President Obama released his final budget proposal on Tuesday, calling for free community college and an expansion of the Pell Grant program.
The administration's $4.15 trillion FY 2017 blueprint is largely symbolic, reflecting Obama's policy priorities for his final months in office. It includes a litany of long-shot progressive ideas that have little chance of becoming law in the Republican-controlled Congress. Leaders of the House and Senate budget panels have already said they will not even give the document a hearing, according to The Hill.
President Obama's budget would allocate $61 billion to the America's College Promise plan for free community college. This year's proposal would extend the program to historically black colleges and universities and other minority-serving institutions, so students could get up to two years of college at little or no cost. The blueprint would also include tax credits for companies that invest in community colleges and hire their graduates.
The proposal would fully fund the Pell Grant in 2017 and ensure that the maximum grant grows with inflation indefinitely – a provision indexing the program to inflation is due to expire next year. It would restore year-round eligibility for Pell Grants and create a $300 annual bonus for Pell recipients who take at least 15 credits per semester.
The president's budget blueprint would expand and remake the Federal Perkins Loan Program, which expired in October but received a short-term reprieve in December. It would also streamline the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, which has been widely criticized as overly complicated, and shrink the number of loan repayment plans available to borrowers.
Additionally, Obama's proposal would tighten the 90/10 rule to ensure that for-profit institutions could receive no more than 85 percent – rather than the current 90 percent – of their revenues from federal funding sources. The change has long been called for by AACRAO and other consumer and veterans groups.
Related Links
The President's Budget for Fiscal Year 2017
https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget
The Hill
http://thehill.com/policy/finance/268737-obama-unveils-41t-election-year-budget
The Chronicle of Higher Education
http://chronicle.com/article/What-Obamas-2017-Budget-Means/235250