FY 2023 AGENCY FINANCIAL REPORT 6 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

Message From the Secretary

November 16, 2023

The civil rights leader Benjamin Mays once said, “The 

tragedy of life is often not in our failure, but rather in our 

complacency; not in our doing too much, but rather in 

our doing too little.” 

While we had much to celebrate over fiscal year 2023, 

including unprecedented federal resources for education 

and important gains in recovering academic losses 

following the pandemic, there is room for even more 

progress and growth in fiscal year 2024. I have said 

that in our nation’s effort to move from pandemic 

recovery to thriving, the biggest barrier to our progress is 

complacency. Across America, we need the collective will to raise the bar for our students 

and our schools and the ambition to realize our nation’s full potential to lead the world.

At the U.S. Department of Education, we know there is work to do to expand equity and 

excellence throughout our nation’s education system and for every learner. 

That’s why we are laser-focused on our visionary initiative, “Raise the Bar: Lead the 

World.” This plan represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to revolutionize our 

nation’s education system, from preschool through college and preparation for careers and 

lifelong learning. It is a bold agenda with an even bolder purpose: to reverse decades of 

neglect and underinvestment in critical support for our nation’s public school classrooms, 

colleges, students, and educators so America can continue leading the world in education 

and propel learners of every age and all walks of life to never-before-seen levels of success. 

This work has never been more urgent. 

Our plan consists of four key areas: achieving academic excellence, improving learning 

conditions, and preparing students for global competitiveness, and increasing college 

affordability and completion. 

We believe that if we invest in these building blocks of success, we will elevate our nation’s 

educational system and student outcomes to levels not seen in decades. For too long, we 

saw chronic underinvestment in education, much to the detriment of students, families, 

teachers, communities, and our nation’s future. When compared to other developed 

countries, students in the United States continue to underperform academically. What’s 

more, teachers remain underpaid, and in far too many instances, overworked and 

underappreciated with current system-wide conditions failing to attract a new generation 

of talented educators to the profession. We have an opportunity and an obligation—with 

a sense of urgency—to invest in what we know works to improve teaching and learning 

across the country.

As a former teacher and school principal, I have always believed and seen with my own 

eyes the transformative power of education to change lives. Raise the Bar has the power 

to do that and more. We owe it to the students, families, and educators of today and the 

leaders of tomorrow to see this work through. 
FY 2023 AGENCY FINANCIAL REPORT 7 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

The following pages of this report highlight accomplishments from this past year, examine 

how the Department of Education is executing our ambitious plan, and outline the 

ways President Biden’s fiscal year 2024 budget proposal supports the advancement of 

educational equity and progress. 

Through the first pillar of Raise the Bar, achieving academic excellence, the Department 

is supporting state and local leaders to accelerate students’ learning and deliver a 

comprehensive, rigorous educational experience for every student. We’re working to 

ensure states and districts continue to deploy pandemic relief funds to improve student 

learning. These efforts build upon Congress’ appropriation of more than $190 billion 

(including funding provided through the American Rescue Plan) to help schools reopen 

and address learning loss.

The ARP investments allowed states and districts to hire additional teachers, school 

counselors, and other vital school professionals, offer tutoring and one-on-one support 

to students, and extend learning time through high-quality afterschool and summer 

learning programs. 

I’m encouraged that these historic investments and resources are showing positive results. 

Several states have returned to pre-pandemic achievement levels on state and literacy 

assessments, and we’re seeing promising results for the United States on international 

reading assessments. To date, schools have committed nearly 60 percent of their ARP 

funds to address lost learning time and accelerate academic recovery.

At the Department, we also are continuing to offer technical assistance, issue guidance, 

and hold convenings with educators, parents and families, communities, and other 

stakeholders to ensure they have the necessary tools and resources to improve students’ 

academic outcomes and tackle disparities in educational opportunity. 

To reverse decades of underperformance fueled by educational underinvestment and 

neglect, and to Raise the Bar for all students, we’ll need continued, collaborative action at 

every level. 

That’s why President Biden’s fiscal year 2024 budget calls for $20.5 billion for the federal 

Title I program to help states and districts close opportunity gaps and support academic 

recovery. The budget also includes $500 million to expand high-quality preschool for 

children eligible to attend Title I schools and an investment of an additional $2.7 billion 

for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), including increasing 

funding for preschool programs, early intervention services, and recruiting special 

education personnel. 

