Federal education programs would receive a 7-percent boost under the Obama administration’s proposed budget for next year, with Pell Grants and minority-serving institutions among those receiving small to moderate increases despite fiscal constraints.

The president proposed a zero net increase in domestic discretionary spending, leaving education as one of the few winners across federal agencies.

"This budget sends a very clear signal to the country that this president is serious about education,” Education Secretary Arne Duncan said Monday. “There are some very innovative proposals in this budget that come from across America. We want to advance reform on a bipartisan basis.”

The maximum Pell Grant would increase by $160, to $5,710 next year. The average grant also would increase by more than $100 to $3,984, the Education Department says. To pay for the increase, the budget adds another $2 billion to Pell to cover the new investments.

Duncan said the administration again is asking Congress to make Pell an entitlement program and plans to provide annual increases plus an additional 1 percent for the foreseeable future.

Minority-serving institutions would realize increases of about 5 percent under the budget. Historically Black colleges and universities would receive $324 million, an increase of $16 million from 2010. The government’s main program for Hispanic-serving institutions would receive $123 million, up $6 million from the current level.

The tribal college program would receive $31.7 million, a $1.5 million increase.

Predominantly Black colleges and graduate programs at HSIs also would receive continued funding under the budget (see chart below). Obama’s plan would fund TRIO college access programs and GEAR UP for college activities at their current levels of $910 million and $323 million, respectively.

In its budget, the president also re-states his commitment to several key priorities already pending before Congress: the American Graduation Initiative, which would provide more than $10 billion for community colleges, and a new college completion drive funded at $3.5 billion. Both provisions would be paid for through the elimination of bank subsidies in the student loan program.