The Department of Education is the smallest cabinet department by staff and runs the federal student-aid system, enforces education civil-rights laws, and sends grants to states for K-12 and higher education. In 2025 it cut roughly half its workforce and began transferring functions out — student-loan servicing toward Treasury and major grant offices toward Labor — though it retains student-loan oversight and college accreditation roles as of mid-2026.
Open the interactive page for ED →Created byDepartment of Education Organization Act, Pub. L. 96-88, Oct. 17, 1979 (93 Stat. 668); operations began May 1980
Head appointed20 U.S.C. § 3411: there shall be at the head of the Department a Secretary of Education, appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. No fixed term (PAS)
Removal standardno statutory removal protection — removable at will
Funded underDepartments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act
Congressional oversightHouse Committee on Education and the Workforce · Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
Inspector generalDepartment of Education OIG (PAS Inspector General under the IG Act, 5 U.S.C. § 403(a))
Judicial reviewAPA § 702 suits in district court; OCR and program decisions reviewable under the APA; student-aid disputes through agency processes and federal court
Vote for President and Senate; apply for aid or report a federal student-loan problem at studentaid.gov; file a civil-rights complaint at ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr; comment on proposed rules at regulations.gov.