Congress Passes FY 2023 Omnibus Spending Bill

On Friday, December 23, Congress passed the FY 2023 Omnibus spending package, funding the government for the fiscal year through September 2023. James Brown, Executive Director of the STEM Education Coalition, stated: “This bill is a historic win for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education.  The funding levels in this bill for STEM programs at the National Science Foundation in particular are a massive, positive step forward towards scaling up innovations in education to reach a broader range of communities students with the greatest needs.  Thank you to  Congress for delivering a big down payment on our nation’s future.“    

While the bill didn’t hit the authorization levels established in the CHIPS and Science Act (which were VERY aspirational), it does deliver a substantial boost to STEM program as NSF and to the education programs we target generally. 

Here are some of the highlights:

NSF Total Funding:  $9.9 billion (+12% over FY22)

NSF STEM Education Directorate:  $1.25 billion (+$140 million)

NIST Total Funding:  $1.63 billion (+32%)

DOE Office of Science:  $8.1 billion (+8%)

Regional Innovation Technology Hubs:  $500 million (new)

Dept. of Education:

Pell Grants:  $7.395 billion (+7.3%)

Title IV.A Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grants:  $1.38 billion (+7.8%)  – this is the largest source at ED for STEM program support

21st Century Community Learning Centers:  $1.33 billion (+3.1%)

Teacher Quality Partnerships:  $70 million (+18.5%)

Minority Science and Engineering Improvement:  $16 million (+12.6%)