Federal budget looks good for Rutgers Archived article from Jan 25, 2002 By Douglas Frank   Before adjourning at the end of December, Congress completed action on a federal budget that contains very good news for Rutgers, according to Leslie Koepplin, director of federal relations. The provisions are retroactive to Oct. 1, the beginning of the federal 2002 fiscal year. Koepplin reported gains in financial aid for undergraduates and in extended tax benefits for certain graduate students; significant increases in research funding; and marked growth in directed funds, notably support for RUNet. "It is gratifying to see that higher education continues as a priority for the federal government in the wake of the events of Sept. 11 and that Rutgers continues to draw strong support from the New Jersey congres-sional delegation," commented President Francis L. Lawrence. "This action by the federal government portends favorably for next year." In financial aid, Koepplin noted that the Pell grant minimum increased to $4,000, up from $3,350 two years ago. The Supplemental Education Opportunity Grant program rose by 5 percent, and the TRIO program climbed by 10 percent. In a move that could benefit Rutgers' efforts in continuing education, Congress extended the tax benefit of section 127 to include graduate students. This would allow employees enrolled in graduate-level courses to receive up to $5,250 in tax-free tuition remission from their employers, said Koepplin. The National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation saw increases of 15 and 8.6 percent respectively. These two agencies accounted for some $77 million of the $123 million Rutgers received in federal research funding last year. The basic research budget of the Department of Defense received a 5 percent increase, and the applied budget grew 13 percent. Koepplin credited U.S. Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-N.J.) with taking the national lead on NSF funding and praised Lawrence's efforts in testifying for the defense budgets. The good news was not limited to research in the sciences, as the National Endowment for the Humanities was given a 5 percent increase.These increases in the overall federal research budget may allow for continued growth in Rutgers' research funding, Koepplin suggested. Total federal funds to Rutgers rose from $87.3 million in 1998 to $123 million in 2001. The federal budget reflects various funds directed specifically to Rutgers, including $2 million from the Department of Education for RUNet, the information infrastructure project designed to address the university's voice, video and data communications needs well into the future. Federal funds for this project now total $10 million. Other directed funds to Rutgers and their sources are: Department of Agriculture: $216,000 for blueberry/cranberry research; $2.5 million for IR4 pesticide testing Department of Commerce: $2 million for the Institute for Marine and Coastal Sciences Department of Defense: $1.7 million for the Center for Advanced Food Technology (with Ohio State University) NASA: $1 million for life sciences Department of Transportation: $4 million for the National Transportation Institute.

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