FY 2022 AGENCY FINANCIAL REPORT iv U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

January 23, 2023

Message From the Secretary

The statesman and Nobel laureate Kofi Annan has said, 

“Education is the premise of progress, in every society, in 

every family.” Our nation’s historic federal investments 

in education during fiscal year (FY) 2022 are a powerful 

statement of America’s values. 

The U.S. Department of Education is committed to 

ensuring that all students receive an education that prepares 

them to fulfill their promise and follow their dreams. 

The academic achievement, mental health, and social 

and emotional well-being of our nation’s students remain 

our top priorities. And these priorities informed all of 

our actions to meet the challenges and opportunities of 

FY 2022. 

Because the pandemic has affected all students, parents, 

educators, and school leaders — but especially those in 

schools and communities furthest from opportunity — 

safely and successfully reopening all schools for in-person 

learning is a major accomplishment that the Department 

and the nation share with education leaders throughout 

the country this fiscal year. When the Biden-Harris 

administration took office, fewer than half of K-12 schools 

were open for in-person instruction. We knew that was 

unacceptable, so we did something about it. And within 

nine months of the inauguration, more than 98% of 

schools were fully open. 

Our priority is to keep our schools open and to accelerate 

an equitable recovery. 

We’re doing that by focusing on and helping schools to 

meet students’ academic, social, emotional, and mental 

health needs, through new initiatives and unprecedented 

resources to states and districts — including through 

the American Rescue Plan and the Bipartisan Safer 

Communities Act. 

Our Engage Every Student initiative, announced in 

July 2022, is an important part of advancing this work. 

The initiative is a public-private partnership that unites 

schools, districts, state and local governments, and 

community-based organizations to support access to quality 

out-of-school time learning. Through this program, more 

students — especially those who are most underserved — 

are gaining access to after-school and summer enrichment 

opportunities that can help them recover from lost 

instructional time caused by the pandemic. 

The National Partnership for Student Success is another 

vital effort we launched this fiscal year with leading 

education, youth, and service organizations. This brandnew coalition supports the expansion, launch, and 

improvement of high-impact tutoring, mentoring, and 

other programs that can accelerate learning and support 

students’ mental health and overall well-being. In FY 2022, 

the Department also held a virtual summit, where we 

highlighted steps that schools, colleges, and communities 

can take to support students with disabilities and students 

with mental health needs. 

Here at the Department, we believe all students deserve 

a high-quality education that provides opportunity and 

addresses achievement gaps. That is why I’m proud that 

President Biden’s fiscal year 2023 budget request includes a 

significant increase in funding for Title I of the Elementary 

and Secondary Education Act, to help schools provide 

students in low-income communities with the learning 

opportunities and support they need to succeed.

The Department also is working to promote supportive, 

safe learning environments for our students — and to 

protect students’ civil rights in education. 

We’re doing that through the Promise Neighborhoods 

program, which is designed to significantly improve 

academic and developmental outcomes for children living 

in communities of concentrated poverty. I’m especially 
FY 2022 AGENCY FINANCIAL REPORT v U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

MESSAGE FROM THE SECRETARY

encouraged that this year’s grant competition included 

targeted funds for underserved communities, including 

both rural and Tribal areas. 

We’re also advancing this work through our Full-Service 

Community Schools grant. This program funds initiatives 

that provide academic supports, integrated health and 

social services, and engagement opportunities for students, 

while creating stronger connections among families, 

communities, and their local public schools. 

In addition, in November 2021, we joined the U.S. 

Departments of Interior and Health and Human Services 

to launch an interagency initiative to preserve, protect, and 

promote the rights of Native Americans to use, practice, 

and develop Native languages. 

And in June 2022, we released proposed amendments 

to Title IX to ensure crucial protections against sex 

discrimination, including regarding sex-based harassment 

and sexual assault. We also released guidance to avoid the 

discriminatory use of school discipline policies and practices 

for students with disabilities.

In all of our work in education, it’s also vital that we strive 

to make postsecondary education more inclusive and 

affordable so that our students have pathways to good jobs, 

fulfilling careers, and bright futures. 

That’s why we are determined to build a more accessible, 

affordable, and accountable student loan system. 

So far, we’ve discharged $48 billion in debt for more than 

1.9 million borrowers, and we have turned the Public 

Service Loan Forgiveness program from a promise broken, 

into a promise kept. 

The Biden-Harris administration announced in August 2022 

that the Department is providing targeted student debt 

cancellation to borrowers with loans held by our agency. This 

is part of our overall effort to address the financial harms of 

the pandemic by smoothing the transition back to repayment 

and helping borrowers at highest risk of delinquencies or 

default once payments resume. 

