If Congress does not finish appropriations by the end of the fiscal year, programs will end and, in extreme cases, the government will shut down. Authorizing committees designate some programs as mandatory, which means they must be funded at a particular level. Congress can only reduce funding for these programs by changing the requirements to make fewer people eligible. All discretionary programs must go through the appropriations process every year. The Appropriations Committee can also decide to provide no funding at all.
Most education programs are discretionary programs.
Spending caps limit how much can be spent in total on all discretionary programs.