United States Department of Education facts for kids
Seal of the United States Department of Education
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Flag of the United States Department of Education
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 Lyndon Baines Johnson Department of Education Building, Department Headquarters |
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| Department overview | |
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| Formed | October 17, 1979 |
| Preceding agencies | |
| Jurisdiction | Federal government of the United States |
| Headquarters | Lyndon Baines Johnson Department of Education Building, 400 Maryland Avenue, Southwest, Washington, D.C., U.S. 20202 |
| Employees | 4,200 (2025) |
| Annual budget | $238.04 billion (2024) |
| Department executives |
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| Key document |
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The United States Department of Education is a cabinet-level department of the United States government, originating in 1980. The department began operating on May 4, 1980, having been created after the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare was split into the Department of Education and the Department of Health and Human Services by the Department of Education Organization Act, which President Jimmy Carter signed into law on October 17, 1979. An earlier iteration was formed in 1867 but was quickly demoted to the Office of Education a year later.
The Department of Education is administered by the United States secretary of education. In 2021 it had more than 4,000 employees – the smallest staff of the Cabinet agencies – and a 2024 budget of $268 billion, up from $14 billion when it was established in 1979. In 2025, the department's budget was about four percent of the total US federal spending.
Its official abbreviation is ED ("DOE" refers to the United States Department of Energy) but is also abbreviated informally as "DoEd".
On March 11, 2025, seven weeks after Donald Trump's second term began and Trump founded the Department of Government Efficiency, the department announced it would be firing nearly half of its workforce. The Trump administration signed an order on March 20, 2025, aimed at closing the department to the maximum extent allowed by law; the department cannot be entirely closed without the approval of Congress, which created it.
Purpose and functions
Unlike the systems of many other countries, education in the United States is organized at a subnational level by each of the fifty states. Under the 10th Amendment, the federal government and Department of Education should not be involved in determining curricula or educational standards or establishing schools or colleges. The Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) oversees schools located on American military bases and the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Education supports tribally controlled schools. The quality of higher education institutions and their degrees are maintained through an informal private process known as accreditation, over which the Department of Education has no direct public jurisdictional control.
The department identifies four key functions:
- Establishing policies on federal financial aid for education and distributing as well as monitoring those funds.
- Collecting data on America's schools and disseminating research.
- Focusing national attention on key issues in education, and makes recommendations for education reform.
- Prohibiting discrimination and ensuring equal access to education.
The Department of Education is a member of the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness and works with federal partners to ensure proper education for homeless and runaway youth in the United States.
Organization
| Program | |
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| Secretary of Education | Office of Communications and Outreach |
| Office of the General Counsel | |
| Office of Inspector General | |
| Office of Legislation and Congressional Affairs | |
| Office for Civil Rights | |
| Office of Educational Technology | |
Institute of Education Sciences
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| Office of Innovation and Improvement | |
| Office of the Chief Financial Officer | |
| Office of Management | |
| Office of the Chief Information Officer | |
Office of Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development
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| Risk Management Service | |
| Deputy Secretary of Education | Office of Elementary and Secondary Education
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| Office of English Language Acquisition | |
Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services
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| Office of Innovation and Improvement | |
| Under Secretary of Education | Office of Postsecondary Education |
| Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education | |
| Office of Federal Student Aid | |
| President's advisory board on Tribal Colleges and Universities | |
| President's advisory board on Historically Black Colleges and Universities | |
| Associated federal organizations | Advisory Councils and Committees |
| National Assessment Governing Board (NAGB) | |
| National Advisory Council on Indian Education | |
| Federal Interagency Committee on Education | |
| Advisory Commission on Accessible Instructional Materials in Postsecondary Education for Students with Disabilities | |
| National Board for Education Sciences | |
| National Board of the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education | |
| Federally aided organizations | Gallaudet University |
| Howard University | |
| National Technical Institute for the Deaf | |
Budget
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| Budget of the Department of Education for FY 2024, showing its largest components |
For 2024, the US Department of Education's budget was approximately $268 billion with $79,052,238 in discretionary spending. The department currently holds and maintains approximately $1.7 trillion in federal student loan debt.
See also
- Council for Higher Education Accreditation
- Educational attainment in the United States
- Free Application for Federal Student Aid
- FICE code
- Federal Student Aid
- Higher education in the United States
- National Diffusion Network
- National Endowment for the Humanities
- School Improvement Grant
- Student loans in the United States
- Title 34 of the Code of Federal Regulations
Related legislation
- 1965: Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA)
- 1965: Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) (Pub. L. No. 89-329)
- 1974: Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)
- 1974: Equal Educational Opportunities Act of 1974 (EEOA)
- 1975: Education for All Handicapped Children Act (EHA) (Pub. L. No. 94-142)
- 1978: Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment
- 1979: Department of Education Organization Act (Pub. L. No. 96-88)
- 1984: Equal Access Act
- 1990: The Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act (Clery Act)
- 1994: Improving America's Schools Act of 1994
- 2001: No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB)
- 2004: Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)
- 2005: Higher Education Reconciliation Act of 2005 (HERA) (Pub. L. No. 109-171)
- 2006: Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Improvement Act
- 2007: America COMPETES Act
- 2008: Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA) (Pub. L. No. 110-315)
- 2009: Race to the Top
- 2009: Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act
- 2010: Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010
- 2015: Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)
See also
In Spanish: Departamento de Educación de los Estados Unidos para niños
- Council for Higher Education Accreditation
- Educational attainment in the United States
- Free Application for Federal Student Aid
- FICE code
- Federal Student Aid
- National Diffusion Network
- School Improvement Grant
- Title 34 of the Code of Federal Regulations
- National Endowment for the Humanities
