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<span class="headersLevel1">Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)</span><br />





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<br /><div class="contentText"><p align="center"><a href="foiatoc.html" title="About FOIA - Current Page"><strong>About FOIA</strong></a> | About the Privacy Act | FOIA Library<br />Making a Request | FAQs | Contacts | Links

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<p align="center">Thank  you for visiting our FOIA Web page. There is a temporary shutdown of the U.S.  government due to a lapse in appropriations. The FOIA Service Center will  update the status logs and will respond to you as soon as possible after the  temporary shutdown ends. Please visit ED.gov for  the latest information on the Department’s operational status. Thank you. </p> -->


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<h2>About FOIA</h2>
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Check Status of FOIA Request
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FOIA Logs
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<span class="headersLevel3"></span>Annual FOIA Report - FY2023<br />
<a href="/about/reports/annual/foia/foia-fy23.pdf" title="Annual FOIA Report" target="_blank">PDF</a> (1,236KB) | <a href="/about/reports/annual/foia/foia-fy23.xml" title="Annual FOIA Report" target="_blank">XML</a> (826KB)|<br>
<a href="/about/reports/annual/foia/foia-fy23.xlsx" title="Annual FOIA Report (Raw Data)" target="_blank">XLSX</a> (raw data) (443KB)</div>
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<span class="headersLevel3"></span>Annual FOIA Report - FY2014<br />

 <a href="/about/reports/annual/foia/foia-fy14.pdf" title="Annual FOIA Report - FY2014" target="_blank">PDF </a>(2,334K) | <a href="/about/reports/annual/foia/foia-fy14.xml" title="Annual FOIA Report - FY2014" target="_blank">
XML</a> (890K)
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Chief FOIA Officer Report<br />
 <a href="/policy/gen/leg/foia/2024-ed-cfo-report-doj.pdf" title="Chief FOIA Officer Report" target="_blank">PDF </a>(839KB)</div>
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<a href="https://www.foia.gov/quarter.html?ED" title="Quarterly Reports" target="_blank"><span class="headersLevel3">Quarterly Reports</span></a>
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<a href="/about/reports/annual/foia/index.html" title="Archived Annual Reports"><span class="headersLevel3">Archived Annual Reports</span></a>
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<a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Freedom_of_Information_Act/" title="Presidents Memorandum Regarding FOIA" target="_blank">Presidents Memorandum Regarding FOIA</a>
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Attorney General Garland's FOIA Memo

<a href="https://www2.ed.gov/policy/gen/leg/foia/attorney-general-memorandum-foia-guidelines.pdf" target="_blank" title="Attorney General Garland's FOIA Memo">PDF</a> (1.36K)</div>
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<a href="http://www.foia.gov/" title="FOIA.gov" target="_blank">FOIA.gov</a>

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<a href="http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/retrieveECFR?gp=1&SID=b3064d6ff3d6954ce4ff6f2b6f32e965&ty=HTML&h=L&mc=true&r=PART&n=pt34.1.5" title="ED FOIA Regulations" target="_blank">ED FOIA Regulations</a>
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<a href="https://www.justice.gov/oip/doj-guide-freedom-information-act-0" title="DOJ FOIA Guide" target="_blank">DOJ FOIA Guide</a>
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<div class="resourcebox-item">Guide to Requesting ED Records (<a href="/policy/gen/leg/foia/guide-to-request-record.pdf" title="Guide to Requesting ED Records" target="_blank">PDF</a>) (232K)</div>
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<p>The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. § 552, was enacted in 1966 and generally provides that:</p>

<ul>
	<li>Any person has the right to <a href="request.html" title="request access">request access</a> to federal agency records or information.</li>
	<li>All agencies of the U.S. Government are required to disclose records upon receiving a written request for them.</li>
	<li>There are <a href="exemptions.html" title="nine exemptions to the FOIA">nine exemptions to the FOIA</a> that protect certain records from disclosure.</li>
	<li><a href="exclusions.html" title="FOIA Statutory Exclusions">FOIA Statutory Exclusions</a></li>
</ul>

<p>The federal FOIA does not provide access to records held by state or local government agencies, or by private businesses or individuals. Most states, and some local jurisdictions have their own laws about access to state and local records. State Education agencies should be contacted for further information about these statutes.</p>

<h3>Making Requests</h3>

<p>Consult the Making a Request link if you plan to make a FOIA request to the U.S. Department of Education. You may be able to access the information you need on the Internet without making a FOIA request. Before making a FOIA request, you should browse 
our FOIA Library and search the ED.gov website. Both contain many documents that are available to the public.</p>

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