President Biden Announces American Families Plan

On April 28, President Biden announced his “American Families Plan (AFP),” in follow up to the recently released “American Jobs Plan”. Together, the plans make up the administration’s infrastructure proposal as part of its larger “Build Back Better” agenda. The White House released a fact sheet on the plan, available here. The American Families Plan includes a new $39 billion program that provides two years of subsidized tuition for students from families earning less than $125,000 enrolled in a four-year Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs), or Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs). Further conversations with the White House have indicated that the subsidies would not necessarily cover a student’s full tuition but rather provide some level of financial support. These funds would be in addition to federal Pell Grants, which are also available to eligible students. Pell Grants would receive an additional $1400 under the AFP as a down payment on President Biden’s commitment to double the maximum award during his Presidency. Congress will now consider the plan and Federal Relations is working with the Arizona delegation to ensure the University of Arizona’s priorities are represented in the final legislation.