Higher Education Fares Well in Congress

Friday, January 5, 2001

Though the 2001 federal fiscal year officially began Oct. 1, final funding for a number of government departments and agencies remained undecided until Dec. 15, when final approval was given to the bill that funds federal education and health programs. Many of the funded departments that have the greatest impact on the Duke community fared well, said John F. Burness, senior vice president for public affairs and government relations at Duke. "Despite the end-game adjustments, the president and the Congress have taken a significant step forward in supporting record levels of funding for such critical financial aid programs as Pell Grants and double digit increases in a number of agencies that fund research at Duke and other leading research universities," Burness noted.Department of DefenseDepartment of the Interior - Included in the interior department's appropriation bill are the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). Congress raised NEA's budget by $7 million, to a total of $105 million, and added $5 million to NEH, increasing its total to $120 million. The president approved these increases, although they are well below his target total of $150 million for each agency. Aside from the endowments, interior's appropriation allocates $564 million for research and development, up 4 percent over FY 2000.Department of Energy - Total research and development was boosted to just under $8 billion, a 12.3 percent increase over FY 2000.National Science Foundation - NSF is provided with $4.4 billion overall, which is 13.3 percent higher than in FY 2000. This total represents the largest single-year increase in the agency's history, and represents the first step toward a proposed doubling of the NSF budget over five years.National Institutes of Health - Agency funding for NIH is up for FY 2001 by 14.4 percent, to $20.3 billion. This increase maintains the agency's progress toward doubling of its budget by 2003, a process begun in 1998. NIH is the principal source of federal support for biomedical research. Within the agency, the funding is distributed fairly evenly among such specialty research areas as cancer, aging and alcohol abuse, with each receiving an increase of at least 13 percent for the fiscal year. The Congress also established a new Institute for Bioinformatics to support the vast computer needs of genomics research.Department of Education - As with NSF, Congress has provided the largest single-year increase in history for federal need-based student financial aid programs. The Pell Grant program, which provides basic direct aid to needy students, is funded at $8.8 billion, 14.6 percent higher than FY 2000. The maximum Pell Grant award was boosted by $450, to a total of $3,750 per year. Funds for Perkins Loans, which carry low, fixed-interest rates, rose 23.2 percent, to $30 million. Other student aid programs also received increases:

Federal work-study increased by $77 million (8.2 percent), to $1 billion. These funds provide at least 75 percent of the funding for part-time campus student employment.

Leveraging Educational Assistance Partnership (LEAP) Grants were funded at $60 million, which is 50 percent higher than both the current year and the president's request. LEAP Grants are available to match state government student aid.

Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (SEOG) were boosted $61 million (9.7 percent), to a new level of $691 million. These funds are used to augment Pell Grants for students with exceptional financial need.

Medicare Payments to Teaching Hospitals. The final budget bill also addressed the heavy impact felt by academic medical centers, including Duke, as a result of across-the-board cuts mandated by the 1997 Balanced Budget Act (BBA). Teaching hospitals provide not only medical education, but also a high percentage of all medical care for elderly and indigent patients. The BBA severely cut Medicare payments to these centers, a change that Congress has worked to mitigate since 1997.

Initial analyses of the current Medicare act estimate that at least $35 billion in relief will be forthcoming to medical providers over five years, of which hospitals will receive $12-$14 billion. Over the next two years, the bill could mean more than $7 million in increased Medicare reimbursements to the Duke University Health System, Duke officials say.

"Taken together, the FY 2001 appropriations levels represent real progress for many programs that are important to the Duke community," said Nan Nixon, assistant vice president and director of Duke's Office of Federal Relations. "This increase hopefully sets the stage for continued progress next year."

Written by Ellison Jones.