and Human Services and for related agencies, “prioritizes our children, starting with early childhood education all the way to college, to make sure our students are prepared for the jobs today, but also in the future,” said Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., ranking member of the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Services Appropriations Subcommittee.

The higher education funding proposal includes the Pell Grant increase, as well as level spending for Federal Work Study and the Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant program.

Read the full article about Pell Grant increases by Kara Arundel at Higher Ed Dive.