Funding for the formation and maintenance of 23 research laboratories and centers has, in the past, come from the USOE, administered by one of its units. Legislation is currently pending before Congress that would create a National Institute of Education and transfer some of the responsibilities, including that of funding work in the laboratories and centers, from the USOE to NIE. A new institutional support policy has been devised which selects and systematically arranges existing components, many of which have emerged over time since the first institutions were founded. The objective is to develop decision models, assessment criteria and methods, and monitoring procedures that are appropriate to program objectives and policies and to the institution's achieved maturity. (Author/WM)