Department of Education

SALARIES AND EXPENSES OVERVIEW

Fiscal Year 2019 Budget Request

CONTENTS

Page

Introduction............................................................................................................................W-1

FY 2019 Budget Request.......................................................................................................W-2

Participation in Governmentwide E-Government Initiatives ....................................................W-9

Budget Authority by Account................................................................................................W-11

Budget Authority by Object Classification.............................................................................W-12

Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) Employment (Staff Years) by Account.......................................W-13

Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) Employment by Office...............................................................W-14

Detail of Full-time Equivalent (FTE) Employment................................................................W-15

Organization Chart...............................................................................................................W-16

Locations of Major Administrative Contracts and Current Contractors..................................W-17

Report on the Budget Formulation and Execution Line of Business .....................................W-18
SALARIES AND EXPENSES OVERVIEW

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INTRODUCTION

The Salaries and Expenses Overview summarizes the administrative costs and staffing for all 

Department of Education accounts. Departmental administrative costs and full-time equivalent 

(FTE) employment are supported in the fiscal year 2019 budget request from funding in the 

following accounts:

• Program Administration (PA),

• Student Aid Administration (SAA), 

• Office for Civil Rights (OCR), 

• Office of Inspector General (OIG), 

• College Housing and Academic Facilities Loans Program (CHAFL), 

• Historically Black College and University Capital Financing Program (HBCUCF), and

• Institute of Education Sciences (IES).

Greater detail on the funds supporting administrative costs and staffing is provided separately in 

each account’s justification materials.

Key programs administered by the Department include Title I of the Elementary and Secondary 

Education Act (ESEA), for which the Department’s fiscal year 2019 request would provide 

$15.5 billion to help approximately 25 million students in high-poverty schools make progress 

toward State academic standards; and $12 billion for the Individuals with Disabilities Education 

Act Part B Grants to States to help States and school districts meet the special education needs 

of 6.9 million students with disabilities. Key programs also include Federal Pell Grants, which 

would make available $30.2 billion in need-based grants to 7.6 million students enrolled in 

postsecondary institutions; and the postsecondary student loan programs, which would provide 

roughly $151 billion in new and consolidated Direct Loans to help students and families pay for 

college.

In addition to staff, operational activities necessary for the everyday work of the Department

include expenses for:

• Facilities management, including rent for office space and guard services;

• Telephone and computer network services;

• Operation and maintenance of the Department’s websites (e.g., www.ed.gov and 

www.studentaid.gov);

• Grants payment processing; and

• Program oversight and enforcement of education laws.
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Cybersecurity continues to be one of the most pressing management concerns. Protecting the 

personally identifiable information in the Department’s and its contractors’ Information 

Technology (IT) systems is critical.

The Department also strives for continuous improvement in other key management areas. 

Specific management priorities in the fiscal year 2019 budget request include:

• Information technology, including improving the capability to collect educational data and 

a continued focus on data security;

• Providing a world-class financial services experience for recipients of federal student aid, 

including Pell Grants and student loans;

• Financial management, including projects designed to ensure accountability for 

departmental assets, improve grants management, and provide better financial data to 

managers;

• Using evidence of program success and performance to inform decision making and 

focus limited resources on programs that work, and reforming or eliminating programs 

that do not;

• Improving the acquisition process through development of the acquisition workforce and 

reducing reliance on high-risk contract vehicles; and

• Continuing to improve timeliness in resolving internal and external audits.

FY 2019 BUDGET REQUEST

The fiscal year 2019 Salaries and Expenses discretionary budget request totals $2.41 billion, 

$240 million, or 11.1 percent, over the fiscal year 2018 Annualized CR level. The fiscal year 

2019 budget request includes a net decrease of 43 FTE. A summary of changes by funding 

account is provided on page W-11.

The requested fiscal year 2019 increase focuses on key departmental policy and management 

priorities. These include continued improvements to the Department’s IT security to ensure the 

integrity of Department of Education data as well as to prevent potential IT security breaches;

more resources for loan servicing due to the increase in the number of borrowers and the shift 

of existing borrowers from in-school to more expensive in-repayment statuses and costs 

associated with the transition to the Next Generation Processing and Servicing Environment;

continual operations for student aid application processing, origination and disbursement 

functions, and student aid IT system hosting; and building modernization and renovation 

activities with a goal of reducing the Department’s future rent costs by moving out of existing 

space.

The Budget supports Federal Student Aid (FSA) in undertaking a monumental student loan 

servicing upgrade. FSA is reorganizing its fragmented servicing and operating infrastructure in 

order to provide an innovative, world-class financial services experience for its customers. The 

Next Generation Financial Services Environment at FSA will start with a mobile-first, mobilecomplete engagement layer for all customer interactions that will link with an integrated but 

nimble new system. Integrated into every aspect of this modernization effort will be state-of-the-
SALARIES AND EXPENSES OVERVIEW

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art cyber security protection. The end goal of this technical reorganization and modernization 

effort will be to provide better service for FSA's over 40 million customers, including students 

and institutions, across the student loan lifecycle. The new environment will help increase 

awareness and understanding of Federal student aid opportunities and responsibilities, improve

FSA’s operational flexibility, and enhance cost and operational efficiency, producing better 

outcomes for students and taxpayers. 

The following chart provides detail on the total Salaries and Expenses request of $2.41 billion by 

category.

SUMMARY OF STAFFING AND NON-PERSONNEL COSTS

Staffing:

The Department of Education’s (ED’s) programs and responsibilities have grown substantially 

over the past decade. Some of the growth has resulted from legislation that added 

responsibilities or changed requirements, including the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility 

Act (SAFRA) and 100 percent Direct Lending, the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act 

(WIOA), and the Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act (FITARA). In addition, 

oversight of the Department student loan and grant programs continues to grow. The recently 

reauthorized Elementary and Secondary Education Act, as amended by the Every Student 

Succeeds Act (ESSA), will require ED to provide assistance and flexibility to states and school 

districts to ensure a smooth implementation of the new statute. ED’s workload also has 

increased as ED strives to improve its oversight of its programs and data. 

