The Department of Education (ED) plans to announce more than $208 million in new grants for mental health programs in schools on Thursday, according to reports.
These grants, aimed at mental health service demonstration and school-based programs, come on the heels of the ED’s decision to cut funding for mental health initiatives that emphasized racial quotas and certain gender ideologies earlier this year.
“In the previous administration, it seemed that fostering specific racial and sexual identities among mental health providers took precedence over providing resources to qualified school psychologists who are crucial for supporting America’s most vulnerable students,” U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon stated.
“Despite some skepticism about whether the Trump administration could correct this issue and reallocate these funds by year-end, we are proud to announce that we have done just that. Over $200 million is being allocated directly to states and school districts to enhance student mental health. This is a significant achievement for our education system,” she added.
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The ED intends to distribute the new funds to 65 recipients, focusing on increasing the number of certified mental health service providers in schools and offering services to students in “high-need local educational institutions.”
Out of the 65 awards, 33 will target rural areas, with $120 million earmarked for rural states and districts. The goal is to lower the student-to-school psychologist ratio, implement evidence-based interventions in these areas, and enhance recruitment efforts with financial incentives like stipends and bonuses, according to the ED.
In April 2025, the ED announced it would discontinue over 200 grants to school-based providers that “prioritized ideology over student services and diverged from the previous administration’s directives.”
The department specified reasons for discontinuing some mental health grants:
- Utilization of racial favoritism in hiring.
- Mandated training that focused on discrimination based on unchangeable traits and gender ideology.
- Using employee contributions to achieve DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) certification.
- Enforcement of racial quotas in staffing and hiring.
The department acknowledged that some of these “noncontinuance decisions” were paused due to a lawsuit filed by 16 Democratic state attorneys general.
The ED introduced new priorities for school mental health programs in July and finalized those priorities in September following public comments.
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As part of the updated policy, ED has revised eligibility criteria so that funds go only to state or local educational agencies teaming up with higher education institutions, rather than directly to universities.
“This revision allows state and local school leaders to take charge in identifying the best ways to address their students’ specific needs,” the ED noted.
