Federal Funding Recommendations
Fiscal Year 2020
Overview
The FY20 funding recommendations outlined in this document were developed in consultation with the Association of American Universities (AAU) and Association of Pubic Land-Grant Universities (APLU). Stony Brook University (SBU) is a member of both AAU and APLU.
SBU’s FY20 funding recommendations are also informed by final FY19 funding levels, SBU’s previous funding recommendations, the Budget Control Act’s FY20 discretionary spending caps, and previous budget caps agreements that raised the caps in two-year increments, including the Bipartisan Budget Agreement of 2018, which raised discretionary spending caps by approximately $300 billion in FY18 and FY19. For most of the research agencies and programs, SBU’s recommendations also reflect the charge of Innovation: An American Imperative to provide steady and sustained real investment growth of at least four percent for scientific research. This call-to-action draws upon the American Academy of Arts and Sciences’ 2014 report Restoring the Foundation: The Vital Role of Research in Preserving the American Dream. For student aid and other higher education programs, SBU’s recommendations seek to restore programs to at least the highest funding level prior to sequestration cuts or to increase funding in FY20 to meet students’ needs, make up for inflation losses in recent years, and meet multi-year funding targets.
Department of Defense (DOD) Research and DARPA
For FY20, SBU recommends$2.774 billion overall for 6.1 basic research, $3.634 billion for DARPA, and $16.996 billion for Defense S&T.This would constitute a four percent increase of Defense 6.1 and Science and Technology (S&T) using the FY19 6.1 and S&T funding levels as a base. These levels of funding are consistent with the federal research investment recommendation in the Innovation: An American Imperative call to action, which over 500 business leaders, national organizations, universities, and scientific societies have endorsed. Defense S&T comprises 6.1 basic research, 6.2 applied research, and 6.3 advanced technology development programs.
DOD-funded basic research has contributed significantly to our nation’s economic and national security. DOD relies on technological innovation as a force multiplier, and cutting-edge advances have helped make our military the best-equipped and most effective in the world. Addressing complex military challenges requires innovation and technologies and the development of these technologies depends on sustained investments in scientific and engineering basic research performed at U.S. universities.
Department of Education
Student Aid
For FY20, SBU urges Congress to support robust funding for federal student financial aid programs and maintain the discretionary base for Pell Grants to allow for a maximum Pell award of$6,345. We also urge Congress to protect the future of the Pell Grant program by ensuring that any of the carryover funding remains in the program. The Pell Grant program is the single most important tool to enable low-income students to afford college. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates over 7.5 million students will use Pell Grants in the coming academic year to finance education.
SBU urges Congress to increase support for other federal student aid programs that provide grants and work-study to low- and middle-income students. Specifically, SBU supports increasing the Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (SEOG) to $1.028 billion and Federal Work-Study to $1.434 billion, to restore the programs to pre-sequester levels, adjusted for inflation.The SEOG provides targeted, need-based grant aid of up to $4,000 per student to 1.6 million students. Participating colleges match federal dollars to make more than $1 billion in grant aid available. Over 99 percent of all SEOG recipients are Pell Grant recipients, and SEOG recipients have higher need on average than 4 students receiving only Pell Grants. Increasing funding to $1.028 billion would restore the programs to presequester levels, adjusted for inflation. Work-Study has been shown to positively impact a student’s ability to afford college and to improve their chances of graduating. Federal and institutional funding for Work-Study helps more than 700,000 students work part-time to help pay their college costs. Studies show that students who work on campus have higher graduation rates. Increasing funding to $1.434 billion would restore the programs to pre-sequester levels, adjusted for inflation.
Graduate Education
For FY20, SBU urges Congress to provide $48 million for the Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need (GAANN) program. This level of funding would restore the program to pre-sequester levels and provide support for additional students in disciplines critical to our nation’s continuing security and prosperity. The GAANN program helps ensure a strong pipeline of talented experts and educators who will help to meet the demands of our 21st century workforce. The current funding level does not allow the program to run a competition each year, stifling the country’s ability to support graduate education in important areas of national need. We support including the arts, humanities, and social disciplines as eligible fields for grant competition in FY20.
Education Research
For FY20, SBUurges Congress to support $670 million for the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) to advance rigorous education research.This amount would restore the nearly ten percent decrease in purchasing power in real dollars that IES has experienced since FY11. Due to current funding limitations, many high scoring grants continue to go unfunded as only one of every ten grant proposals receive funding. IES supports high-quality education research. This research results in teaching and learning innovations that offer tremendous returns for our society. This level of funding would help build upon the essential research and data infrastructure on which state and local education leaders depend, restore cuts to critical programs, and increase funding for programs for which funding has stagnated. Our education system will be stronger in the future if we provide meaningful, sustained support for rigorous education research and evaluation today.
International Education
For FY20, SBU urges Congress to support $106 million for the Department of Education’s Title VI International Education and Foreign Language programs in FY20. We want to work with the Administration and Congress to build sustainable funding increases for these national programs. Title VI programs play an important role in supporting our nation's long-term national security, global leadership, and economic competitiveness. Looking at a multi-year “Security Education Initiative” to bring the U.S. programs up to a level to meet growing national security demands for foreign language and area studies (FLAS) experts, this amount supports new centers (NRC, CIBER), makes FLAS fellowship stipends equal to NSF graduate student stipends, and increases the number of FLAS fellowships. Our nation needs a steady supply of graduates with expertise in less commonly taught languages, world areas, and transnational trends.
