At the end of December 2011 President Obama signed into law the 2011-12 federal education budget. The budget provides funding for the U.S. Department of Education and education programs from October 1, 2011 to September 30, 2012.

The budget provides $68.3 billion in discretionary spending to the U.S. Department of Education. This represents a 1.4% decrease from last year. Part of the federal budget negotiations included a required reduction of 0.189% across-the-board.

Multiple key programs are funded at similar funding levels to last year.  However some key programs saw declines in their funding levels.

• The Pell Grant program received a slight reduction of 0.58% with a maximum annual level of per student funding set at $5,550. A limit was placed on the number of full-time Pell grants any individual student may receive in a lifetime to a maximum of six years/12 semesters and requires that students have either received a high school diploma or GED, or have been homeschooled in order to be eligible.
• The Race to the Top program saw a reduction of 21% from $699 million to $549 million. The budget legislation requires the program to include a robust early childhood education component this year.