After the Departments of Defense, Veterans Affairs, and Health and Human Services, ED has 

the fourth largest discretionary budget of any federal agency. When comparing federal civilian 

employment in the executive branch, ED’s workforce is smaller than all other Cabinet agencies. 

While this budget submission highlights many of the cost reducing measures that ED has 

already implemented, it also highlights that additional workforce reductions must be considered 

carefully to ensure that effectiveness will not be compromised.

Personnel, 

Compensation & 

Benefits

25%, $608.9

Other Non-Personnel

5%, $123.2

Overhead

(Rent) 3%, $77.7

Non-SAA Contracts

6%, $137.1

Student Aid 

Administration 

Contracts

61%, $1,464.1

FY 2019 Salaries & Expenses Costs by Category

($ in millions)
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On March 13, 2017, the President signed Executive Order 13781, “Comprehensive Plan for 

Reorganizing the Executive Branch” (Reorganize EO), directing the Office of Management and 

Budget (OMB) to submit a comprehensive plan to reorganize Executive Branch departments 

and agencies. On April 12, 2017, OMB issued a “Memorandum for Heads of Executive 

Departments and Agencies” (OMB memo) providing guidance on implementing Reorganize EO.

To respond to the Executive Order (EO), ED took a number of short term steps to ensure that its 

positions are dedicated to mission critical work. In fiscal year 2017, ED’s budget supported 

4,107 FTE. The fiscal year 2018 Annualized CR level includes funding to support 3,944 FTE.

Given the uncertainty of final fiscal year 2018 appropriation levels, ED has taken meaningful 

steps to achieve the FTE reduction. First, the Secretary made the decision to extend the 

government-wide hiring freeze until the end of fiscal year 2018, which has already resulted in a 

reduced workforce. ED has also taken great care to ensure that exceptions to the hiring freeze 

are for positions that perform or protect the most critical work and data of ED and its 

stakeholders. It has also prioritized positions for high performing, but less costly positions, 

including Presidential Management Fellows (PMFs), Pathways, and merit promotion 

opportunities available for GS-13s and below. Offices that have higher attrition rates than ED’s 

average have been prioritized in the Department’s limited hiring exception process. Additional 

round(s) of the hiring exception process will occur in fiscal year 2018, with exception approvals 

assumed to occur at rates slightly higher than the first round completed in fiscal year 2017. 

In addition to the hiring freeze, ED has reduced the number of political appointees in its 

budget—typically about 150 FTE, including in fiscal year 2016, to 100.

ED offered a Voluntary Early Retirement Authority (VERA)/Voluntary Separation Incentive 

Payment (VSIP) at the beginning of fiscal year 2018 and 69 employees accepted the buyout. In 

general, buyout positions may be backfilled, but generally at lower grades and after a time lag to 

allow for fiscal year 2018 salary savings to materialize. 

The Department recently reviewed several key work functions that are managed by a number of

ED offices. This review will determine whether the identified functions should be consolidated, 

whether there were non-core, non-essential activities performed by ED staff that could be 

eliminated and, in conjunction with the federal property review, and whether ED could 

consolidate regional and Washington, D.C. building space. 

ED’s Agency Reform Plan aims to improve services to the public and to strengthen the support 

ED provides to states, districts, and postsecondary institutions in their efforts to provide a highquality education to all students. ED can better serve the public by providing regulatory relief,

improving its decision-making processes, and identifying whether areas of duplication, 

inefficiency, or misalignment with mission exist.

The Department is in the process of reviewing the FTE implications associated with its Agency 

Reform Plan. In the interim, the Department’s budget submission assumes that a hiring freeze 

(with a managed exception process) continues for employees funded by the Program 

Administration and Student Aid Administration accounts until the end of fiscal year 2019, 

resulting in 56 fewer FTE from the fiscal year 2018 Annualized CR level. The Office for Civil 
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Rights proposes level FTE from fiscal year 2018 to fiscal year 2019. The Office of Inspector 

General proposes increasing its FTE level by 13. 

The Department’s administrative funds are approximately 1 percent of the total annual program 

appropriations and new loan volume administered by the Department. A 10-year history of the 

Department’s staffing is shown in the following chart:

Department Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) Employment Usage

(FY 2010 – FY 2019)

FY 

2010

FY 

2011

FY 

2012

FY 

2013

FY 

2014

FY 

2015

FY 

2016 

FY 

2017

FY 

2018 

Est.

FY 

2019 

Est.

4,105 4,387 4,276 4,090 4,027 4,081 4,150 4,107 3,944 3,901

Department employees are divided between Washington, D.C., headquarters, 11 regional 

offices, and 13 field offices. Most regional and field office staff are in FSA, OIG, and OCR. The 

FSA regional staff offices’ workload is dedicated to performing program reviews of FFEL 

participants including: lenders, lender servicers, guaranty agencies, and guaranty agency 

servicers as well as conducting program reviews of loan servicers and private collection 

agencies under contract to the Department. Additionally, FSA’s regional offices’ resources are 

focused on oversight of schools participating in the Title IV programs including: eligibility 

requirements for participating in the Title IV programs; program reviews of institutions’

compliance with Title IV regulations and statute; resolution of compliance audits of Title IV 

regulations; financial analysis of schools’ independently audited financial statements; 

institutional improvement assistance; and payment analysis of heightened cash monitoring. 

