The Trump administration released its proposed fiscal year 2027 budget on Friday, increasing funding for the Pell Grant program to address a shortfall while proposing deep cuts to student aid, institutional support, and research funding.The proposal requests about $76.5 billion in discretionary funding for the Department of Education, a reduction of roughly $2.3 billion from the prior year, according to the administration’s budget request. Budget documents indicate the proposal is part of a broader effort to reduce the federal role in education.
The plan includes a $10.5 billion increase in funding for the Pell Grant program, bringing total discretionary funding to more than $33 billion while maintaining the maximum award at $7,395 for the 2027–28 academic year. The additional funding reportedly is intended to address a projected shortfall, though it does not fully close the gap in future years.
It appears the increase reflects sustained advocacy from the higher education community to protect Pell and Pell-eligible students and represents a meaningful step toward stabilizing the program. At the same time, those discussions emphasize that the funding increase should be considered alongside the broader scope of proposed cuts.
Those cuts are extensive. The proposal would eliminate the Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant program and sharply reduce Federal Work-Study, cutting federal funding to $123 million while shifting most costs to employers, according to the administration’s request. It also calls for eliminating TRIO, GEAR UP, and the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education, along with other college access and student support programs.
The budget also proposes eliminating funding for many Minority-Serving Institution (MSI) programs and reducing support for other postsecondary initiatives. While some funding for historically Black colleges and universities and tribal colleges would continue, internal discussions highlight concern about the broader impact on MSIs.
As Emmanual Guillory told Inside Higher Ed, “We’re not supportive of zeroing out funding for MSI programs and neither is Congress.” He added that the proposal would undermine support for the same students the Pell Grant is intended to help.
Research Funding Cuts Raise Broader Concerns
Beyond student aid, the proposal includes substantial cuts to federal research agencies that support colleges and universities. The National Institutes of Health would see a reduction of about $5 billion, a smaller cut than proposed last year but still significant. The proposal would also eliminate several NIH institutes and continue efforts to limit indirect cost reimbursements for research.
The National Science Foundation would face a much steeper reduction, with a proposed cut of more than 50 percent, or roughly $4.8 billion. The proposal also calls for eliminating NSF’s social, behavioral, and economic sciences directorate, a move that could significantly reshape the agency’s research portfolio.
Additional cuts are proposed for Department of Energy research programs and other science agencies, including reductions tied to climate and clean energy research. Internal analysis indicates that, taken together, the proposed changes would have far-reaching effects on university-based research and the broader federal research enterprise.
The proposal also calls for shifting certain education programs to other federal agencies, including moving career and technical education programs to the Department of Labor, according to Inside Higher Ed. Budget documents frame these changes as part of a broader effort to return authority to states and institutions.
As with any presidential budget request, the proposal marks the start of the appropriations process. Congress has rejected many similar proposals in prior years and will now develop its own spending legislation ahead of the Sept. 30 deadline. The outcome will determine whether key student aid and research programs are preserved or significantly reduced.