Through this plan, up to $20,000 in federal student loan 

debt cancellation will be provided to Pell Grant recipients 

and up to $10,000 in debt cancellation will be provided 

to non-Pell Grant recipients. Borrowers earning less 

than $125,000 per year or households earning less than 

$250,000 are eligible. The Department also is proposing a 

rule to create a new income-driven repayment plan that will 

substantially reduce future monthly payments for lowerand middle-income borrowers. 

This past summer, the Department also released proposed 

regulations that would expand and improve the major 

student loan discharge programs authorized by the Higher 

Education Act. The regulations would alleviate student loan 

debt burdens for borrowers whose schools closed or who 

are totally and permanently disabled and for public service 

workers who have met their commitments under the Public 

Service Loan Forgiveness program. 

Also this summer, we announced the availability of $5 

million in funds to support a new College Completion 

Fund for Postsecondary Student Success. The fund 

will support grants to Historically Black Colleges and 

Universities (HBCUs), Tribal Colleges and Universities 

(TCUs), and Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs), such 

as Hispanic-Serving Institutions — many of which are 

community colleges. This program will invest in datadriven and evidence-based practices that encourage 

postsecondary retention, transfer, and completion — as 

well as reengaging students who withdrew from school 

temporarily during the pandemic. 

Additionally, I’m encouraged that the President’s fiscal year 

2023 budget request increases the maximum Pell Grant 

and provides significant increases in funding for HBCUs, 

TCUs, and MSIs.

Another priority for the Department is encouraging 

programs that lead students to successful careers. I’m 

particularly excited about systems of career and college 

pathways that provide support to students during their 

secondary and postsecondary education, helping them 

chart a successful course to their professions of choice. This 

past summer, we held an event with the U.S. Departments 

of Labor and Commerce to highlight the importance of 

career pathways programs for students. In addition, the 

President’s fiscal year 2023 budget request includes the 

Career-Connected High Schools program. This grant 

program would fund partnerships among school districts, 

postsecondary institutions, and employers to support 

early enrollment in postsecondary and career-connected 

coursework, work-based learning opportunities, and 

academic and career-connected instruction across the 

last two years of high school and the first two years of 

postsecondary education.

The Department continues to make stewardship of 

taxpayer funds and financial integrity top priorities. The 

financial and performance data included and assessed in 

this Agency Financial Report are complete and reliable 

in accordance with federal requirements. The financial 

report includes information and assurances about the 

Department’s financial management systems and controls 
FY 2022 AGENCY FINANCIAL REPORT vi U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

as well as control opportunities noted by the Department. 

Similarly, the Department’s related Annual Performance 

Report and Annual Performance Plan (Report and Plan) 

provides information on the overall performance of the 

Department as a federal agency. Each year this Report 

and Plan accompany the Department’s annual budget 

submission and links performance goals with resources for 

achieving targeted levels of performance. 

This year, the Department received a disclaimer of opinion 

on its FY 2022 financial statements. The Department 

is confident in the sound financial management of 

our programs, and we will implement the appropriate 

actions to return to an unmodified opinion as soon as 

possible. For more information, please see Management’s 

Response in the Independent Auditors’ Report. A detailed 

assessment of internal controls and compliance with the 

Department’s financial management systems can be found 

in the Management’s Discussion and Analysis section of 

this report.

For too long in this country, students have faced gaps in 

equity and opportunity and low expectations based on 

background and circumstance. We must remove these 

barriers, raise the bar for what learners can achieve, and 

reimagine our education system to include and support 

young people of all backgrounds. 

Federal resources, including unprecedented funds through 

the American Rescue Plan, are being used by states, 

districts, and schools to advance these priorities, address 

the impacts of the pandemic on our nation’s students and 

educators, and make our education system more equitable, 

inclusive, and excellent than ever before. 

For example, through the American Rescue Plan, states, 

districts, and schools are addressing students’ unfinished 

instruction, accelerating their academic outcomes, 

and supporting their mental and emotional health. 

And, through the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, 

communities across the country will benefit from more 

than $2 billion to create safe and inclusive learning 

environments, including by hiring vital mental health 

professionals in schools and by growing the pipeline of 

talented individuals into the profession. All of these are 

game-changing investments, made possible through the 

Biden-Harris administration and the hard work of the 

entire team at the Department of Education. 

As we did in FY 2022, we will keep working to promote the 

nation’s progress by ensuring that our best days in education 

— and our children’s brightest futures — are ahead.

Miguel A. Cardona, Ed.D.