OIG staff conduct audits and investigations of Department programs and operations. OCR staff

investigate civil rights complaints and conduct civil rights compliance reviews.
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Personnel Compensation and Benefits (PC&B):

The fiscal year 2019 Budget request includes $608.9 million for PC&B, a decrease of 

$6.8 million below the fiscal year 2018 Annualized CR level. PC&B includes salaries; benefits 

for employees, such as health premiums, and transit benefits; and awards and overtime. 

Non-Personnel Costs:

Non-personnel costs cover such items as travel, rent, mail, telephones, utilities, printing, IT, 

contractual services, equipment, supplies, and other departmental services. The total budget 

for non-personnel activities in fiscal year 2019 is $1.802 billion, an increase of $247.1 million 

over the fiscal year 2018 Annualized CR level. Thirty-one percent, or $76.3 million, of the nonpersonnel increase is the result of higher Student Aid Administration loan servicing costs, which 

result from growth in the number of borrowers and shifts of existing borrowers from in-school to 

more expensive, in-repayment, statuses and costs associated with the transition to the Next 

Generation Processing and Servicing Environment. In addition, fifty-two percent, or $129.6 

million, of the non-personnel increase is the result of higher Student Aid Administration costs for 

enhancing IT security; operations for student aid application processing, origination and 

disbursement functions, and student aid IT system hosting; and the IRS Data Retrieval Tool.

Boston

New York City

Philadelphia

Washington, D.C.

Regional Offices

Field Offices

Location of the Department of Education 

Regional and Field Offices

Seattle

San

Francisco Denver

Kansas

City

Chicago

Atlanta

Dallas

Cleveland Sacramento

Long Beach

Puerto Rico Pembroke 

Pines

Pittsburgh

St. Paul

Austin

Phoenix

Nashville

Ann Arbor
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Departmental Centralized Services:

Departmental overhead expenses cover centralized support and administrative services for all 

program and staff offices. The funds are managed by the Office of Management. These 

services include rent to the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), building alterations 

and repairs, lease renewal, training, supplies, mail, and physical security for buildings and 

personnel. A total of $172.5 million is requested for these costs in fiscal year 2019, an increase 

of $28.2 million over the fiscal year 2018 Annualized CR. Major increases include rent to GSA, 

physical security costs, payroll system, historically based cost escalations, and building 

modernization to reduce future rent costs by consolidating office space.

Information technology activities that comprise centralized IT services include computer 

operations, maintenance and improvements, local area network operations, initiatives designed 

to link Department business needs with the best available technology, and other commonly 

shared IT and office automation activities. The funds are managed by the Office of the Chief 

Information Officer. A total of $125.4 million is requested for fiscal year 2019.

Improper Payments:

The Department continues to focus on the integrity of its payments made, which includes 

assessing risks associated with improper payments and establishing effective internal controls 

designed to prevent, detect, reduce, and recover improper payments.

For the Title IV risk-susceptible Pell Grant and Direct Loan programs, the Department also 

estimates improper payment rates and analyzes the root causes of the improper payments 

detected. The major root causes of improper payments in the Pell Grant and Direct Loan 

programs are incorrect self-reporting of an applicant’s income, incorrect processing of student 

data by institutions, student account data changes not applied or processed correctly, 

ineligibility for a Pell Grant or Direct Loan (e.g., validity of high school attended, history of 

degrees obtained), satisfactory academic progress not achieved, and incorrectly calculated 

return records by institutions returning Title IV student aid funds. To prevent and reduce 

improper payments, the Department is pursuing several corrective actions, which include adding 

or strengthening relevant controls.

One of the Department’s tools to reduce improper payments is to encourage applicants through 

varied messaging to retrieve certain income information directly from the Internal Revenue 

Service (IRS) with the use of the IRS Data Retrieval Tool (DRT). Applicants can view 

information from their IRS tax return and transfer that information directly into the Free 

Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), mitigating the risk of improper payments resulting 

from incorrectly self-reported applicant income. Beginning with the 2017-18 award year, 

applicants were able to initiate their application earlier in the award year starting on October 1st

instead of January 1st, which gives the option to complete their FAFSA using “prior-prior year” 

tax data, eliminating the need to estimate income and tax information that subsequently needs 

to be corrected once the tax return is filed; or waiting to complete their FAFSA until after the tax 

return has been filed.

The Department also uses other verification methods to help prevent improper payments and to 

confirm specific information reported on the FAFSA by the applicant. Schools are required to 
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verify all applicants that are selected by the Department for verification. Annually, the 

Department analyzes FSA’s grant recipients, student loan borrowers, and the verification 

selection system, and informs the financial aid community which FAFSA items are subject to 

verification for the upcoming award year. In addition, FSA works to promote accuracy and 

accountability in the administration of Title IV student financial aid through institutional oversight, 

guidance, technical assistance, and enforcement. As part of its ongoing activities, the Program 

Compliance office conducts periodic recertification of all schools’ eligibility, issues loss of 

eligibility determinations to schools, assesses millions of dollars in final program review and final 

audit determinations, and debars individuals from receiving assistance or benefits from any 

Federal Agency as a result of financial aid fraud or other criminal convictions.

In July 2015, GAO published its Fraud Risk Management Framework and Selected Leading 

Practices. The Department has implemented a number of leading practices in fraud risk 

management and will continue to evaluate its program to ensure compliance. FSA continues to 

collaborate with OIG to receive and analyze fraud referrals and to identify potential fraud 

indicators for suspicious student activity. FSA has engaged contract support and established a 

fraud group and processes to support OIG fraud referral analysis and disposition. FSA will 

continue to use this analysis to inform recommendations on data analytics and identify ways to 

improve controls. These activities are coordinated and shared with a newly appointed Senior 

Advisor on Fraud within FSA’s Risk Management Office. This office coordinates internal 

training on fraud prevention and detection as well as listening sessions with the school 

community on fraud trends and good practices in prevention and detection.

