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President Obama sent his fiscal year 2014 budget request to Congress on April 10, 2013. The ¹ú²úÊÓƵ Foundation’s released this subsequent issue brief, “Key Questions on the Obama Administration’s 2014 Budget Request.”

Obama’s budget request totals $71.2 billion in appropriations funding for the U.S. Department of Education. It includes spending for a pre-kindergarten federal-state partnership program for low- and moderate-income 4-year-olds and a new college and career readiness competitive grant effort. The request also details a number of proposals to address college affordability, innovation, transparency, and quality, including a proposal that would pay alternative higher education providers like MOOCs and employers who provide high-quality two-year degrees at no cost to the student.

The White House budget request would reform interest rates on federal student loans, tying them to the 10-year Treasury note rate plus an additional percentage each year, but leaving the rates fixed over the life of the loan. The proposal is adapted from a plan by the Education Policy Program’s .

The Education Policy Program at the ¹ú²úÊÓƵ Foundation has reviewed the president’s proposals and generated a list of key questions that policymakers, the media, stakeholder groups, and the public should ask about the proposals.

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