Federal R&D and Education Budget

Federal R&D and Education Budget - Even though the FY 2004 budget is far from finished, the White House is getting ready to release their proposed FY 2005 budget on February 2, 2004. Early reports indicate that the NIH increase will be between 2 percent and 2.5 percent. For NSF, 2 percent is the figure most often quoted. For the other science agencies, the news is equally disappointing.

Overall, the President's budget is expected to hold the line on domestic discretionary spending with an increase limited to approximately 3 percent. This is the section of the federal budget that includes everything from NIH and NSF to NASA to highway funding to homeland security to student loans. We expect the President's budget will place a high priority on homeland security and very few other initiatives such as international AIDS funding and education. Most other federal programs will be level or reduced from their estimated FY 2004 level.

In these tight budgetary times, it is doubly important for the scientific and higher education communities to make their voices heard. The UH System will join with these communities to advocate for adequate budgets for the aforementioned agencies and programs.