Federal Education Budget Project

Today the Federal Education Budget Project (FEBP) at the New America Foundation released data on federal funding for school nutrition programs for every state and school district in the country.  This is the only searchable and downloadable source of district-level federal school nutrition data available.  The data can be accessed at EdBudgetProject.Org.

Currently funded at $13 billion, school nutrition programs represent the second largest federal funding source for public schools after Title I.  Tracking these programs is of particular importance now given school budget deficits, budget uncertainty due… more

Federal Education Budget Federal Budget Process Overview Appropriations Process  Advance Appropriations Budget Reconciliation

When Congress resumes consideration of the reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act, strengthening the federal role in supporting high school reform will be a key issue on the agenda, and with good reason. While elementary school students, on whom most of NCLB’s funding and accountability requirements focus, have made significant achievement gains in recent years, high school achievement has stagnated. Only 70 percent of high school freshmen graduate within four years. Among those who do make it to… more

In an ongoing debate about the relative costs of the federal government’s direct and guaranteed student loan programs, some budget experts and private lenders have argued for the use of “market cost” estimates. They assert that official government cost estimates for federal student loans differ from what private entities would likely charge taxpayers to deliver the benefits and services the program provides. A market cost estimate would take such information into account.

Policy Analyst, Education Policy Program

Jennifer Cohen is a Policy Analyst with the Education Policy Program at the New America Foundation. She manages the foundation’s Federal Education Budget Project Web site, analyzes national school finance data, and researches and writes policy papers, op-eds, and commentary for the project's blog, Ed Money Watch.Org. more

Experts say Castor's proposed changes [to the federal student loan industry] are sorely needed, and could be made without putting an undue burden on government regulators... 

Such fixes would be a "common-sense solution" to lax oversight by the federal government, said Stephen Burd, a senior fellow at the New America Foundation...LINK

Funding is always a central issue in education policy debates, and education funding is often a bone of contention in federal budget and appropriations battles. Yet many of the people who are most affected by federal education budget decisions are unaware of how those decisions are made or where the money goes. On June 12 the New America Foundation launched the Federal Education Budget Project to lift the veil from the federal education budget process and provide policymakers, journalists, educators,… more

The New America Foundation is pleased to announce a new online resource for journalists covering education, student loans, education-related tax policy, and the federal budget in general. The Federal Education Budget Project (FEBP) is an independent, authoritative source of easily accessible information on the size, distribution, effectiveness, and efficiency of federal education funding. To access the website, please visit www.EdBudgetProject.org.

How it Works: EdBudgetProject.Org

Our website provides downloadable funding, demographic, and achievement data at the state and district level for all 50 states and over 14,000 public school… more

The National School Lunch Program supports student nutrition in over 101,000 schools and residential facilities. It provides free and reduced priced meals to low-income children before school, during school, after school, and over the summer. In fiscal year 2008, federal school nutrition programs will underwrite more than five billion meals served to over 31 million students. Total funding for all nutrition programs sums to more than $12 billion in both cash and commodity payments. School nutrition programs are one… more