Final Outcome of Fiscal Year 2012 Appropriations for Education Programs
The following chart provides an overview of current fiscal year spending levels for programs of interest to psychology. Overall, spending for the entire Department of Education was slightly reduced in Fiscal Year 2012, from $71.4 billion to $71.3 billion.
Congress included report language in the section funding School Improvement Grants (SIG) Program that directs schools receiving SIG grants to have a plan to address “non-academic” needs of students including “improving overall school climate,” “addressing appropriate mental health needs and interventions of students at the school in an integrated manner,” “providing access to school-based counseling services; the development of school-based systems, such as teams, to identify and address individual student academic, behavioral, health, or social needs and to support a positive and developmentally appropriate school climate” among other directives. APA’s Education Government Relations Office will closely monitor the implementation of these provisions.
| Program | FY’11 | FY’12 President Request | FY’12 Final | Program Description* |
| Work Study | $978.5 million | $980.5 million | $978.5 million | Campus-based program that provides grants to institutions of higher education to pay wages for needy undergraduate and graduate students working part-time to help pay for college costs. |
| Teacher Quality (Higher Education) | $43 million | $0 | $43 million | Competitive grant program to institutions of higher education and states for pre-service teacher education. |
| Pell Grant/Maximum Grant | $22.96 billion/$4,860 | $28.6 billion/$4860 | $22.8 billion/$4860 | Need-based financial grant program designed to provide access to postsecondary education by providing aid to low and middle income undergraduate students. |
| GAANN/Javitz
(Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need) | $31/8 million | $40.1 million/$0 | $31 million/$0 | The GAANN program provides fellowships in areas of national need to academic departments of IHEs to assist graduate students with excellent academic records who demonstrate financial need and plan to pursue the highest degree available in their course of study. The Javits program provides financial assistance to students who have demonstrated superior academic ability and achievement, exceptional promise, and financial need to undertake graduate study leading to a doctoral degree or a master's degree in the selected field of study of the arts, humanities and social sciences. |
| TRIO/GEAR UP | $826.5/$302.8million | $920.1/$323.2 million | $841.5/$302.8 | TRIO and GEAR UP provide student support services to low-income, first-generation, disadvantaged individuals to help them enter and complete postsecondary study. |
| IES | $608.8 million | $760.5 million | $594.8 million | The Institute of Education Sciences supports research, evaluation and statistics to provide solutions to challenges faced by schools. |
| IES Regional Labs | $57.5 million | $69.7 million | $57.5 million | Provide support for 5-year contracts to establish a networked system of 10 Regional Educational Laboratories to carry out applied research, development, dissemination and technical assistance activities. Eligible applicants include research organizations, institutions, and agencies, IHEs, or partnerships. |
| IES Research | $199.8 million | $260.4 million | $190.1 million | This program supports rigorous research that contributes to the solution of significant education problems in the United States. |
| IES Research in Special Education | $51 million | $58.1 million | $50 million | This program supports a comprehensive research program to promote the highest quality and rigor in research on special education and related services, and to address the full range of issues facing children with disabilities, parents of children with disabilities, school personnel and others. |
| Elementary and Secondary School Counseling program | $52.4 million | $0 | $52.4 million | This program provides competitive grants to local educational agencies (LEAs) to help develop promising and innovative approaches for initiating or expanding elementary and secondary school counseling programs. |
| Gifted and Talented | The purpose of this program is to carry out a coordinated program of scientifically based research, demonstration projects, innovative strategies and similar activities designed to build and enhance the ability of elementary and secondary schools to meet the special educational needs of gifted and talented students. | |||
| Safe and Drug Free/Promise Neighborhood | $119.9/$29.9 | $0/$150 million | $65/$60 million | These programs provide financial assistance for drug and violence prevention activities and activities that promote the health and well-being of students in elementary and secondary schools, and institutions of higher education. Activities may be carried out by SEAs and LEAs, and by other public or nonprofit organizations. |
| State Grants for Teacher Quality (ESEA) | $1.68 billion | $1.68 billion | $1.68 billion | The purpose of the program is to increase academic achievement by improving teacher/ principal quality. It is carried out by increasing the number of: highly qualified teachers in classrooms; highly qualified principals and assistant principals in schools; and increasing the effectiveness of teachers and principals by holding LEAs and schools accountable for improvements in student academic achievement. |
| Alcohol Abuse and Reduction | $6.9 million | $0 | $0 | This program enables LEAs to develop and implement innovative and effective programs to reduce alcohol abuse in secondary schools. Up to 25 percent of funding may be reserved for grants to low-income and rural LEAs. |
| Title I | $14.46 billion | $14.79 billion | $14.52 billion | This program provides formula-based supplemental funds for educationally disadvantaged students, particularly those attending schools in high poverty areas. |
| IDEA | $12.54 billion | $12.86 billion | $12.65 billion | This formula program supports educational and early interventions for children with disabilities, paying for the excess cost of providing special education and related services to children with disabilities. |
| IDEA – personnel prep | $88.5 million | $90.7 million | $88.5 million | This program provides support to train personnel with the skills and knowledge necessary to help children with disabilities succeed educationally. |
| Early Readers/Striving Readers | $0 | $0 | $160 million | Early Reading First supports enhancing early reading skills in preschool programs. Striving Readers seeks to raise middle and high school students’ literacy levels in Title I-eligible schools as well as build a strong, scientific research base for strategies that improve adolescent literacy instruction. |
| School Improvement Grants | $534.6 million | $600 million | $534.6 million | The Title I School Improvement Grants provide states and districts funding to leverage change and turn around schools. Funds may be used for a range of interventions, including restructuring Title I schools that fail to make adequate yearly progress for five years. |
| 21st century Community Learning Centers | $1.15 billion | $1.27 billion | $1.15 billion | This program helps communities establish or expand community learning centers that provide extended learning opportunities for students and related services for their families. |
| Race to the Top | $698.6 million | $900 million | $550 million | Race to the Top is a competitive grant program to encourage and reward States that are implementing significant reforms in the four education areas described in the ARRA: enhancing standards and assessments, improving the collection and use of data, increasing teacher effectiveness and achieving equity in teacher distribution, and turning around struggling schools. |
*Program Descriptions are drawn from Department of Education Website.
