In May 2025, the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA) conducted a national survey of financial aid professionals to understand how the March 2025 reduction in force (RIF) at the U.S. Department of Education (ED) and Office of Federal Student Aid (FSA)--along with related federal directives to dismantle ED--are…

In 2002 Congress passed the Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002 (ESRA), authorizing the creation of the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) as the research, evaluation, statistics, and assessment arm of the Department of Education, and crystallizing the federal government's commitment to providing national leadership in expanding fundamental…

In July 2025, the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA) conducted a second national survey of financial aid administrators to assess how the March 2025 reduction in force (RIF) at the U.S. Department of Education (ED) and Office of Federal Student Aid (FSA)--along with broader efforts to dismantle ED--are continuing…

Drawing upon the growing datafication of contemporary schooling, our purpose in this article is to use topological thinking as an analytical device to better understand the professionals and practices within emergent data infrastructures. We address this by attending to an influential national (and subnational) data infrastructure of school…

When the COVID-19 pandemic plunged the economy back into recession in early 2020, it laid bare a fragile and profoundly inequitable labor market. The economic expansion that reigned from 2009 through 2019 brought historically low unemployment and inflation but failed to reduce income inequality or arrest the decline in the number of high-quality,…

This hearing of the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions examines COVID-19 recovery supporting workers and modernizing the workforce through quality education, training, and employment opportunities. Opening statements were presented by: (1) Honorable Patty Murray chair, Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions; and (2)…

The Inspector General Act of 1978 (Public Law 95-452), as amended, requires that the Inspector General report semiannually to the Congress on the activities of the Office of Inspector General (OIG) during the 6-month periods ending March 31 and September 30. This Semiannual Report presents the activities and accomplishments of the U.S. Department…

Today, free public kindergarten for five-year-old children is available in every state and community throughout the United States, and public education is routinely referred to as K-12. But kindergarten did not start out this way. Kindergartens in the United States once served children as young as three and four years old. In fact, today's…

The 101 Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) play an important role in higher education and in their local and regional economies. Among African Americans who obtained a doctorate in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics in 2005-2010, more than one-third earned their undergraduate degrees from an HBCU. The Government…

This article is part of an illustrative study of federal leadership in special education based on interviews with persons who served as Assistant Secretaries in the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation Services and Directors of the Office of Special Education Programs. The perspectives cover the time period…

Education tax credits provide federal financial aid to a wide expanse of American taxpayers; however, little research or analysis has been done on these costly programs. There has been little evidence of its link to college enrollment growth. This descriptive paper outlines the establishment of education tax credits, their original intent, and the…

The purpose of the U.S. Department of Education's (Department's) fiscal year (FY) 2022 "Agency Financial Report" (AFR) is to inform Congress, the President, other external stakeholders, and the American people on how the Department used the federal resources entrusted to it to advance the mission of the Department to promote student…

The purpose of the U.S. Department of Education's (Department's) fiscal year (FY) 2023 "Agency Financial Report" (AFR) is to inform Congress, the President, other external stakeholders, and the American people on how the Department used the federal resources entrusted to it to advance the mission of the Department to promote student…

In this fiscal year (FY) 2021 Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility Annual Progress Report, the U.S. Department of Education (Department) Office of Inspector General (OIG) highlights what they accomplished in their second year of implementing the goals presented in their FY 2019-2022 Diversity and Inclusion Strategic Plan. In FY 2021,…

This Semiannual Report presents the activities and accomplishments of the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Inspector General (OIG) from April 1, 2022, through September 30, 2022. The report highlights the audits, investigations, and related work issued during this time frame. Sections include: (1) Pandemic Relief Oversight; (2) Disaster…