The Department continues to modernize the Continuous Controls Monitoring System (CCMS), 

an application that integrates payments analysis, case management, and reporting functions to 

automate and streamline the detection, recovery, and prevention of improper payments. A key 

objective of this initiative is development of predictive modeling to prevent improper payments to 

the maximum extent possible. The Department created the Payment Integrity Workgroup 

(PIWG) to review and validate internal controls by payment type (i.e., Payroll, Travel, Transit 

Benefits, Grants – Discretionary/Formula, Contracts, Government Purchase Card, and 

Interagency Agreements). The teams are documenting that the right controls are in place to 

prevent and detect improper payments and how the areas are incorporating Enterprise Risk 

Management (ERM) and generating ways to identify and report fraud. The workgroup is also 

incorporating the payment integrity checks that are generated from the CCMS as it related to 

the administrative areas. Finally, the Department continues to assess audit reports to identify 

potential areas of concern relevant to improper payments and to take appropriate action.

Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation (CDM):

The Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation (CDM) Program centrally managed by the 

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and also implemented at the Department of 

Education, is intended to create a common baseline of cybersecurity capability and protection 

across the Federal Government. The program provides Federal Departments and Agencies 

with CDM-certified capabilities and tools that identify and prioritize cybersecurity risks on an 

ongoing basis and enable cybersecurity personnel to mitigate the most significant problems first. 

The CDM tools also allow Departments and Agencies to better manage their IT assets, helping 

to reduce their overall attack surface.
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The CDM tools provide near real-time awareness of Education’s networks and environments.

Data from the tools are automatically ingested into an individual dashboard at the Department. 

The Agency Dashboard provides current visibility into the overall organization’s security posture 

based on a 72-hour data currency. With the full implementation of CDM, data from the 

individual Agency dashboards across the Federal Government will be aggregated into one 

Federal-level dashboard with planned synchronization every 8 hours. The Federal Dashboard 

is maintained by the CDM Program and allows DHS to monitor and respond to Federal 

cybersecurity threats and incidents quickly and efficiently.

The CDM Program is currently being implemented in four phases. Since fiscal year 2013, 

Congress has supported all four phases of CDM.

Historically, it has taken Agencies days or weeks to determine that cybersecurity incidents have 

occurred in their environment. Once fully deployed, the CDM Program will shorten this 

timeframe to hours and minutes.

DHS, through the CDM Program Management Office, also provides support for training and 

governance activities, ensuring that CDM deployments and governance activities reinforce 

agency responsibilities for Information Security Continuous Monitoring as identified in OMB

Memorandum 14-03: Enhancing the Security of Federal Information and Information Systems

and in the Federal Information Security Modernization Act of 2014.

Participation in Governmentwide E-Government Initiatives:

The Department is actively participating in a number of Governmentwide e-Government 

initiatives and lines of business designed to make it easy for citizens and businesses to interact 

with the Government, save taxpayer dollars, and streamline citizen-to-Government 

communications. The Department has budgeted a total of $5.1 million in fiscal year 2018, and 

requests $5.3 million in fiscal year 2019 for these initiatives. The request includes support for 

the following initiatives/lines of business noted in the chart below:
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(in whole dollars)

Governmentwide E-Government

Initiative/Line of Business FY 2018

FY 2019

Request

Budget Line of Business $110,000 $110,000

E-Rulemaking 101,000 138,000

Financial Management Line of Business 231,000 231,000

Geospatial Line of Business 25,000 25,000

GovBenefits.gov* 266,000 274,000

Grants.gov 392,000 322,000

Human Resource Management Line of Business 69,000 69,000

Integrated Awards Environment* 3,749,000 4,049,000

Performance Management Line of Business 80,000 80,000

USAJOBS 30,000 32,000

Total 5,053,000 5,330,000

NOTE: Funding for initiatives marked with an asterisk * is from the Student Aid Administration account; 

funding for all other initiatives/lines of business is from the Program Administration account.
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Department of Education

Budget Authority by Account

(dollars in thousands)

ACTIVITY

2017

Appropriation

2018

Annualized CR

2019

Request

Change 

from 2018

to 2019

Program Administration:

Salaries and Expenses $432,000 $429,066 $432,506 $3,440

Building Modernization 0 0 26,751 26,751

Office for Civil Rights 108,500 107,763 107,438 -325

Office of Inspector General 59,256 58,854 63,418 4,564

Subtotal, Departmental Management 599,756 595,683 630,113 34,430

Administrative costs from program accounts:

College Housing and Academic Facilities Loans 435 432 448 16

Historically Black College and University Capital 

Financing 334 332 339 7

Institute of Education Sciences:

National Assessment Governing Board 7,745 7,692 7,745 53

National Board for Education Sciences 276 261 259 -2

Student Aid Administration:

Salaries and Expenses 716,253 632,484 762,000 129,516

Servicing Activities 860,601 933,662 1,010,000 76,338

Subtotal, Student Aid Administration account 1,576,854 1,566,146 1,772,000 205,854

Total, Salaries and Expenses 2,185,400 2,170,546 2,410,904 240,358
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Department of Education

Budget Authority by Object Classification

(dollars in thousands)

