Statement on the Senate FY26 Supplemental Budget

Last week, the Massachusetts Senate passed an amended version of H.5280 (amendment S.3054), a fiscal year (FY) 2026 supplemental budget that would utilize Fair Share surtax funds for higher education programs, among other things. The higher education line items would provide:

• $18.3 million for student financial aid,

• $10 million for a pilot scholarship program at University of Massachusetts Medical School to improve the recruitment and expand the workforce of family medicine physicians in the commonwealth,

• $100 million for a funding reserve to supplement lost federal research funding at public colleges and universities.

We applaud the Senate for maintaining the $18.3 million in student financial aid that was in the House version of the bill. At the same time, the Legislature missed an important opportunity to strengthen support for students by not investing in the Public Higher Education Student Support Fund. 

As our new report makes clear, student financial aid is expected to face a significant shortfall driven by rising enrollment and the expiration of federal COVID-19 relief funds. We estimate that this gap will exceed the amount appropriated in the bill, making additional investment essential to ensure students can access the aid they need and to uphold Massachusetts’ commitments to affordability in both the short- and long-term.

The Commonwealth is benefitting from a period of enrollment stabilization and growth at our public colleges and universities, and especially at the community college level, thanks to the historic investments the Legislature has made toward student access. But this progress will be halted unless the Legislature takes action to build a long-term funding reserve for student aid by investing in the Public Higher Education Student Support Fund.

We strongly urge the Legislature to invest in this Fund in the FY2027 budget to provide needed short- and long-term support to students, institutions, and the Commonwealth.