The American education system is a patchwork of public and private programs spanning preschool to colleges and universities, serving millions of students in urban and rural settings.
Get data on how students are faring by grade and subject, college graduation rates, and what federal, state, and local governments spending per student. The information comes from various government agencies including the National Center for Education Statistics and Census Bureau.
USAFacts categorizes government budget data to allocate spending appropriately and to arrive at the estimate presented here. Most government spending on education occurs at the state and local levels rather than the federal.
Government revenue and expenditures are based on data from the Office of Management and Budget, the Census Bureau, and the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Each is published annually, although due to collection times, state and local government data are not as current as federal data. Thus, when combining federal, state, and local revenues and expenditures, the most recent year for a combined number may be delayed.
Focus | Key actors | Responsibilities |
|---|---|---|
Early childhood education | Department of Education | Partially fund preschools |
K-12 education | Department of Education | Partially fund K-12 schools |
Higher education | Department of Education | Partially fund institutes of higher education |
Aid for education | Department of Education | Establish policies and distribute aid (to states and individuals) including Title I funding for low-income K-12 schools, Pell Grants, federal work-study, and student loans |
Researches and regulates schools | Department of Education | Enforce Title IX and other anti-discrimination policies; set rules for data collection and analysis |
Focus |
|---|
Early childhood education |
K-12 education |
Higher education |
Aid for education |
Researches and regulates schools |
Educational attainment is defined as the highest level of formal education a person has completed. The concept can be applied to a person, a demographic group, or a geographic area. Data on educational attainment is produced by the Census Bureau in multiple surveys, which may produce different data. Data from the American Community Survey is shown here to allow for geographic comparisons.