Last updated 02.15.2024
The Biden Presidency:
Making higher education more affordable and accessible. Easing the crushing burden of student debt. Protecting academic freedom and campus free speech. Working toward high-quality jobs and careers for educators and staff.
Increasing Federal Funding for Postsecondary Education
- Signed Bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act: Invested $170 billion to support science and technology efforts, including funding for fellowships, scholarships and traineeships for the STEM workforce and funding for higher education institutions to expand research facilities and create regional hubs to support innovation and job creation.
- Increased Investment in CTE: Expanded access to career and technical education, reaching community colleges and school districts throughout the country through the first-ever Perkins Innovation and Modernization grant program and championed investment in programs expanding access to work-based learning while creating more than 4,000 new Registered Apprenticeship programs.
- Released Resources to Prevent Campus Discrimination: Addressed the rise in antisemitism and Islamophobia by working with the National Center on Safe Supportive Learning Environments to develop and promote specialized collections designed to reduce discriminatory practices and keep students safe.
Investing in Our Institutions of Higher Education
- Secured COVID-19 Relief: Signed the American Rescue Plan, which included $40 billion in relief funds for colleges and universities, directly helping thousands of students affected by the pandemic.
- Supported HBCUs, MSIs and TCUs with Groundbreaking Investments: Provided billions in increased funding for historically Black colleges and universities, minority-serving institutions, and tribal colleges and universities, including a new $50 million grant program supporting research and development for infrastructure/capacity for HBCUs, MSIs and TCUs, and directed numerous federal agencies to invest hundreds of millions to pioneer brand-new programs that support HBCUs, MSIs and TCUs to develop STEM pipelines in communities of color.
- Expanded the Industrial Assessment Center Program: Issued $550 million to support creation and expansion of industrial research and assessment centers at higher education institutions, trade schools, community colleges and union training programs.
- Made Historic Increases to Pell Grant Awards: Secured a historic increase in the Pell Grant—a combined increase of $900 to the maximum award—to benefit low- and middle-income students.
- Funded Proven Solutions for Better Student Outcomes: Successfully proposed the creation of Postsecondary Student Success Program grants, providing funding to support institutions implementing evidence-based student success initiatives to complete their postsecondary education.
Tackling the Student Debt Crisis Head-On
- Increased Targeted Relief for Borrowers: Provided over $136.6 billion in targeted student loan relief to more than 3.7 million borrowers.
- Repaired the PSLF Program: Fixed the broken Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, leading to $56.7 billion in loan relief for 793,400 people in public service jobs—including adjunct faculty, teaching professors and other educators—since October 2021, and simplified access to PSLF for contingent faculty.
- Cracked Down on Predatory Colleges: Made regulatory changes to crack down on predatory colleges and universities, and awarded $22.5 billion to more than 1.3 million students who were defrauded by their higher education institutions or whose institutions closed.