Same Number, Different Story: Takeaways from the President’s FY25 Budget Request
The FY25 request includes a proposed 1% increase ($656 million) for the IA Budget from the FY23 adjusted enacted level, raising it to $64.4 billion. Within that funding, Educational and Cultural Exchange Program (ECE) funding has been allocated $777.5 million (DOS Budget Appendix, pg. 751-752), which is the same amount as the current FY23 enacted level.
Meeting Unfulfilled Demand: $808.6 million for exchange programs in FY25
The Appropriations Working Group recently decided on an ask of $808.6 million for DOS educational and cultural exchanges (ECE) in FY25. Here’s how we arrived at that number.
How Might Exchanges be Impacted by a U.S. Government Shutdown?
With only four legislative days left before the end of the fiscal year, Congress is still far from a funding deal. The Alliance’s Andrea Bodine provides a primer on how international exchange programs might be impacted by a government shutdown.
FY24 Appropriations Recap and Outlook
Both the House and Senate Appropriations Committees have completed their subcommittee and full committee markups of their respective State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs (SFOPS) bills in recent weeks. Educational and cultural exchanges were funded at $700.95M (approx. 10% decrease) by the House bill and $779.5M (approx. 0.25% increase) by the Senate bill. See the chart below for more details and a comparison with the President’s budget request and current enacted level.