The Antideficiency Act prohibits Federal agencies from incurring obligations or expending funds in excess of an appropriation. However, Congress has granted agencies limited authority to make spending adjustments following the enactment of appropriations through transfers or reprogrammings. In November 2024, Senator Bill Hagerty requested that 19…

In this essay, the authors examine a congressional proposal -- the Educational Choice for Children Act (ECCA) -- to allow taxpayers to redirect their federal tax dollars to organizations that would provide funding for students to enroll in private school or to help pay for outside educational supports. Based on the implementation of similar…

Three primary rounds of COVID relief funding were provided to Colorado between March 2020 and March 2021. These federal funding sources were: (1) the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act in March 2020; (2) the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations (CRRSA) Act in December 2020; and (3) the American Rescue…

This paper examines the financial resources allocated to Comprehensive Support and Improvement (CSI) schools under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) in the United States. Our analyses demonstrate that CSI schools do receive additional funding and spend more than comparable non-CSI schools. However, we question whether the magnitude of this…

Congress has provided authority to the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) to fund off-duty voluntary education for Active and Reserve Component servicemembers. Congress and DOD have conceived of tuition assistance (TA) as a quality-of-life benefit, force-shaping tool, and a mechanism for developing human capital in the Armed Forces. The TA program,…

The purpose of this interview-based qualitative study was to explore how individualized education program (IEP) team members determine least restrictive environment and educational placement. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) requires students with disabilities to be educated in the least restrictive environment and to the…

In 2014, RTI International, with the support of Advance CTE, conducted research on behalf of the U.S. Department of Education, which established how states allocated categorical funds for CTE during the academic year 2011-12 and the amounts of those allocations. By returning to this topic 10 years later, Advance CTE seeks to understand how CTE is…

Between the 2020-21 and 2022-23 school years, the number of students experiencing homelessness increased by 25 percent, to 1.4 million. With $800 million in pandemic relief funds, Congress in 2021 supplemented traditional funding for these students. States were to spend their allocations by January 31, 2025. To make informed choices going forward,…

The U.S. Department of Education (Department) allocates funds to States through statutory formulas based primarily on census poverty estimates and the cost of education in each State. To receive funding, a State plan that includes a description of its accountability system must be submitted to the Department for review and approval. For the…

For 25 years, the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA) has surveyed financial aid professionals to understand the environment in which they administer student aid. These surveys identify resource shortages that may hinder the delivery of financial aid services, explore the causes of these shortages, and assess the…

Early care and education (ECE) programs can provide a lifetime of benefits to children and families, but a lack of public support leaves these valuable services vulnerable to collapse during economic downturns. The COVID-19 pandemic was a particularly intense emergency for ECE providers: closures due to illness or shelter-in-place ordinances…

Ensuring the safety of students, faculty, and staff is a multifaceted challenge that requires institutions of higher education (IHEs) to navigate myriad threats, hazards, and risks. Concerns about safety and security at IHE campuses encompass everything from various forms of violence to the safety of pedestrian traffic, to the security of personal…