Federal Education Funding

Billions of federal education dollars are distributed through hundreds of programs and more than 30 agencies. Congress and the agencies need information to plan, implement, and evaluate these programs. Moreover, to gauge and ensure the success of these programs, Congress and the agencies need several kinds of information. First, they need to know which program approaches or models are most effective and the circumstances in which they are effective. They also need to know if individual programs are working nationwide, and they need to be able to look across all programs that are designed to help a given target group to see if individual programs are working efficiently together and whether the federal effort is working well overall. GAO believes that close examination of these multiple education programs is definitely needed. The current situation has created the potential for inefficient service and reduced overall effectiveness. Basic information about programs and their results is lacking. The Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 holds promise as a tool to help agencies manage for results, coordinate their efforts with other agencies, and obtain the information they need to plan and implement programs and evaluate program results.

GAO noted that: (1) billions in federal education dollars are distributed through hundreds of programs and more than 30 agencies; (2) agencies and the Congress need information to plan, implement, and evaluate these programs; (3) to gauge and ensure the success of these programs, the Congress and agencies need several kinds of information; (4) they need to know which specific program approaches or models are most effective, the circumstances in which they are effective, and if the individual programs are working nationwide; (5) they also need to be able to look across all programs that are designed to help a given target group to see if individual programs are working efficiently together and whether the federal effort is working effectively overall; (6) GAO believes a close examination of these multiple education programs is needed; (7) the current situation has created the potential for inefficient service and reduced overall effectiveness; (8) basic information about programs and program results is lacking and there are many challenges in obtaining this important information; and (9) the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 (GPRA) holds promise as a tool to help agencies manage for results, coordinate their efforts with other agencies, and obtain the information they need to plan and implement programs and evaluate program results.