March 2024
On March 11, President Biden released the administration’s budget request for federal agencies for FY 2025. The budget request came at a time of fiscal spending constraints as Congress worked to wrap up the FY 2024 appropriations process (see related AERA Highlights story). The budget caps included in the Fiscal Responsibility Act limit the extent to which funding for education research and statistics can be increased, and the Biden FY 2025 budget reflects this reality.
Institute of Education Sciences
The FY 2025 budget request includes $815.46 million for the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), an increase of nearly 3 percent over the FY 2024 appropriation. The proposed increases for IES are for the National Assessment Governing Board and for Program Administration, which covers IES salaries and expenses.
As part of the request, $25 million would be rescinded from unobligated carryover funds from FY 2024, with $15 million rescinded from the Regional Educational Laboratories (RELs) and $10 million from the Statewide Longitudinal Data Systems (SLDS) program. The FY 2024 appropriated funds are available for two years through the end of FY 2025. The proposed rescissions account for a significant amount of carryover funds but would not have an impact on continuation funding for the SLDS grants awarded in FY 2023 or for the current REL contracts. The FY 2024 final agreement on appropriations did include cuts for both programs, so the president’s budget request would essentially restore FY 2025 funding for both programs (which would be available for fiscal years 2025 and 2026) at the levels appropriated in FY 2023.
Institute of Education Sciences (in millions)
FY 2022 Omnibus
FY 2023 Omnibus
FY 2024 Final
FY 2025 Budget Request**
Budget Request FY 2025 v. FY 2024 ($)
Budget Request FY 2025 v. FY 2024 (%)
$737.0
$807.6
$793.1
$815.46
$22.35
2.8%
Research, Development and Dissemination
$204.9
$245.0
$245.00
$0.00
0.0%
Regional Educational Laboratories
$58.7
$53.7
$58.73
$5.00
9.3%
Statistics
$111.5
$121.5
$121.50
Assessment
$187.8
$192.8
$193.3
$193.30
Statewide Data Systems
$33.5
$38.5
$28.5
$38.50
$10.00
35.1%
Special Education Studies and Evaluations
$13.3
Research in Special Education
$60.3
$64.3
$64.26
Total - Program Admin =
$669.9
$734.11
$719.6
$734.61
$15.00
2.1%
Program Administration (starting FY 2022)
$67.1
$73.5
$80.85
$7.35
10.0%
**The FY 2025 budget request includes a proposed rescission of $15M from RELs and $10M from SLDS from unobligated FY 2024 carryover funds.
Within the Research, Development and Dissemination account, $52.7 million would be allocated to the Accelerate, Transform, Scale (ATS) initiative, in response to the directive in the FY 2023 appropriations explanatory statement for IES to support quick-turnaround, high-reward, scalable solutions. ATS would support Transformative Research in the Education Sciences grants, the Seedlings to Scale program, and a new Research and Development Center focusing on the use of generative artificial intelligence.
Within the Statistics account, the congressional justification notes the discontinuation of the Baccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal Study due to limited resources. It also notes plans that the National Center for Education Statistics is considering to conduct the full National Postsecondary Student Aid Study every six years compared to the current frequency of every four years.
National Science Foundation
The FY 2025 request includes $10.2 billion for the top line for the National Science Foundation (NSF). Within NSF, the request includes $1.3 billion for the STEM Education (EDU) Directorate and slightly over $8 billion for Research and Related Activities. These represent increases of 12.4 percent for NSF overall, 10.9 percent for the EDU Directorate, and 12.1 percent for Research and Related Activities compared to FY 2024.
National Science Foundation (in millions)
FY 2023 (CJS only)
FY 2023 (Total with Supplemental)
FY 2025 Budget Request
Budget Request
FY 2025 v. FY 2024 ($)
FY 2025 v. FY 2024 (%)
$8,838.9
$9,876.4
$9,060.00
$10,183.00
$1,123.00
12.4%
STEM Education
$1,154.0
$1,246.0
$1,172.00
$1,300.00
$128.00
10.9%
Research and Related Activities
$7,006.1
$7,826.5
$7,176.50
$8,045.32
$868.82
12.1%
The NSF budget request notes that investment in FY 2025 for the EDU Directorate would support strategic collaborations to broaden experiential learning opportunities, to identify and validate improved teaching and learning possibilities through novel and emerging technologies, and to create innovative ecosystems that foster discovery and mobilize knowledge to improve STEM education at every juncture of education, especially in pre-K–12 schools and broad access institutions of higher learning, such as community colleges and Minority-Serving Institutions. The request also includes $82.9 million for the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics.
National Institutes of Health
The president’s budget includes $50.12 billion overall for the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) core foundational research. This amount represents a 6 percent increase over FY 2024 appropriations for foundational research programs. An additional $1.5 billion would be allocated to the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H), making the total request for NIH $51.6 billion.
The request proposes $1.77 billion for the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, an increase of $7.34 million compared to FY 2024.
National Institutes of Health (in billions)
National Institutes of Health (non-ARPA-H)
$44.96
$47.46
$47.08
$50.12
$3.04
6.45%
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
$1.68
$1.75
$1.759
$1.766
$0.01
0.40%
AERA is active on advocacy for the federal investment in agencies that support education research and statistical infrastructure and has joined the following coalitions in supporting robust asks for FY 2025 for agencies that fund education research and statistics. Additional letters and testimony will be available in April as the FY 2025 process moves forward in Congress: