Graduate Psychology Education Program Experiences Setback in House Subcommittee Recommendation

APA Public Policy Office: June 16, 2005

GRADUATE PSYCHOLOGY EDUCATION PROGRAM EXPERIENCES A SETBACK
IN HOUSE SUBCOMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION

The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor-HHS-Education came out with its recommendations for programs under its jurisdiction including those in the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). HRSA is home to the health professions programs which include the Graduate Psychology Education (GPE) Program. The House Subcommittee recommended no funding for GPE for FY'06.

In general, the health professions programs did not fare well in the President's budget (which was released earlier this year) – or in the House Subcommittee mark. The President proposed a 96 percent cut for the Title VII Health Professions Education Programs that include the GPE Program. In FY'05 Health Professions received $450.2 million. The President recommended $160.5 million in FY'05 and the House Subcommittee recommended $197.1 million.

Programs slated for elimination in the House Subcommittee proposal include most of the diversity programs, except for the Scholarships for Disadvantaged Students and all the interdisciplinary programs including: Area Health Education Centers , Health Education and Training Centers , Geriatric Training, the Quentin Burdick Rural Training, and Allied Health Training. The only other programs that survived were the ones for nurse training.

Both the House Subcommittee and the President's budget include $127 million ($5 million less than the $132 million for FY2005) for the National Health Service Corps. This program is also administered by the Bureau of Health Professions and psychologists are eligible to participate in the Loan Repayment Program. There are currently over 300 psychologists serving in the National Health Service Corps.

Regarding the federal Community Health Center (CHC) Program (within the Bureau of Primary Health Care), for which many of the National Health Service Corps participants are placed, the House Subcommittee includes $1.8 billion for FY2006, an increase of $100 million over last fiscal year. Planned for FY 2006 are 1,200 new Community Health Centers for a total of 4,000 nationwide.

Program	FY'05	FY'06 President's Request	FY'06 House Subcommittee
Graduate Psychology Education	$4.5 million	0	0
Rural Health	$6.1 million	0	0
Geriatric Program	$31 million	0	0
National Health Service Corp	$132 million	$127 million	$126.8 million
Community Health Centers	$1.7 billion	$2 billion	$1.8 billion
Nursing Programs	$150.7 million	$150 million	$150 million