Object class 

no. Object Class

2017

Appropriation

2018

Annualized CR

2019 

Request

Change from 

2018 to 2019

11.10 Full-time permanent $464,331 $452,931 $446,026 -$6,905

11.31 Full-time temporary 8,198 3,119 5,602 2,483

11.32 Part-time 989 794 794 0

11.33 Consultants 250 261 261 0

11.51 Overtime 409 438 536 98

11.52 Awards 5,166 6,067 5,700 -367

subtotal row Subtotal, Personnel Comp. 479,343 463,610 458,919 -4,691

12.00 Benefits 150,767 149,796 149,484 -312

12.15 Student Loan Repayment 60 60 60 0

13.01 Benefits for former personnel 200 2,167 418 -1,749

subtotal row Subtotal, Benefits 151,027 152,023 149,962 -2061

21.00 Travel 6,633 7,638 9,076 1,438

22.00 Transportation of things 1 1 1 0

23.10 Rental Payments to GSA 73,571 73,913 77,671 3,758

23.31 Communications 628 834 1,216 382

23.32 Postage/fees 406 239 188 -51

subtotal row Subtotal, 23 74,605 74,986 79,075 4,089

24.00 Printing & Reproduction 1,507 1,017 1,641 624

25.10 Advisory and Assistance Svcs 8,080 6,433 10,956 4,523

25.21 Other Services 945,657 996,317 1,098,044 101,727

25.22 Training/Tuition/Contracts 4,537 5,019 5,728 709

25.23 Field Readers 59 0 0 0

25.30 Goods/Services from Gov't 63,116 64,877 87,369 22,492

25.40 Operations/Maint of Facilities 1 1 1 0

25.71 Operations/Maint of Equipment 1,496 1,488 1,491 3

25.72 IT Services/Contracts 445,749 390,836 481,578 90,742

subtotal row Subtotal, 25 1,468,695 1,464,971 1,685,167 220,196

26.00 Supplies 842 957 1,168 211

31.01 IT Equipment/Software 1,810 1,737 2,041 304

31.03 Other Equipment 390 3,056 1,286 -1,770

subtotal row Subtotal, 31 2,200 4,793 3,327 -1,466

32.00 Building Alterations 547 550 22,568 22,018

43.01 Interest and Dividends 0 0 0 0 

total row Total, Budget Authority 2,185,400 2,170,546 2,410,904 240,358

total row Total, Pers. Comp. & Ben. 630,370 615,633 608,881 -6,752

total row Total, Non-Personnel 1,555,030 1,554,913 1,802,023 247,110
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Department of Education

Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) Employment (Staff Years) by Account

ACCOUNT 2017 Actual

2018

Annualized CR

2019

Request

Change 

from 2018

to 2019

Program Administration 1,753 1,648 1,615 -33

Office for Civil Rights 579 529 529 0

Office of Inspector General 232 231 244 13

Subtotal, Departmental Management 2,564 2,408 2,388 -20

FTE funded from program accounts:

College Housing and Academic Facilities Loans 2 3 3 0

Historically Black College and University Capital 

Financing 1 1 1 0

Institute of Education Sciences:

Insti tute of Education Sciences: National Assessment Governing Board 13 14 14 0

Insti tute of Education Sciences: National Board for Education Sciences 1 1 1 0

Student Aid Administration 1,526 1,517 1,494 -23

Subtotal, Program Accounts 1,543 1,536 1,513 -23

Total, FTE 4,107 3,944 3,901 -43
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Department of Education

Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) Employment by Office

OFFICE 2017 Actual

2018

Annualized CR

2019

Request

Change from 

2018 to 2019

Career, Technical and Adult Education 73 69 64 -5

Chief Financial Officer 177 172 161 -11

Chief Information Officer 118 117 110 -7

Civil Rights 579 529 529 0

Communications and Outreach 92 82 73 -9

Deputy Secretary 40 37 32 -5

Elementary and Secondary Education 214 195 180 -15

English Language Acquisition, Language 

Enhancement, and Academic Achievement for 

Limited English Proficient Students 17 15 14 -1

Federal Student Aid 1,394 1,386 1,365 -21

General Counsel 110 108 102 -6

Innovation and Improvement 73 64 58 -6

Inspector General 232 231 244 13

Institute of Education Sciences 181 166 151 -15

Legislation and Congressional Affairs 14 13 12 -1

Management 196 177 164 -13

National Assessment Governing Board 13 14 14 0

National Board for Education Sciences 1 1 1 0

Planning, Evaluation, and Policy Development 91 78 74 -4

Postsecondary Education 173 164 154 -10

Secretary* 91 122 213 91

Special Education and Rehabilitative Services 206 189 172 -17

Under Secretary 21 15 14 -1

Total, FTE 4,107 3,944 3,901 -43

NOTE: The Office of the Secretary’s fiscal years 2018 and 2019 FTE levels reflect an increase of Schedule C 

employees (Executive Service Non-Permanent) occurring as the Administration’s team arrives. Many of these 

employees will ultimately move to other Department offices to fill key leadership positions. Also included in the Office 

of the Secretary FTE levels are estimated hiring exception waiver approvals over the next 2 years that will be also 

moved to other Department offices as they are approved and brought on board.
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Department of Education

Detail of Full-time Equivalent (FTE) Employment

Detail of Full-time Equivalent (FTE) 2017 Actual 2018 Annualized CR 2019 Request

Executive level I................................................. 1 1 1

Executive level II................................................ 1 1 1

Executive level III............................................... 0 1 1 

Executive level IV.............................................. 2 2 2

Executive level V............................................... 0 1 1

Subtotal...................................................... 4 6 6

Total - EX Salary................................. $716,800 $1,053,350 $1,057,000

Senior Executive Service............................. 82 86 86

Subtotal - ES1 ........................................... 82 86 86

Total - ES Salaries............................. $14,077,350 $14,955,400 $15,007,000

