Cooperative Extension Service's Mission and Federal Role Need Congressional Clarification

The Cooperative Extension Service is the largest education system of its kind in the world. It is active in rural, suburban, and urban communities and, in addition to agricultural and home economics programs, offers programs in social and economic problems and cultural, recreational, and leisure-time activities. The Extension Service was established in 1914 primarily to provide farmers with information from agricultural research and to encourage them to adopt improved farming methods. Recently, its programs have expanded to include instruction in arts and crafts, recreation, creative and performing arts, and mental and emotional health. GAO reviewed the Extension Service to determine whether its programs were meeting their basic missions.

As more programs vie for Extension Service resources, disagreements have occurred over what its mission should be. Some groups feel that it is ignoring their needs; others say it is trying to be all things to all people. GAO stated that, because the demands for the Extension Service's programs are great and its resources are limited, its available resources need to be used as efficiently as possible. GAO also stated that the Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Federal Extension Service, the Federal agency involved, should assume a more active leadership role in the Extension Service program development. GAO concluded that improved performance and impact measurement is needed to determine whether extension programs are effective. There are no comprehensive Service-wide evaluation requirements due to a lack of a central office to clearly define such standards. GAO believes that USDA is the natural place within the organization from which to provide leadership and direction in evaluation.

Recommendations

Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.

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