President Biden released his Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 Budget Request, which proposes $715.5 million for the Adult Education State Grants program, the same funding provided in FY 2023, which due to your advocacy was boosted by Congress by $25 million over the prior year. Additionally, the President’s budget proposes $43.7 million for Adult Education National Leadership Activities, an increase of $30 million, to be focused on “(1) an initiative to support programs at correctional institutions that use Pell Grant funds to provide access to postsecondary offerings as part of an adult education program; (2) scaling up college bridge programs for low-skilled adults without a high school degree or equivalency; and (3) an initiative to help disconnected youth attain a secondary school diploma and support transitions.”

The budget release is only the first step in the FY24 appropriations process. Congress will develop the funding bills over the next few months, so we will need to use the funding increase provided for FY 2023 as a launching pad in our discussions with members of Congress so adult education can receive more funding in a final FY 2024 appropriations bill. With your help, we can get closer to COABE’s ask of $810 million. Please contact your members of Congress to urge them to include $810 million in funding for adult education in FY 2024!