Raise the Bar’s second pillar focuses on improving learning conditions for every student. 

Part of that effort includes ensuring that all children have the opportunity to be 

taught by excellent educators. And one of our most urgent priorities to fulfill that goal 

is to ensure our nation’s teachers receive equitable pay and ample opportunities for 

professional development.

Toward that end, in February of this year, the Department of Education announced 

$18 million for the inaugural Augustus F. Hawkins Centers of Excellence Program 

to address educator shortages, increase high-quality teacher preparation programs, 

and strengthen the pipeline for educators of color. The program provides funding to 

Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Tribal Colleges and Universities 

(TCUs), and Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs) to recruit and prepare a new 

generation of diverse and talented individuals for the teaching profession. 
FY 2023 AGENCY FINANCIAL REPORT 8 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

In a spirit of intentional collaboration, the U.S. Departments of Education and Labor 

have joined efforts to invest in teacher preparation programs and expand Registered 

Apprenticeships for educators. The Department of Education allocated more than 

$27 million to support educator preparation programs with $65 million from the 

Department of Labor to develop and scale apprenticeship programs across 45 states. Both 

departments have worked tirelessly to plan, launch, promote, and expand apprenticeship 

programs and support teacher recruitment, preparation, and retention. Thanks to these 

efforts, our nation went from just two states with registered apprenticeship programs for 

teachers to 25 in two years. 

In addition to accelerating learning and supporting our educators, the mental health 

and well-being of our students remains a top priority. I’m proud that the Bipartisan 

Safer Communities Act allocates $2 billion to state educational agencies for Stronger 

Connections Grants that help schools provide all students with safe and supportive 

environments for learning that are critical for their success, School-Based Mental Health 

Services grants to increase the capacity of school-based mental health service providers, 

and Mental Health Services Professional Development Grants to help states, school 

districts, and institutions of higher education train school-based mental health services 

providers for employment in schools and districts. 

At the Department, we believe that the best way to achieve academic excellence and 

advance educational equity across the country is to ensure students from all backgrounds 

and in every community have access to robust academic resources, programs, and 

opportunities. That’s why I’m proud that the fiscal year 2024 budget also allocates 

$38 million to significantly strengthen our Office for Civil Rights and recruit additional 

personnel to safeguard the civil rights of students in schools and on college campuses. I 

am heartened that funding is expected to create more than 150 new, critical positions for 

this work. 

Additionally, the Department is continuing our robust support for school communities. 

Under the Full-Service Community Schools program, we are providing $150 million 

to coordinate services for students and families, such as mental health supports, early 

learning programs and robust parent engagement strategies, nutrition services, and 

high-quality tutoring. In fact, in January 2023, the Department funded the largest 

cohort of grantees in the history of this program. And through $89 million in the 

Promise Neighborhoods program, we are supporting learners from cradle to career in 

underserved communities. 

Through our third Raise the Bar pillar, creating pathways for global engagement, we are 

focused on reimagining college and career pathways and providing more and better 

opportunities for our students to become multilingual.

For example, through our Unlocking Career Success initiative, we are working with states 

and districts to develop more accessible, flexible, and innovative pathways for students to 

contribute to the global workforce by increasing access to dual enrollment, work-based 

learning, workforce credentials, and career advising and navigation in high school. 

The Department has created a suite of tools and resources to complement our pathways 

work. We’ve launched a new website and organized multiple forums to gather input 

directly from stakeholders across the country, and we are catalyzing and mobilizing crosssector collaboration that transforms our nation’s high schools to become more studentcentered, community-engaged, and career-connected.
FY 2023 AGENCY FINANCIAL REPORT 9 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

This spring, the Department also helped launch the Career Z Challenge, awarding 

$2.5 million for work-based learning innovation and opportunities. We also unveiled the 

Your Place in Space Challenge, which invites high school students to submit designs for 

a product or service to contribute to space missions and exploration—opening students’ 

minds up to the career possibilities that exist in the science, technology, engineering, and 

math fields. 

Importantly, in August, the Department launched the Career Connected High School 

Grant program, which will award $25 million to local educational agencies, institutions of 

higher education, and employers to pilot strategies that improve postsecondary education 

and career outcomes for students. 

