The White House released a preliminary FY 2027 ”skinny budget“ proposal on April 3, 2026. This is a high level budget request to Congress. It includes funding  the U.S. Department of Education at $76.5 billion dollars, a 2.9% decrease in spending from the enacted level in fiscal year 2026.

The new Federal FY 2027 proposal appears to eliminate dedicated funding for 21st Century Community Learning Centers (CCLC), and consolidate it along with 16 other education programs totaling $6.5 billion, into a new $2 billion “Make Education Great Again (MEGA)” grant program. See below for more details on the MEGA grants. (As a reminder, the federal FY 2027 budget runs from Oct 1, 2026-Sept 30, 2027.  FY 2027 funds California’s FY 2027-28 budget for 21st CCLC.) 

Federal support for out-of-school time (OST) programs could be affected by the budget proposal in ways that go beyond the proposed elimination of dedicated 21st CCLC funding. The budget proposal has limited details about many of the programs within the Department of Education, Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and other agencies, however, the following is included in this preliminary budget proposal.

Level-Funded:

• Title I Part A Grantsto Local Education Agencies would remain at $18.4 billion.
• Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG)funding through HHS also appears to be maintained at current levels.

New MEGA Grants:

The proposed $2 billion “Make Education Great Again” (MEGA) grant program would consolidate the majority of the Department of Education’s elementary and secondary education grant programs (seventeen programs totaling $6.5 billion). The stated goal is to reduce federal oversight and give states more flexibility to pursue “locally-driven improvements in math and reading.” Several programs that currently support OST programs would be absorbed into this new structure, including:

• 21st Century Community Learning Centers,
• Title IV-A Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grants,
• Statewide Family Engagement Centers,
• Education for Homeless Children and Youths, and
• Title II-A funds for teacher professional development.

This proposal is the Presidents second attempt to eliminate and consolidate a significant portion of the grants serving elementary and secondary schools into a simplified grant program. Last year (for FY26), the President recommended a new single-state formula grant called the K-12 Simplified Funding Program which proposed consolidation of 21st Century Community Learning Centers among others. This proposal was rejected by Congress during the FY26 appropriations process. 

Programs Proposed for Elimination

Several education programs are proposed to be eliminated entirely including:

• Title IV-F Full-Service Community Schools,
• Education Innovation and Research (EIR), and
• TRIO and GEAR UP.

Beyond Department of Education funding, the proposal would also eliminate:

• AmeriCorps,
• Community Development Block Grant,
• Community Services Block Grant, and
• education funding through the National Science Foundation and NASA.

To learn more read Afterschool Alliance’s latest blog (April 3, 2026) and Institute for Educational Leadership’s (IEL) Statement on President’s Budget Request.

What’s Next?

The FY 2027 appropriations process now moves to Congress, where the House and Senate Appropriations Committees will decide funding for all federal programs, including afterschool and summer learning through 21st CCLC. The full budget proposal is expected from the Administration on April 21.

To read more about the Federal Budget process, check out this graphic. 

Want to Get Involved?

Afterschool Alliance Action Alert: Show your support for afterschool and summer programs by reaching out in response to the President’s Budget Proposal.

Stay Connected and Get Informed: Bookmark AfterschoolWorksforAmerica.org