Higher Education Faces New Spending Limits as House Appropriations Bill Advances

As expected, the House spending bill reflects the committee's emphasis on maintaining strict caps on overall spending, resulting in a topline number of $189.3 billion, 3 percent less than current funding. For the Department of Education (ED), the bill proposes a 10 percent cut.

A manager's amendment included in the House bill directs the Department of Education to classify advanced nursing programs as professional degrees. If enacted, this change would grant nursing students access to higher federal borrowing limits of 50,000 dollars annually, effectively exempting them from the restrictive $20,500 annual cap for general graduate students that is set to take effect July 1.

While this provision is a significant win for the healthcare workforce pipeline, it remains an incomplete solution by singling out nursing while excluding other critical professional fields. Emmanual Guillory, senior director of government relations at ACE, noted that while this amendment is a critical development, the timing remains a major hurdle.

"It would be more ideal if Congress could agree to this before July 1," Guillory told Inside Higher Ed in a recent interview. "But the Department of Education would have to abide by this if and when it is agreed to, regardless of timing."

As the process moves forward, ACE and the higher education community are continuing to advocate for a more comprehensive definition to ensure that all high-demand professional degrees remain accessible to students.

Beyond the nursing provision, the House spending bill introduces several measures that could impact colleges and universities:

Foreign research partnerships: The bill seeks to severely limit institutional engagement with foreign entities by banning federal funding for work with foreign entities deemed "controlled by the Chinese Communist Party." This language is incredibly broad could threaten beneficial international exchange and research efforts for U.S. colleges and universities.

Antisemitism and student organization protections: The legislation prohibits federal funding for institutions that fail to take action against "antisemitic conduct" or that are perceived to discriminate against religious student groups.

Additional restrictions: Riders are included that seek to repeal Borrower Defense repayment rules and mandates that would restrict institutions from providing funding, classroom space, or services to student organizations that have been deemed to provide "material support" for designated foreign terrorist organizations (a standard that is currently ill-defined).

Other amendments: During the full committee proceedings, Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) offered an amendment (that was defeated) to block the administration from moving forward with the proposed Uniform Guidance rule that would significantly alter the federal grantmaking process. A separate amendment to prevent the use of subsidized loan funds to offset the Pell Grant shortfall was also introduced but did not pass.

The legislative path forward for the bill and the entire appropriations process for the upcoming fiscal year remains in flux. The Senate has not yet introduced its version of the bill, and a continuing resolution of last year's funding is likely as Oct. 1 approaches, especially because there's already talk of another government shutdown.