Does less than 25% of Education Department spending go to students? No

In a March 16 podcast interview, Rep. Harriet Hageman, R-Wyo., said the Trump administration is right to target the Education Department for cuts.

"The federal Department of Education spends — has a budget of about $280 billion a year. Less than 25% goes to educating our students," she said. "So where does the other $220 billion go? It goes to a bureaucracy, it goes to a consultant, and that consultant then donates money back to the Democrats, and then it goes to a different consultant, and then it goes to" a nongovernmental organization.

The department handles a lot of money. But budget figures show a large majority of the Education Department’s 2024 spending was directed to students.

Hageman’s office did not respond to an inquiry for this fact-check.

Congress established the Education Department in 1979. Until recent cuts by the Trump administration, it employed 4,133 people; cuts initiated by Trump this month aim to reduce the workforce to 2,183. The department does not govern curriculum rules; that’s up to states and localities. But it does shuffle a lot of money out the door.

The department’s 2024 budget listed roughly $200 billion in outlays. Of that, about $80 billion consisted of money that Congress appropriates annually. The rest has been considered mandatory spending, meaning it is allocated based on congressionally approved formulas. (It’s not clear where Hageman’s $280 billion figure came from.)

Determining the exact percentage of the department’s budget that goes to students is tricky, because not every line item in the overall budget says what portion goes directly to students. This is particularly the case for grants the department makes to states and localities; those jurisdictions, not the federal government, distribute the money.

However, at least 71% of the department’s spending goes to students directly, as grants and loans for higher education. These include Pell grants, which are for lower-income students and don’t have to be paid back, and for student loans, which have to be repaid. 

"For student aid funding, the vast majority is supporting students," said Robert Kelchen, head of the department of educational leadership and policy studies at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville.

Another 25% of Education Department spending ($49 billion in fiscal year 2024) went to states, tribes and local school districts to support K-12 education. 

About 10% of school funding comes from federal sources, as opposed to state and local funding. The federal government funds help support two major areas: low-income schools (known as Title I grants under the 1965 Elementary and Secondary Education Act) and education for students with disabilities (which fall under the 1975 Individuals with Disabilities Education Act).

Federal funding is meant to fill funding gaps. Many localities fund schools through property taxes, which can lead to imbalances in funding between wealthier and poorer districts. About 60% of public schools and 26 million students get this support. 

Without federal grants, many schools would not be able to afford individualized services for students with disabilities.

Because many of these funding streams are ultimately spent by 50 states, hundreds of localities and tribal governments, it’s hard to know exactly what portion of this $49 billion is spent directly on students. Some money supports school construction or school safety, for instance; whether this money is spent on students is open to interpretation.

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But even a conservative estimate for dollars spent in this category would add to the 71% spent on students through federal grants and loans.

Another 3% of the department’s budget went to other aspects of higher education, including universities and career technical education. Some of this is general financial support to universities, including to historically Black colleges and universities. It’s hard to know how much of this flowed to students indirectly, but it’s a small share of the department’s budget.

Finally, less than 2% of the department’s budget went to spending on other things. These include research (including the National Assessment of Educational Progress that since 1969 has tracked the states’ K-12 academic progress) along with teacher grants, administrative functions and an inspector general’s office to combat waste and fraud. 

Among the department’s responsibilities has been to handle a rising number of complaints from students alleging civil rights violations.

Put it all together, and at least 71%, and possibly up to 90%, of the department’s budget goes to students.

The department "is largely focused on funding for students to attend college," said Antoinette Flores, director of higher education quality and accountability at New America, a center-left think tank. She said the department’s higher-education focus is "neglected in the administration's reasoning for shuttering the department, which is entirely based on the performance of K-12 schoolchildren," according to the White House’s press release announcing major cuts March 20.

Hageman said the Education Department has a "budget of about $280 billion a year. Less than 25% goes to educating our students."

About 71% of the $200 billion budget in 2024 went to college students as direct grants and loans. Another 25% went to states, localities and tribes for K-12 schools, including low-income school districts and for educating students with disabilities. Much of this money passed to classroom needs.

Hageman’s statistic is inaccurate. We rate it False.