President Obama sent his fiscal year 2014 budget request to Congress on April 10, 2013. The New America Foundation's Education Policy Program released this subsequent issue brief, "Key Questions on the Obama Administration's 2014 Budget Request." Obama's budget request totals $71.2 billion in appropriations funding for the U.S. Department of Education. It includes spending for a pre-kindergarten federal-state partnership program for low- and moderate-income 4-year-olds and a new college and career readiness competitive grant effort. The request also details a number of proposals to address college affordability, innovation, transparency, and quality, including a proposal that would pay alternative higher education providers like MOOCs and employers who provide high-quality two-year degrees at no cost to the student. The White House budget request would reform interest rates on federal student loans, tying them to the 10-year Treasury note rate plus an additional percentage each year, but leaving the rates fixed over the life of the loan. The proposal is adapted from a plan published last year by the Education Policy Program's Jason Delisle. The Education Policy Program at the New America Foundation has reviewed the president's proposals and generated a list of key questions that policymakers, the media, stakeholder groups, and the public should ask about the proposals.