BASIC Act of 2026

The bill would create competitive planning grants of up to $200,000 for up to 2 years and implementation grants of up to $5 million for each 5-year period. It would reserve at least 25% of grant funding for community colleges and at least 25% for historically Black colleges and universities, Tribal Colleges and Universities, and other minority-serving institutions; implementation grant applicants would have to identify ongoing non-Federal support for their activities.

The bill would require Education to make data-sharing agreements with relevant Federal and State agencies to identify applicants who may qualify for listed benefit programs and provide information about applying, renewing, or keeping benefits. Applicants would be offered the opportunity to authorize sharing their information, and recipients of shared information could use it only for the bill’s specified purposes and could not disclose it for other purposes such as investigations or prosecutions.

An institution receiving a grant under the bill could not reduce a student’s eligibility for, or the amount of, an institutional grant because the student received a benefit under a listed federally funded program.

The bill would require public national reports on basic-needs insecurity among students who applied for Federal financial aid and enrolled in higher education, as well as evaluations of implementation grants. The reports would address outcomes, obstacles, and practices that could help institutions improve student support.