United States Department of Education

For the earlier incarnation with the same name, established in 1867, see United States Office of Education.

United States
Department of Education
Seal of the United States Department of Education
Flag of the United States Department of Education

Lyndon Baines Johnson Department of Education Building, Department Headquarters
Department overview
FormedOctober 17, 1979; 45 years ago (1979-10-17)
Preceding agencies
JurisdictionFederal government of the United States
HeadquartersLyndon Baines Johnson Department of Education Building, 400 Maryland Avenue, Southwest, Washington, D.C., U.S. 20202
38°53′11.5″N 77°1′7.9″W / 38.886528°N 77.018861°W / 38.886528; -77.018861
Employees3,912 (2018)[1]
Annual budget238.04B (2024)[2]
Department executives
Key document
Websiteed.gov

The United States Department of Education is a cabinet-level department of the United States government. It 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.[3][4]

The Department of Education is administered by the United States secretary of education. It has 4,400 employees – the smallest staff of the Cabinet agencies[5] – and a 2024 budget of $238 billion.[6] The 2023 Budget was $274 billion, which included funding for children with disabilities (IDEA), pandemic recovery, early childhood education, Pell Grants, Title I, work assistance, among other programs. This budget was down from $637.7 billion in 2022.[7] Its official abbreviation is ED ("DOE" refers to the United States Department of Energy) but is also abbreviated informally as "DoEd".

  1. ^ Stratford, Michael (22 January 2018). "Education Department goes into shutdown mode". Politico. Archived from the original on 25 January 2018. Retrieved 25 January 2018.
  2. ^ "Department of Education (ED) | Spending Profile (FY 2024)". USAspending.gov. Retrieved 12 October 2024.
  3. ^ Pub. L. 96–88, S. 210, 93 Stat. 668, enacted October 17, 1979
  4. ^ Kosar, Kevin R. (15 April 2011). "Department of Education Organization Act, 1979". Federal Education Policy History. Retrieved 2 May 2024.
  5. ^ "Federal Role in Education". www2.ed.gov. 15 June 2021. Retrieved 28 April 2022.
  6. ^ "Agency Profile | U.S. Department of Education". www2.ed.gov. Retrieved 14 November 2024.
  7. ^ "What the New PISA Results Really Say About U.S. Schools". future-ed.com. 15 June 2021. Retrieved 14 November 2024.