AL..................................................................... 2 2 2

AD..................................................................... 173 171 170

ED/EI................................................................ 4 3 2

GL.................................................................... 0 1 1

GS/GM-15........................................................ 463 451 439

GS/GM-14......................................................... 949 914 890

GS/GM-13......................................................... 1,123 1,082 1,053

GS-12................................................................ 711 714 702

GS-11................................................................ 188 185 178

GS-10................................................................ 0 0 0

GS-9.................................................................. 131 134 131

GS-8.................................................................. 32 30 28

GS-7.................................................................. 62 53 51

GS-6.................................................................. 11 12 11

GS-5.................................................................. 6 7 7

GS-4.................................................................. 15 14 13

GS-3.................................................................. 1 0 1

GS-2.................................................................. 8 4 2

GS-1.................................................................. 0 0 0

Subtotal...................................................... 3,879 3,776 3,681

Total full-time equivalent employment, 

end of year.......................................... 3,965 3,868 3,773

Full-time equivalent (FTE) 

usage.................................................. 4,107 3,944 3,901

Average ES salary............................................ $171,675 $173,900 $174,500

Average GS/GM grade..................................... 12.2 12.2 12.2

Average GS/GM salary..................................... $111,735 $114,511 $114,628

1

 FY 2017 includes 9 FSA SES positions. FY 2018 & FY 2019 include 10 FSA SES positions.
SALARIES AND EXPENSES OVERVIEW

W-16

Organization Chart

Operating Structure for Policy and Reporting Guidance
W-17

W-17

Locat ions of Major Admin istrative Contract s and Current Co ntractors

7 Denver

9 Colorado Springs

10 Broomfield

10 Westminster

Department of Education

Locations of Major Administrative Contracts

and Current Contractors

2, 9, 10 Plano

10 El Paso

10 Dallas

11 San Antonio

5,10 Lawrence

9 Boise

5, 10 Coralville,

10 London, KY

10,11 Monticello, KY

10

Montgomery

5, 11, Arlington, VA

1,4,9,10,11 Washington, DC

1 McLean, VA

10 2, 10 Fairfax, VA 

Hattiesburg

10 Rockville, MD

8 Bethesda, MD

6 Columbia

3* Madison

3* Lincoln

3* 

Chesterfield

11 Niagara Falls

5 Venice

3* Salt 

Lake 

City

3* Concord, NH

3* Knoxville

3* Harrisburg

3* Warrendale

3* Oklahoma City

3* Wilmington, DE

Note: An asterisk represents a headquarters location for loan servicing contracts. Additional locations can be found in the Student Aid 

Administration Congressional Justification.

1 Financial Management System (FSA)

2 EDUCATE (OCIO) 

3 Loan Servicers (FSA)

4 OCR CRDC Survey (OCR)

5 National Student Loan Data System (FSA)

6 System Security Authorizations (FSA)

7 Payroll/Personnel Processing Center (OM)

3*, 6 Reston, VA 

11 Piscataway, NJ

9, 10 Herdon, VA

9 Clarksville, VA

11 Columbus, GA

8 Education Department Central Automated Processing Systems (EDCAPS)(OCIO)

9 Next Generation Data Center FSA)

10 Application and Eligibility Determination System, FSA Customer Contact Center, and 

FSA Feedback and Ombudsman System (FSA)

11 Title IV Origination and Disbursement System (FSA)
SALARIES AND EXPENSES OVERVIEW

W-18

Report on the Budget Formulation and Execution Line of Business 

as Required by Division D, Section 737(d) of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2008, 

P.L. 110-161

The U.S. Department of Education assumed the role as the first Managing Partner for the 

Budget Line of Business (BLoB) in the fall of 2006. The focus of the Budget LoB is to build a 

“budget of the future” by promoting information-sharing across Government Agency budget 

offices, as well as building a “community of practice.” Through this collaboration, the budget 

community has been identifying best practices for all aspects of budget formulation and 

execution. The Budget LoB strives to find solutions linking budget formulation, execution, 

planning, performance, and financial management information.

The goals of the Budget LoB are to:

• Improve the efficiency and effectiveness of Agency and central processes for formulating 

and executing the Federal Budget

• Improve capabilities for analyzing and presenting budget, execution, planning, and 

financial information in support of decision making

• Enhance the effectiveness of the Federal budgeting workforce

Budget LoB anticipates 10-year savings of over $200 million Governmentwide due to efficiencies 

gained through collaboration and increased use of technology. Many Agency budget offices do 

not have automated systems to support budget formulation and execution activities. Agencies 

rely on basic office software and manual processes. Budget LoB’s goal is to reduce time spent 

by budget personnel on manual processes and increase time spent on high priority analytical 

activities (via increased use of technology, improved processes, and a better equipped 

workforce).

Budget LoB is a mixed lifecycle investment. Activities and solutions under development by 

Budget LoB workgroups are at different stages within the development lifecycle. Products under 

development are listed in the Objectives and Benefits table below and include implementation or 

projected implementation dates.

The following tables display the objectives and benefits, risks, costs, and Agency contributions to 

Budget LoB.
SALARIES AND EXPENSES OVERVIEW

W-19

Objectives and Benefits: Technology

Capability Objectives and Benefits

Technology

Technology

Collaboration 

Improves the efficiency and effectiveness of Government activities through the 

ready accessibility of information, and the ability to collaborate remotely both 

within an Agency (i.e., collaboration with regional and field staff) and across 

Federal Agencies (i.e., collaboration of each Agency with OMB and other 

Agencies on shared programs).

Current products include the MAX Federal Community, secure online meeting 

capability, MAX Shared Desktop, and MAX Calendar.

Current Status: The MAX Federal Community, a cross-agency collaboration 

platform, provides increased information sharing, collaboration, and knowledge 

management securely across the Federal Government, as well as within each 

Agency. With over 215,000 members (up from approximately 175,000 in Nov 

2016), the MAX Federal Community is reportedly the largest Government 

operated collaboration site. Many Agencies are also using the secure MAX 

Shared Desktop or the secure online meeting tool allowing Agency personnel 

to attend meetings remotely with presentations displayed on their computer 

screens.

