Federal Education Funding Trends: A Perspective. CRS Report for Congress

This analysis provides a statistical overview of appropriations for the U.S. Department of Education (ED) and its predecessor agencies. The report places ED funding in perspective with other types of federal funding and the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), makes adjustments for inflation, and compares education expenditures from federal, state, and local sources. Since ED's inception in 1980, ED budget requests and authority have increased. Compared to social welfare outlays from 1965 to the present, ED outlays reached the highest share in the late 1960s (7.1 percent) and have declined to less than 4 percent since 1982. Compared to total federal outlays, ED expenditures peaked at 2.5 percent in 1971 and again in the late 1970s, and have been below 2 percent until 1993, when they are expected to reach 2.0 percent. As a share of GDP, ED outlays increased from 1965 to the mid-1970s and again through 1981, but have declined since then. Adjusted for inflation, ED outlays decreased by a third from 1981 to 1987, but for the 1965 through 1993 period, they are estimated to reach the highest point in 1993. When adjusted for both inflation and population growth, ED outlays reached their peak in 1981 at $123 per capita, but dropped to $100 per capita (approaching 1968 levels) in 1991. The 1992 total education expenditures from all sources, even when adjusted for inflation, are nearly double the 1965 amount. During this time, funds from federal sources have fallen below 10 percent, state funds comprise more than one-third of the total, and local and other funds constituted just over one-quarter of the total. Federal funds now comprise less than 6 percent of elementary and secondary expenditures and over 12 percent of postsecondary education expenditures. Eleven tables and 11 figures make up the greater part of this report. (MLH)