A r c h i v e d I n f o r m a t i o n

U.S. Department of Education Strategic Plan, 1998-2002 - September 1997

Resources

The Department's success in achieving its goals and objectives will depend upon the resources available to support them. The Department is responsible for two types of program funding--(1) Congressional appropriations for its programs and services and (2) student loans provided by ED or guaranteed and provided by lending institutions. The key resources supporting our programs and leadership activities are program administration funds and staffing.

These resources are allocated towards meeting our goals as demonstrated in the following tables. While some of our programs are targeted at particular objectives, many programs support more than one objective (see the relationship chart) (NOTE: Due to its layout, the relationship chart is displayed in portable document format (pdf). To view it, you will need Adobe's Acrobat Reader.). In particular, we have a number of major programs that support both Goals 1 and 2, such as Title I Grants for Disadvantaged Children. For that reason, the resources are grouped at the level of goals, and the resources supporting Goals 1 and 2 are aggregated in the table.

Distribution of total resources--budget authority for programs, new loans, and budget authority for administrative expenses

Table 1 below illustrates how the Department's total resources are allocated to the strategic plan goals. Some highlights include:

"Program funding" includes (1) budget authority for the Department's programs such as Title I grants to local educational agencies and Pell Grants for postsecondary students and (2) estimated new student loans made during the year.
Of the total program funding of $66.7 billion that the Department is overseeing in FY 1997, budget authority represents 48% ($32.0 billion) and new student loans represent 52% ($34.8 billion).
The Department's program funding supports the strategic plan goals, as Table 1 shows. Program funding is distributed as follows:
- Almost 25% supports elementary and secondary education programs
- Almost 75% supports postsecondary, vocational rehabilitation, and adult education programs and new student loans
- Less than 1% supports research activities
The majority of ED's administrative funding (salaries and expenses) supports postsecondary education programs, including administration of the Direct Loan program and major contracts for student loan processing:
- 66% for postsecondary education
- 15% for leadership, oversight, and operations
- 7% for K-12 education
- 7% for direct civil rights enforcement, technical assistance, and training
- 5% for research

TABLE 1. Estimated Distribution of Funding and Staffing Resources to Strategic Plan Goals, based on FY 1997 budget authority and estimated new student loans
	"Program Funding"		Staffing (estimated FTE usage)		Administration Funding
	Budget Authority/ Student Loans ($000s)	Percent of Total	Number	Percent of Total	Salaries & Expenses¹ ($000s)	Percent of Total
Goal 1 and Goal 2 (ED's K-12 education programs)
ED's K-12 programs	$16,383,088¹	24.6%	577	12.9%	$60,519	7.5%
Goal 3 (postsecondary, vocational rehabilitation, and adult education)
Postsecondary, vocational rehabilitation, and adult education programs, and student loans	15,160,792¹ 34,764,000² $49,924,792	74.8%	1,875	42.0%	$529,589	65.6%
Goal 4 (research, leadership/oversight/operations)
Research (OERI, NIDRR, IDEA Research to Practice, FIPSE) ³	$427,451¹	0.6%	387	8.6%	$44,098	5.5%
Leadership/oversight/ operations ⁴	$0	-	947	21.2%	$118,414	14.7%
Civil Rights, direct support⁵
Office of Civil Rights, Title IV Training and Advisory Services, Women's Educational Equity	$9,334¹	0.0%	682	15.3%	$55,112	6.8%
Total resources	$66,744,655	100.0%	4,468	100%	$807,732	100%

¹ Budget authority (Congressional appropriations).
² New student loans made by the Department or banks.
³ Acronyms are OERI (Office of Educational Research and Improvement), NIDRR (National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research), IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act), and FIPSE (Fund for Improvement of Postsecondary Education).
⁴ Leadership, oversight, and operations includes the Offices of the Secretary, Deputy Secretary, Budget and Planning and Evaluation Services, Inspector General, General Counsel, Chief Information Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Legislation, Intergovernmental and Interagency Affairs, and Management.
⁵ Civil Rights direct support includes the Office for Civil Rights and the Title IV (Civil Rights Act) Training and Advisory Assistance and Women's Educational Equity programs.

Distribution of administrative funds

In FY 1997, administrative funds ($807.7 million) represent 2.5% of ED's budget authority but--in a more accurate reflection of ED's responsibilities--1.2% of all program funding, including new student loans. Table 2 categorizes the Department's administrative funding by type of activity. Administrative funds are used for salaries, contracts, and other expenses (such as rent, telephones, equipment and supplies).

ED's administrative funds are used for:

Contracts with private sector organizations (40.4% of total administration funds). Most of this funding supports the delivery of student financial aid, including processing student loan applications and maintaining data on student loans
Staff salaries (37%)
Other expenses, such as rent, telephones, equipment and supplies, travel, etc. (19%)

Table 2. Estimated Distribution of Program Administration Funds by Goal and Type of Activity
	FY 1997 Salaries & Expenses ($000s)	Percent of Total
Goal 1 and Goal 2 (ED's K-12 education programs)
Salaries Contracts Other Subtotal	$41,092 $5,000 $14,427 $60,519	5.0% 0.6% 1.8% 7.4%
Goal 3 (postsecondary, vocational rehabilitation, and adult education)
Salaries Contracts Other Subtotal	$120,618 $325,950 $83,021 $529,589	14.9% 40.4% 10.3% 65.6%
Goal 4 (research, leadership/oversight/operations)
*ResearchSalaries Contracts Other Subtotal*	$29,953 $4,129 $10,016 $44,098	3.7% 0.5% 1.2% 5.4%
Leadership/oversight/ operations Salaries Contracts Other Subtotal	$65,789 $18,824 $33,801 $118,414	8.1% 2.4% 4.2% 14.7%
Civil Rights, direct support
Salaries Contracts Other Subtotal	$44,389 $1,412 $9,311 $55,112	5.5% 0.2% 1.2% 6.9%
Totals, by category
Salaries Contracts Other	$301,841 $355,315 $150,576	37.4% 44.0% 18.6%
Total S&E funding	$807,732	100.0%

-###-

[Goal 4. Make ED a high-performance organization...]

[Relationship of Strategic Plan Goals and Objectives to Program Goals ]