Technology

Data Collection & 

Tracking

Improves OMB and Agency efficiency and effectiveness in carrying out the 

numerous required budget data exercises. Benefits apply to both central 

budget exercises (i.e., those required of Agencies by OMB) and exercises at 

the departmental or Agency level (i.e., those requested by central offices of 

Agency regional and field offices). Agency benefits include increased data 

collection capabilities, reduced errors, and reduced time spent manually 

consolidating and publishing data.

Current products include multiple web-based data collection tools for central 

budget exercises, as well as a web-based tool, MAX Collect, for Agency use in 

the collection of budget briefing and question and answer materials. MAX 

Survey is a basic data collection capability also available on MAX.gov. Over 

300 MAX Collect exercises have been utilized in the last year alone.

Current Status: BLoB data collection tools have demonstrated significant 

value by automating the collection of data for dozens of centralized exercises 

related to the budget community for earmarks, continuing resolutions, 

Questions for the Record, and across-the-board reductions. The MAX Collect 

tool provides even greater benefit by enabling Agency budget offices to 

automate their own data collection exercises. Agencies are now using the tool 

to facilitate a broad range of data calls and data collection exercises 

numbering in the hundreds. In recent years, the BLoB developed an add-on to 

MAX Collect called Collect Forms, which provides a much simpler and far 

more powerful user interface for collecting and reporting on data. MAX survey 

is used to quickly gather and analyze information via tokenized surveys.
SALARIES AND EXPENSES OVERVIEW

W-20

Capability Objectives and Benefits

Technology

Technology

Knowledge 

Management

Improves the ability of Agencies to locate and access information, increases 

the availability and comprehensiveness of data, and improves the ability of the 

budgeting community to manage the impending retirement of key personnel. 

Database-driven products such as the MAX Federal Community and MAX 

Collect enhance knowledge management capabilities by capturing 

“knowledge” as it is generated, simply as a by-product of these tools.

Technology

Agency Budget 

Formulation and 

Execution Tools

Provides a cost-effective strategy for Agencies that do not have budget 

formulation and execution applications, or have outdated applications, to 

quickly improve their effectiveness through automation. This effort encourages 

common and integrated solutions that are reusable Governmentwide.

Products include the Budget Formulation and Execution Manager system

(BFEM), the first shared budget formulation system by the Department of 

Treasury; the Departmental E-Budgeting System (DEBS), a shared offering 

from the Department of Labor; the Decision Matrix for budget systems 

evaluation (full systems evaluations); the Budget Capability Self-Assessment 

Tool (BC SAT); the MAX A-11 Data Transfer and Rule Validation project; and a 

common Budget Office Solutions catalog. The Decision Matrix allows 

Agencies to define their specific budget system requirements and evaluates 

the capability and maturity of six Agency and three commercial budget 

systems against those requirements. The BC SAT has provided several 

Agencies with comprehensive resource listings to further help them with 

strategic planning and resourcing.

Current Status: The MAX A-11 Rule Validation team supports processes, 

methodologies, and standards to enable Agencies to exchange data with 

OMB's MAX A-11 system through the use of multiple ‘services’, greatly 

improving the process, eliminating large amounts of manual data entry, and 

enabling availability of account level information on a real-time basis. BLoB 

continues to support Treasury’s BFEM, Labor’s DEBS and EPA’s BFS systems 

as they provide customer Agencies with enhanced connections to OMB’s MAX 

budget system. The BC SAT was at the heart of transformation activities for at 

least one agency this past year.

Technology

Analytical Tools

Enhances Federal capabilities for analyzing budget formulation, execution, 

planning, performance, and financial information. This enables more 

complete, thorough, and timely analysis, which will, in turn, provide policy 

decisionmakers with improved understanding of policy option impacts and 

alternatives. 

Current products include the MAX Analytics tool suite, which creates custom 

charts and graphs for analysis, and associated tools built upon the analytics 

core (such as MAX Calendar).

Current Status: MAX Analytics integrates with BLoB data collection and 

collaboration tools, enabling charts that update automatically as new data is 

entered. Agencies have been using MAX Analytics to dynamically display the 

results of their data collections and to transform how they use analytics to 
SALARIES AND EXPENSES OVERVIEW

W-21

Capability Objectives and Benefits

Technology

manage problems. BLoB continues to work with Agencies to include the most 

relevant and useful capabilities in the tool suite. Several Agencies (OMB, 

DOJ, DOL, etc.) are now utilizing MAX Analytics to drive decision making 

based upon analysis not previously possible.

Technology

Budget Execution 

and Financial 

Management 

Integration

Improves the quality and integrity of information, data flows, and reporting in 

budget formulation and execution, especially in regard to its touch points with 

financial management. Identifying common business processes and data 

standards will form the basis for requirements for use in developing budget 

systems, as well as closer alignment with financial management systems. 

Current products include Governmentwide process maps for budget execution 

and budget formulation and the web-based budget execution training module, 

budget formulation training module, and Appropriations Law training module.

Current Status: The training modules are in use throughout the budget 

community. Over 8,900 individuals have accessed the self-paced online 

training module courses, which have an estimated return on investment to date 

of over 6,200 percent and a savings of over $7.49 million.

Technology

Document 

Production

Enables Agency budgeting personnel to move from clerical to analytical 

functions, increasing Agency analytical resource availability. Many Agency 

budget staff work countless hours to incorporate late-breaking policy data 

changes in high-visibility publications. Often, many changes must be 

simultaneously made in multiple documents for different stakeholders. 

Document production capabilities exist in Treasury and Labor’s shared service 

budget systems, as well as in the MAX Collect Tool, and in a recently released 

service allowing budget personnel to develop their own reporting templates.

Objectives and Benefits: Governance

Capability Objectives and Benefits

Governance

Governance

Program 

Management Office 

(PMO)

Serves as a central coordination point for Governmentwide collaboration and 

sharing of technologies and processes. The Program Management Office 

(PMO) allows resources across Government to be leveraged for cost savings. 