Department of Energy (DOE) Research
SBU recommends $7 billion for the Department of Energy’s Office of Science for FY20. This would provide four percent real growth over FY19, after accounting for inflation. The Office of Science is the nation’s primary supporter of basic physical sciences research, providing approximately 47 5 percent of total federal funding for this research. In addition to the physical sciences, sustained and predictable funding for the Office of Science is critical to ensuring continued U.S. leadership in other fields of scientific research including the biological sciences, quantum information sciences, computing, artificial intelligence, and engineering. Funding at this level is important to enable the Office of Science to maintain its existing level of support for its core scientific research programs and scientific user facility operations.
For FY20, SBU recommends $400 million for Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (APRA-E). Stable and sustainable funding for ARPA-E is essential for the advancement of high-risk, high-reward energy research that is unlikely to be supported by industry, such as the groundbreaking research performed at Brookhaven National Laboratory.
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
SBU recommends $7.5 billion for NASA's Science Mission Directorate (SMD) in FY20.This is an 8.6 percent increase over the FY19 enacted funding level. Given the scheduled cost increases for major SMD missions, as well as the interest in funding individual investigator grant programs, new competitive mission opportunities, and development of missions in their early stages, AAU (which SBU is a member of) and other members of the Coalition for Aerospace and Science (CAS) agreed to request more than a 5 percent increase over FY20.
National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH)
SBU urges Congress to provide $167.5 million for the NEH in FY20. This level of funding is consistent with the request of the National Humanities Alliance (NHA), a nationwide coalition supporting the humanities on campus and in local communities. Funding the NEH at $167.5 million would allow the agency to continue to rebuild its capacity to support peer-reviewed humanities research and education programs.
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
For FY20, SBU urges Congress to provide at least $41.6 billion for NIH.This level of represents sustained, predictable growth and allows the United States to invest in scientific opportunities. It would create jobs, improve the lives—and quality of life—of millions of current and future patients, and support U.S. economic and national security. NIH-funded biomedical research performed at universities has led to U.S. leadership in the life sciences revolution of the 21st century. For example, NIH has made extraordinary progress in the development of a universal flu vaccine, which would provide long-term protection against multiple strains of influenza and eliminate the need for annual flu shots. This research underscores the promise of today’s NIH-supported medical science. Unfortunately, after a decade of sub-inflationary increases leading to a more than 20 percent loss in purchasing power, as well as failure to fully recover the $1.6 billion lost to sequestration, the agency is struggling to fund meritorious scientific opportunities currently available. Our global leadership in the life sciences is increasingly under threat. If present trends continue, China’s financial commitment to biomedical research will be twice that of the United States’ in the next five years (and four times greater as a share of GDP).
National Science Foundation (NSF)
For FY20, SBU recommends $9 billion for the National Science Foundation (NSF), which would provide nine percent real growth (adjusted for inflation) in funding over FY19. The Coalition for National Science Funding (CNSF) is requesting the same funding level. By recommending $9 billion for NSF in FY20, SBU and CNSF believes that unmet funding needs can be addressed. For example, the 2016 Report on the Merit Review Process says that $1.63 billion in highly-ranked NSF proposals were declined due to lack of funding. Moreover, $3.92 billion in proposals that were ranked very good or higher were declined due to lack of funding. According to the report, “These declined proposals represent a rich portfolio of unfunded opportunities, proposals that if funded may have produced substantial research and education benefits.” In addition to addressing unmet funding opportunities, there are many other reasons to support the $9 billion request, including: (1) to provide robust support for NSF’s core and interdisciplinary programs; (2) implement NSF 10 Big Ideas; (3) support mid-scale and large research infrastructure projects; (4) support national priorities including artificial intelligence, quantum information sciences, and advanced manufacturing; (5) support NSF education and workforce development programs; and (6) so that the U.S. will remain globally competitive in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
As the only federal agency charged with the promotion of scientific progress across all scientific and engineering disciplines, NSF is the cornerstone of America’s basic research enterprise. NSF is committed to the fundamental, interdisciplinary, and transformative research and education needed to ensure that the U.S. remains competitive in the decades ahead. For decades, NSF-funded research has proven essential to national security, economy, and maintaining our global competitiveness.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
For FY20, SBU urges Congress to provide at least $556 million for NOAA. In the decades and century to come, we will experience extraordinary changes on our planet, with consequences that may dramatically change the way we live our lives. Reducing uncertainty, through the prediction of weather, climate and ecosystem change, requires NOAA funded scientific research to continuously improve our understanding of the Earth as an interdependent system of ocean, air, land and living world.
SBU recommends $93.5 million for FY20 for the National Sea Grant Program. A federal-state partnership program, Sea Grant’s mission is to enhance the practical use and conservation of coastal, marine and Great Lakes resources in order to create a sustainable economy and environment. Through this program, Stony Brook’s research is helping to develop sound, scientifically-based information about sustainable use of coastal resources and putting this information in the hands of coastal residents, officials, communities and businesses to inform their decision about coastal resources.