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The Senate Appropriations Committee approved a $68.5 billion budget for the Education Department for fiscal year 2013 along party lines Thursday, but one big Obama administration initiative was missing: a "Race to the Top" for higher education intended to spur changes in state systems. The administration had requested $1 billion for the initiative, which would have been modeled on its competitive grant program for states' K-12 schools. The omission is particularly striking because the Democrat-controlled Senate has usually been supportive of the administration's higher education proposals.
The committee cited budget constraints as a rationale for not funding the program, and said Congress might take it up in future years. So far, legislators have held no hearings on the Race to the Top for higher education. "The committee notes that the concerns the administration has raised about rising college costs are very serious ones, and agrees that action is needed to reduce burdens on families and improve outcomes for students," the Appropriations Committee noted in its report.
The Education Department did not respond to a request for comment. Many fights lie ahead on spending for fiscal year 2013: Congress is considered unlikely to pass a budget before the November elections.
