FY 2022 AGENCY FINANCIAL REPORT 159 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

OTHER INFORMATION (UNAUDITED)

he goal of the Grants Oversight and New Efficiency Act of 2016 (GONE) (Pub. L. No. 114-117) was to close out 

grants and cooperative agreements that are in manual closeout with zero dollars and undisbursed balances and whose 

period of performance has exceeded two years. Although the Grants Oversight and New Efficiency Act reporting 

requirements have expired, the Office of Management and Budget Circular A-136, Section II.4.9, Grants Programs (August 

10, 2021) requires similar information to be reported in the Other Information section. See Table 16 below.

Starting with an October 3, 2016, baseline of 8,948 grants and cooperative agreements totaling approximately $2 billion 

in various statuses of the closeout process, the Department succeeded in closing out 100 percent of the required grants 

and cooperative agreements during FY 2018. As of September 30, 2022, the Department had 239 grants and cooperative 

agreements totaling approximately $131.1 million in various statuses of the closeout process. 

In FY 2020, the Department’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) performed a risk assessment of the Department’s grant 

closeout process and issued their results via memorandum. They identified risks with the reliability of grant data and related 

GONE Act reporting, as well as the Department’s grant closeout policies and procedures, including a policy allowing older 

grants to be closed in compliance without required reports being provided by the grantee. In addition, the OIG found that 

both the volume of expired grants and amount of undisbursed grant funds significantly increased between the date of initial 

GONE Act reporting (September 30, 2017) and January 30, 2020, indicating that grant closeout is less of a focus now that 

GONE Act reporting is over. The memorandum is available at https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/oig/auditreports/

fy2020/s19u0002.pdf.

Overall, the Office of Finance and Operations (OFO) agreed with the OIG assessment and noted its intention to move 

forward with grant policy deliberation consistent with the results of the assessment. Approved in July 2020, the Handbook 

for the Discretionary Grants Process (Handbook) includes policy requirements that align with the OIG recommendations. 

(6.16.1) (A) (3)

Each year the Office of Acquisition, Grants, and Risk Management (OAGRM) offers a financial monitoring curriculum for 

formula and discretionary grants aligned with the Standards for Financial Management in 2 CFR 200 Uniform Administrative 

Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards, addressing cash management and drawdown activity 

of grantees’ utilization of funds consistent with an approved scope of work aimed at reducing issues associated with grant 

closeouts. 

Table 16

Category 2–3 Years 3–5 Years > 5 Years

Number of Grants/Cooperative 

Agreements with Zero Dollar 

Balances

108 5 -

Number of Grants/Cooperative 

Agreements with Undisbursed Dollar 

Balances

119 7 -

Total Amount of Undisbursed 

Balances $49,336,249 $14,523,161 -

Source: G5, grants management system linked to the Department’s general ledger system. Data is based on the performance end date of September 30, 2021.

The Grants Oversight and New Efficiency Act of 2016 (GONE Act) and 

Education’s Grant Closeout Process