Department of Education

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SYSTEM MODERNIZATION

AND WORKING CAPITAL

Fiscal Year 2020 Budget Request

CONTENTS

Page

Appropriations Language ......................................................................................................BB-1

Analysis of Language Provisions and Changes.....................................................................BB-2

Amounts Available for Obligation ..........................................................................................BB-3

Activity:

Information Technology System Modernization and Working Capital................................BB-4
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SYSTEM MODERNIZATION AND

WORKING CAPITAL

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Appropriations Language

TITLE III GENERAL PROVISIONS

SEC. 308. Notwithstanding section 302, the Secretary of Education may transfer up to 10 

percent of any amounts that are made available to the “Program Administration”, “Office for Civil 

Rights”, or “Office of Inspector General” accounts in this Act to the “Information Technology 

System Modernization and Working Capital Fund” (IT WCF), as authorized by section 

1077(b)(1) of title X of division A of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal 

Year 20181: Provided, That any amounts transferred to the IT WCF shall remain available for 3

fiscal years2: Provided further, That the Secretary shall notify the Committees on Appropriations 

of the Senate and the House of Representatives at least 15 days in advance of any such 

transfer.3

NOTE

Each language provision that is followed by a footnote reference is explained in the Analysis of Language 

Provisions and Changes document, which follows the appropriation language.
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SYSTEM MODERNIZATION AND

WORKING CAPITAL

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Analysis of Language Provisions and Changes

Language Provision Explanation

TITLE III GENERAL PROVISIONS

1 SEC. 308. Notwithstanding section 302, 

the Secretary of Education may transfer up to 

10 percent of any amounts that are made 

available to the Program Administration, 

Office for Civil Rights, or Office of Inspector 

General accounts in this or any other Act to 

the “Information Technology System 

Modernization and Working Capital Fund” (IT 

WCF), as authorized by section 1077(b)(1) of 

title X of division A of the National Defense 

Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018:

This language provides authority to transfer

up to 10 percent of any amounts that are 

available from administrative funds to an 

Information Technology System 

Modernization and IT Working Capital Fund. 

2 Provided, That any amounts transferred to 

the IT WCF shall remain available for 3 fiscal 

years: 

This language makes funds transferred to the

IT Working Capital Fund available for 3 fiscal 

years.

3 Provided further, That the Secretary shall 

notify the Committees on Appropriations of 

the Senate and the House of 

Representatives at least 15 days in advance 

of any such transfer.

This language requires the Secretary to 

notify the Committees on Appropriations at 

least 15 days before funds are transferred.
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SYSTEM MODERNIZATION AND

WORKING CAPITAL

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Amounts Available for Obligation

(dollars in thousands)

Appropriation and Adjustments 2018 2019 2020

Discretionary budget authority:

Transfer from Department of Education, 

Program Administration, for IT System 

Modernization and Working Capital .............. 0 0 $5,000

Subtotal, adjusted discretionary 

appropriation.............................. 0 0 5,000
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SYSTEM MODERNIZATION AND

WORKING CAPITAL

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Information Technology System Modernization and 

Working Capital

(Proposed Legislation)

(dollars in thousands)

FY 2020 Authorization: Proposed Legislation

Budget Authority:

Annual Fund

2019 2020 Change

Non-Personnel Costs 0 $5,000 +$5,000

Total 0 5,000 +5,000

____________________________________________________________________________

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

The Administration requests that the Program Administration, Office for Civil Rights, and the 

Office of Inspector General Salaries and Expenses accounts be allowed the flexibility to use the 

authority of the IT Working Capital Funds (IT WCF) authorized by the Modernizing Government 

Technology (MGT) Act in 2018. The authority would enable the Department to transfer oneyear administrative funds to an account with a three year period of availability for use on IT 

modernization.

FY 2020 BUDGET REQUEST

The Administration is requesting $5.0 million for the fiscal year 2020 IT Systems Modernization 

and IT Working Capital Fund, $5.0 million more than the fiscal year 2019 Appropriation.

The Administration requests that it is allowed the flexibility to use the authority of the IT WCF

authorized by the Modernizing Government Technology Act in 2018. The authority would 

enable the Department to transfer one-year administrative funds to an account with a 3-year 

period of availability for use on IT modernization.

The IT Working Capital Fund authority would allow the Department to make the best use of 

limited administrative funds. The three year availability would permit more time to appropriately 

consider all risks, merits, and alternatives with IT investments, reducing risk and maximizing the 

effectiveness. Currently, when circumstances like a contract postponement or lower-thananticipated FTE costs leave unexpected funds available at the end of a fiscal year, the 

Department takes strategic steps to ensure funds are placed on operational procurements.

Thirty percent of the Program Administration account funds major contracts such as the 

Department’s IT infrastructure and security and financial management systems. These major 
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procurements are not routine in nature, but rather have become more complex; requiring for 

example, additional layers of integration with security requirements. Contract actions, 

particularly those that are complex, are often subject to protests, which can impact the timing of 

funding needs --in many cases crossing over fiscal years. The IT Working Capital Fund will give 

the Department the flexibility to align the availability of funds with these complex procurement 

actions.

Consistent with the Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act (FITARA), the 

Secretary shall ensure that the Department’s Chief Information Officer, at a minimum, be the 

principal advisor to the Secretary and a member on any board or governance structure of the 

Department responsible for advising and setting Departmentwide information technology 

budgets to include the IT Working Capital Fund. Furthermore, funds transferred to the IT 

Working Capital may not be obligated without authorization from the Department’s Chief 

Information Officer.

G5 Technology Refresh

As part of its modernization efforts, the Department plans to gather and analyze system 

requirements and identify a solution to support a G5 Technology Refresh. The G5 grants 

management system supports the full lifecycle of the Department’s grant-making business 

process. G5 customers include grant program staff and external customers who apply for and 

receive grant funds. This includes individuals, colleges and universities, states, counties, school 

districts, tribal organizations, non-profit organizations, and other potential applicants and 

grantees that use the G5 system to apply for grants and, when the grant is awarded, to draw 

down funds. Refreshing the G5 system would improve service to external customers by 

providing a secured way for applicants and grantees to communicate and manage grants. G5 

allows applicants and grantees to see and maintain their grant data electronically in one place, 

while eliminating data entry errors.

G5 services end-to-end grants management activities (from intake of applications, peer reviews, 

awards, payments, performance monitoring to final closeout of the grant award). G5 also 

processes payments for Federal Student Aid programs, such as Pell and campus-based grants. 

In addition to processing payments for these feeder systems, G5 is seamlessly integrated with 

the Financial Management Support System; the Department’s general ledger.

The technology that supports G5 is aging and increasingly unable to meet the expanded grants 

management needs of Department staff. As part of the G5 Technology Refresh effort, a 

number of Department office-specific systems have been identified for consolidation into G5 to 

increase efficiency and decrease costs. The funds are necessary to continue to provide grants 

management system services to Department personnel and external G5 customers.