In response to today’s release of President Joe Biden’s budget request for fiscal year 2025, Sameer Gadkaree, President of The Institute for College Access & Success (TICAS), issued the following statement:
“We applaud President Biden for proposing an FY25 budget that maintains his Administration’s commitment to economic prosperity through higher education.
“The President’s budget reaffirms his resolve to double the Pell grant by 2029 and proposes increasing the maximum grant amount to $8,145 next year — an increase of $750. More than 7 million students – overwhelmingly from households with family incomes under $40,000 a year – rely on Pell Grants to pay for college each year. The increase would make a real difference in helping these students realize their dream of earning a college degree without taking on overly burdensome debt.
“The budget also would make permanent the non-taxability of any student debt that is discharged by the federal government, including after a borrower has made two decades or more of payments through an income-driven repayment plan.
“It would more than double funding for the Postsecondary Success Grant Program, which ensures more colleges can implement and scale evidence-based strategies to increase college completion.
“The budget renews a call for Congress to create and fund a federal-state partnership that would significantly lower costs for students attending community colleges and minority serving institutions. A proposed new effort would further reduce college costs by supporting and expanding effective strategies to reduce time to degree and increase college completion.
“The investments in higher education proposed by the President today would provide Americans a more equal chance to attain a postsecondary degree, with targeted benefits for students who could most use the help, including historically under-represented students of color and students from lower income backgrounds. We urge lawmakers to make the same commitment to students as we continue to call for policies that create a path to debt-free college, protect students and taxpayers from harmful and predatory colleges, and offer relief for student loan borrowers struggling to repay their debt and achieve financial security.”
