Congress funds HBCUs and passes FAFSA simplification, federal spending bills before the close of 2019

Last month Congress passed and the president signed into law, the FUTURE Act, which provides permanent funding for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs), including Northwest Indian College in Bellingham.  The bill also simplifies the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) by eliminating duplicative paperwork between the Internal Revenue Service and the Department of Education.  You can read Senator Patty Murray’s statement about the legislation here.

Congress also passed an omnibus appropriations bill for FY20 that increased the maximum Pell Grant award by $150 to $6,345.  Funding was also increased for the Federal Work Study ($50 million increase), TRIO ($30 million increase), and GEAR-UP ($5 million increase) programs.  The FY20 spending bill also increased funding for many federal agencies that award grants to WWU and other higher education institutions across the country, including the National Institute of Health ($2.6 billion increase), National Science Foundation ($203 million increase), NASA ($1.1 billion increase), and the Department of Energy ($2.9 billion increase, including a $411 million increase for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy programs).