iv FY 2018 AGENCY FINANCIAL REPORT | U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

As we at the Department continue to focus on students 

and their success, I would like to note the Department’s 

accomplishments this past fiscal year, and plans for the 

next year. 

Our work is guided by four main priorities: supporting 

State and local efforts to improve learning outcomes 

for P–12 students; expanding postsecondary education 

options and improving outcomes; strengthening the 

quality, accessibility and use of education data; and 

reforming the effectiveness, efficiency and accountability 

of the Department. 

Our priority of supporting State and local efforts to 

improve learning outcomes for P–12 is premised on the 

fact that every student is an individual, with different 

experiences, different needs, different learning styles 

and different goals. Students can benefit from more 

freedom. State and local communities are starting to 

embrace the flexibility that the Every Student Succeeds 

Act (ESSA) affords. 

ESSA provides flexibilities for states to pilot different 

types of programs. One pilot is the Innovative 

Assessment Demonstration Authority (IADA) program, 

which was designed to lower barriers to innovation 

and encourages local involvement in the development 

of the next generation of assessments. States can 

pilot innovative assessments on a small scale, develop 

strategies for implementing those assessments statewide 

and avoid replicative testing of students. States can 

make assessments more relevant and connected to 

the classroom while still providing valid, reliable and 

transparent data on student achievement and growth. 

Also authorized under ESSA, the Student-Centered 

Funding Pilot Program allows local educational agencies 

to create a funding system designed to equitably allocate 

local, State and Federal resources based on student needs. 

This flexibility will allow school districts to combine 

eligible Federal funds with State and local funds to 

allocate resources to schools based on the number of 

students and the corresponding level of need.

In pursuing our priority of expanding postsecondary 

options and improving outcomes, we will provide 

prospective students with actionable, accurate 

information for college enrollment and borrowing 

decisions. The Department plans to utilize a web-based 

tool to provide program-level outcomes, including 

median debt and median earnings for all higher 

education programs, at all Title IV participating 

institutions. This tool will improve transparency by 

providing comparable information for all programs, 

which can help students understand what earnings 

they might expect based on those of prior graduates. 

Providing accurate and relevant data will also increase the 

accountability of institutions by making it more difficult 

for institutions to misrepresent program outcomes of 

prior graduates. 

The Department is also implementing a plan to 

transform Federal student aid and improve customer 

service by modernizing the technology and operational 

components supporting Federal student aid programs. 

On October 1, 2018, the office of Federal Student 

Aid (FSA) launched a redesigned, mobile-friendly Free 

Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®) website. 

Students and parents can now complete and submit 

the FAFSA form on a mobile device in addition to a 

MESSAGE FROM THE SECRETARY

November 14, 2018
MESSAGE FROM THE SECRETARY

FY 2018 AGENCY FINANCIAL REPORT | U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION v

computer. FSA also launched the myStudentAid mobile 

app featuring the myFAFSA functionality that allows 

students and parents to submit a FAFSA® form. The 

fafsa.gov homepage was also integrated into StudentAid.

gov, making it easier to apply for financial aid directly 

from FSA’s leading online portal. To continue customer 

service improvement, FSA future plans also include 

consolidation of all of its customer-facing websites into a 

single, user-friendly hub to complement the new mobile 

platform and give students, parents and borrowers a 

seamless experience from application through repayment. 

To address future loan-servicing needs, FSA researched 

how world-class financial services organizations design 

and operationalize their customer service engagement 

practices, as well as web and mobile, middleware, data 

processing, analytics, storage and hosting capabilities. 

Through this market research, FSA is refining its strategy 

to implement the Next Generation Financial and Services 

Environment (Next Gen FSA).

Finally, the President’s promise to make the Federal 

government more efficient and effective has been initiated 

with his Executive Order “Comprehensive Plan for 

Reorganizing the Executive Branch.” The Department 

is enacting this order, with reform activities based on 

principles of: reducing redundancy and maximizing 

efficiency; maximizing transparency; leveraging staff 

expertise; and maximizing creative problem-solving and 

teamwork. As part of that reform, the Department is 

reorganizing itself by realigning functions and improving 

internal processes. The aim is that this reform will result 

in higher quality and more timely service to the public; 

improved policy and program coordination; greater focus 

on the Secretary’s priorities; and reduction of internal 

transactional costs. 

To meet the challenges of the 21st century economy, 

the proposed merger of the departments of Education 

and Labor would reduce the Federal footprint and make 

government more responsive to a wide range of needs 

faced by American students and workers.

Good stewardship of taxpayers’ funds is a priority for our 

Department, and I have been assured that the financial 

data included in this AFR 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 and compliance challenges noted by the 

Department and its auditors. Similarly the Department’s 

Annual Performance Report and the Annual Performance 

Plan provides information on the completeness and 

reliability of the performance data.

While the Department has made strides this past fiscal 

year, the needs of communities, families and students 

remain great. Each and every student needs learning 

environments that are agile, relevant and exciting for a 

challenging, lifelong learning journey. Because students 

represent 100 percent of our future, those of us at the 

Department continue to strive to give them 100 percent 

of our effort every day.

Betsy DeVos