At the Department, we also recognize that multilingualism is a superpower that provides 

students with advantages in our global society and economy—and that unless we act 

with urgency to provide pathways to multilingualism for every student and to support 

the 5 million English learners in our public schools, we will miss an opportunity to set 

our students up for success. That’s why, through our pathways work, we are proud to 

support states to develop and improve English Development Programs and Multilingual 

Language Programs.

Furthering our commitment to multilingual education, we’ve also invested $890 million in 

Title III grants to all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico to support Language 

Instructional Educational Programs that empower our English learners and immigrant 

youth. That’s a $93 million increase since the Biden-Harris Administration took office. 

We are also continuing robust oversight of school’s obligations to serve English learners 

under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and taking affirmative steps to address 

language barriers and improve meaningful participation for every student in every school. 

Additionally, we are proactively highlighting states and districts that are implementing 

evidence-based dual language programs and seals of biliteracy. Similarly, our support 

of grow-your-own initiatives, teacher residencies, graduate fellowships, and Augustus 

F. Hawkins grants will continue to promote a more multilingual educator workforce.

Importantly, we also are making significant investments—including $8 million in grants

this summer—to promote and preserve Native languages and support Native teachers.

Through our final Raise the Bar pillar, we are working to make college more affordable 

and inclusive, and investing in student success. 

We continue to increase funds for the Pell Grant program. The fiscal year 2024 budget 

proposes increasing the Pell Grant to $8,215, with a commitment to doubling the 

maximum award by 2029. 

The fiscal year 2024 budget also recognizes that more resources are urgently needed to 

enhance and sustain institutional capacity at community colleges, HBCUs, TCUs, and 

MSIs and calls for free community colleges, requesting $90 billion over 10 years. To 

jumpstart these efforts, the Biden-Harris administration is requesting $500 million in 

discretionary funding to partner with states where free community college can lead to 

good jobs in high-demand industries. 

The fiscal year 2024 budget also makes significant investments in the Department’s Office 

of Federal Student Aid, providing $2.7 billion to support student loan borrowers, including 

critical improvements to financial aid program administration and student loan servicing. 
FY 2023 AGENCY FINANCIAL REPORT 10 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

Importantly, the Department has been relentlessly focused on fixing the nation’s broken 

student loan system. Due to fixes to income-driven repayment, the Public Service Loan 

Forgiveness Program, and other actions the Department has taken, $127 billion in debt 

relief has been provided for nearly 3.6 million borrowers. This represents more student loan 

forgiveness than has been granted under any other presidential administration in history. 

Working to make college more affordable puts social mobility and the American Dream 

within reach—which benefits not only individuals, but also communities, our economy, 

and our entire country. 

In addition to funding, resources, and our work on student debt, we’re convening 

changemakers to recognize and promote institutions of higher education with 

demonstrated success, share promising practices for improving student outcomes, and 

support leaders who are raising the bar on college excellence and equity. 

For example, over this last year, the Department convened a second Raise the Bar: College 

Excellence and Equity Summit, which featured higher education leaders sharing their 

data-driven strategies to reduce equity gaps and bolster graduation rates with the longerterm goal of systematizing and scaling programs that help deliver equitable outcomes for 

every student who wants a college education. 

We know what works in education. If we marshal the collective will, our nation’s 65 million 

students will realize their full potential to lead the world. Through our Raise the Bar efforts 

and investments, we recognize that our nation already has what it takes to get there. 

For more on our plan and how we can continue to advance our shared priorities, 

visit: https://www.ed.gov/raisethebar/.

The Department continues to make stewardship of taxpayer funds and financial integrity 

top priorities. The 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 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.

The internal control report identified one material weakness, “Controls Over the 

Relevance and Reliability of Underlying Data Used in Credit Reform Re-Estimates Need 

Improvement.” This year, the independent auditor issued a disclaimer of opinion on 

the Department’s FY 2023 balance sheet. The Department will develop and implement 

additional corrective action strategies to address the issues highlighted in the FY 2023 

report. We remain committed to continually evaluating our programs, current business 

processes, and our internal controls for improvement opportunities in FY 2024 and beyond. 

As we did in fiscal year 2023, we will keep working to ensure the future for our students, 

and our nation, is bright.

Miguel A. Cardona, Ed.D.

U.S. Secretary of Education