US Education Sector: A Closer Look
The United States prides itself on having one of the leading nations with the most effective and functional educational systems. The United States has been constantly working to improve the nation’s education-related initiatives.
The government has consolidated programs that not only offer federal loans, but also include academic scholarships for eligible academics seeking to continue their studies and earn a degree in a certain field of specialization.
To constantly ensure the proper consolidation of these initiatives, the United States government has established several agencies that are dedicated solely to the administration of initiatives related to education.
First is the US Department of Education, more commonly known as ED or USED. The agency, established in October 1979, was built to ensure efficient channels for the administration and consolidation of educational laws, policies, programs and initiatives.
The Department of Education’s mission is to “set policy, administer, and coordinate most federal aid to education, collect data about America’s schools, and enforce federal education laws related to privacy and civil rights.”
For more specific concerns, the Department of Education has established some sub-agencies or divisions, namely:
a) Institute of Education Sciences: This division was created as part of the Education Science Reform Act of 2002 and is the main research arm of the US Department of Education.
b) Federal Student Aid (FSA): This division of the ED is the largest provider of financial aid in the United States in the form of grants, loans, and work-study funds. FSA’s mission is “to ensure that all qualified Americans benefit from federal financial assistance grants, loans, and work-study programs for education beyond high school.”
In 2011, the FSA reportedly administered approximately $144 billion to nearly 15 million higher education students and their families.
c) National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES): This agency operates under the Institute of Educational Sciences of the United States Department of Education and its main task is to collect, research and share statistical data on education and financial data from public school districts throughout the United States of America.
d) Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation Services (OSERS) – Another ED program that has continually sought to achieve its agency’s primary mission, which is to “provide leadership to achieve the full integration and collusion in society of persons with disabilities by ensuring equal opportunity and access to excellence in education, employment, and community life.”