Key Points
- Republican-led House committee has proposed cutting the Department of Education’s budget by 15%, lowering funding from $79 billion to $67 billion for fiscal year 2026 (which starts October 1).
- The plan preserves Pell Grant funding but eliminates or sharply reduces several programs, including Federal Work-Study, the Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant, and the Office for Civil Rights.
- Congress needs to pass a budget by October first to avoid a potential government shutdown.
House Republicans are advancing a proposal to reduce the Department of Education’s budgetf by $12 billion, a 15% drop compared with the prior year. The plan reflects President Trump’s goal of shrinking the Department while preserving some of his other priorities, such as workforce training grants.
The proposal, released by the House Appropriations Committee (PDF File), would allocate $67 billion to the agency. You can view a summary of the bill text here (PDF File).
Just like the recently passed One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), House Republicans will keep the maximum Pell Grant at $7,395. However, other key financial aid programs are on the chopping block, including cuts to Federal Work Study, and eliminating the Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG).
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Financial Aid Programs Targeted For Cuts
Even with the Pell Grant program preserved, the proposal would slash or eliminate other programs.
The Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant, which provided $910 million in need-based aid last year, would be eliminated entirely. Federal Work-Study would be reduced to $779 million, $451 million below current levels, limiting the availability of part-time jobs for students.
The plan also cuts funding for the Office for Civil Rights, which enforces anti-discrimination policies on campuses, reducing its budget by $49 million. Teacher training grants, campus childcare programs, and support for foreign language instruction would also be zeroed out.
Programs That Would Be Expanded
Not every initiative faces a cut. Funding would be maintained for TRIO and GEAR UP, two longstanding college access programs that help first-generation and low-income students. These programs had been targeted for elimination under the administration’s earlier plan but remain in the House version after bipartisan pushback.
The budget also includes modest increases for charter schools, career and technical education state grants, and special education services, as well as dedicated support for schools serving students with disabilities such as Gallaudet University and the American Printing House for the Blind.
A symbolic change is also included: renaming Workforce Pell Grants as “Trump Grants” to highlight the administration’s focus on workforce preparation. The renamed grants would support training programs as short as eight weeks.
What Happens Next
It's important to remember that this is just the first proposal. While a budget needs to be passed by October 1 to avoid a government shutdown, this bill still needs to go the full House and Senate. Like we recently saw with the OBBBA, there could be multiple changes before it passes.
The Senate Appropriations Committee has already mentioned keeping the Department of Education’s budget close to current levels at $79 billion. Its plan preserves funding for Federal Work-Study, the Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant, the Office for Civil Rights, and teacher training initiatives.
The split sets up a contentious negotiation between the chambers.
Lawmakers face an October 1 deadline to either pass a budget or adopt a stopgap measure to avoid a government shutdown.
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Editor: Colin Graves
Robert Farrington is the founder of The College Investor and is widely recognized as one of the nation’s leading voices on student loan debt and saving for college. He holds an MBA from UC San Diego Rady School of Management and has spent over 15 years researching, writing, and advising on student loans, 529 plans, financial aid programs, and saving and investing for young professionals.
Robert has been featured in the The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, NBC News, and Forbes, where he has been a regular personal finance contributor for over a decade. His work combines both professional expertise and personal experience – he successfully navigated his own student loan repayment journey and has helped thousands of readers do the same.
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