In this way, costs are reduced, economies of scale are achieved, and risks in 

developing and buying Agency budget tools are reduced through a coordinated 

combination of approaches that include: sharing common budget formulation 

components, purchasing commonly used software that has been proven in 

multiple Agencies, and purchasing services from other Agencies.

The PMO will support enhanced efficiency, effectiveness, quality, knowledge 

management, presentation, collaboration, and flexibility within the BLoB. 

Currently, the PMO supports seven initiative-specific workgroups that meet on 

a regular basis.
SALARIES AND EXPENSES OVERVIEW

W-22

Capability Objectives and Benefits

Governance

Process 

Improvements

Allows for the development of system requirements and guidelines for tools 

that are modular in nature (can be used as part of any system) and available 

for use by multiple Agencies. Accounts for the importance of flexibility in the 

budgeting process and acts as a set of standards that are essential for the

automated exchange of budget data with Treasury and OMB, as well as 

Agency financial management systems.

Current products include numerous updates to the MAX Federal Community, 

MAX Collect, MAX Analytics, and MAX Shared Desktop as well as

implementation of MAX Authentication services at 11 Agencies with work 

underway to support additional Agencies with “single sign-on” capabilities.

Governance

Service Module 

Standardization

Encourages reusability and interoperability of budget systems across Agencies 

to achieve significant cost savings through a "build once, use often" 

philosophy. Service module registration via the PMO will help ensure that 

Agencies are aware of existing services so that duplicative investments are not 

made.

Objectives and Benefits: Human Capital

Capability Objectives and Benefits

Human Capital

Human Capital

Budget Human 

Capital

Enhances the effectiveness of the existing budgeting workforce and 

encourages participation from other professions within Government, the private 

sector, and universities. BLoB provides a central venue for the budget 

community, OPM, and the Council of Human Capital Officers to grow the 

appeal of Federal Budgeting as a career by combining Agency efforts to define 

budget career paths, core competencies, leadership development, certification 

programs, and sharing of ideas in areas such as succession planning,

retention and recruitment.

Products include recommendations on core competencies and proficiency 

levels; a Budget Career Day conference devoted to enabling budget 

professionals to better plan their careers while providing tools for them to do 

so; and training curricula for budget analysts, as well as no-cost training 

courses for budget staff and self-paced training modules. More are planned 

for the coming year.

Current status: Thousands of Government employees have undergone nocost training through in-class, web-based, or facilitated online training sessions 

hosted by the BLoB. Regular panel discussions feature OMB or senior Agency 

budget staff focusing on specific budgeting related topics and have been 

attended by over 3,000 individuals since the Department began hosting. 

Brownbag discussion groups focusing on a deeper understanding of budget 

execution and on the Budget Career Road Map have been attended by over 

800 people. An in-depth course focusing on Basic Budget Processes began in 

2013 and has been held 20 times, with waiting lists and strong participation 

from over 500 attendees. All of these opportunities are offered to Federal 

employees free of charge.
SALARIES AND EXPENSES OVERVIEW

W-23

Risks

Type of 

Risk 1

Risk Description Mitigation Approach

Other Technology Maintaining ability to develop 

and field highest-quality IT 

services in the midst of rapid 

expansion of use without 

accompanying equal increase 

in available resources.

Work with product leads to encourage 

continued focus on quality and meeting 

requirements, implement updated 

procedures. Engage Agencies for more 

participation in development, fielding, and 

maintenance of solutions.

Other Management 

Oversight

Agency budget offices do not 

make use of the range of LoB 

products and services 

available to them—risk is 

unrealized cost 

avoidance/cost savings.

Develop metrics and assess tools 

capabilities and whether they are 

optimized for Agency budget office use.

1 Types of risk are categorized as either significant or other. If significant risks occur, they have substantial impact on 

the ability of the Line of Business to succeed. Other risks, while potentially serious, may not significantly impact the 

Line of Business and its ability to succeed.
SALARIES AND EXPENSES OVERVIEW

W-24

W-24

Line of Business IT Costs (dollars in thousands)

Costs by project 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

Planning $655 $100 $125 $125 $116 $78 $95 $95 $95 $95 $95

Acquisition 810 355 335 350 375 178 265 265 265 265 265

Operations & Maint. 680 720 685 700 781 919 1050 1050 955 1050 1050

Govt FTE Costs 444 162 172 238 244 100 100 100 100 100 100

2,589 1,337 1,317 1,413 1,516 1,275 1,510 1,510 1,415 1,510 1,510

FTE 4 4 4 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1
SALARIES AND EXPENSES OVERVIEW

W-25

Anticipated Contributions by Agency (dollars in thousands)

AGENCY FY 2017 FY 2018 FY 2019

Department of Agriculture $110 $110 $110

Department of Commerce 110 110 110

Department of Defense--Military 110 110 110

Department of Education (direct funds) 110 110 110

Department of Energy 110 110 110

Department of Health and Human Services 110 110 110

Department of Homeland Security 110 110 110

Housing and Urban Development 110 110 110

Department of the Interior 110 110 110

Department of Justice 110 110 110

Department of Labor 110 110 110

Department of State 110 110 110

Department of Transportation 110 110 110

Department of the Treasury 110 110 110

Department of Veterans Affairs 110 110 110

US Army Corps of Engineers-Civil Works 80 80 80

Environmental Protection Agency 110 110 110

General Services Administration 110 110 110

National Aeronautics and Space Administration 105 105 105

National Science Foundation 110 110 110

USAID 110 110 110

Office of Personnel Management 110 110 110

Small Business Administration 55 55 55

Securities and Exchange Commission 55 55 55

Social Security Administration 55 55 55

Office of National Drug Control Policy 55 55 55