Reports & Testimonies

The Troops-to-Teachers program has been giving grants to states to help military personnel become K-12 teachers since 1992. The Department of Defense canceled the program in 2020, but reinstated it in 2021. The program's goals are to reduce teacher shortages in high-need schools and in key subjects like math, science, and special education. But it's unclear whether the program is meeting its goals, because DOD...

Millions of teachers and employees at non-profits rely on 403(b) plans for their retirement savings. These individual account-based plans let participants make investment decisions and bear risk. Federal agencies, like the Department of Labor, oversee these plans. DOL also provides educational materials to plan sponsors and participants. However, we found that DOL's website contains little educational material specific to 403(b) plans—such as information to help...

About 15-20% of the foods that make up school lunches are purchased by the U.S. Department of Agriculture through its "Foods in Schools" program. School districts mostly use the program to get lean meat and produce. USDA helps states and school districts operate the program. More than half of the states were satisfied with USDA's program assistance. But many states reported challenges such as cancelled...

The Department of Education is modernizing its student aid application system. The system, which processes millions of federal student aid applications annually, is over 30 years old. Education has made progress in planning the modernization project. But when the agency estimated costs and developed the project's schedule, it didn't account for the cost of government labor or the availability of needed materials and resources. These...

Many veterans leave military service with wilderness survival and related skills that can translate into careers in outdoor recreation, such as park ranger. Veterans can build on these skills by using the GI Bill from the Department of Veterans Affairs towards degrees in environmental science, forestry, and related disciplines, as well as other specialized job training (e.g., mountain climbing instructor). Federal agencies, like the Forestry...

Students who attend nonprofit private schools may be eligible for the same services—such as tutoring and English language services—as public school students. These federally funded services are provided by school districts. States must designate a specialist to address inquiries and concerns about such services. We surveyed these specialists and found that many felt they didn't have enough guidance and training on their roles or on...

Each year, we make more than 1,000 recommendations to help the federal government save money, address issues on our High Risk List , and significantly improve government operations. This letter to the Department of Education outlines 6 open recommendations that it should prioritize. For example, one of these recommendations would help the Department of Education ensure that it's fully protecting the privacy of financial aid...

Midwives provide care during pregnancy and birth, and may attend births in hospitals, birth centers, or homes. In 2021, midwives attended 12% of births in the U.S. We found that the number of midwives and midwifery students in the U.S. has increased—although the extent of care they can provide varies by state. Also, some students may have trouble with the cost of education and the...

The Department of Agriculture's school meal programs feed about 30 million children every day. Participating school districts must buy domestic products for the meals as much as possible. USDA allows some exceptions to this rule based on availability, cost, and quality of domestic products. School districts mostly used exceptions to buy fruits that weren't grown domestically, such as bananas and pineapples. When school districts use...

Many career fields—such as diplomacy, national security, and business—need individuals with knowledge of languages and the world. The Department of Education provides funding to universities to develop experts with such credentials and grant fellowships to students. The 27 grantee universities we looked at encouraged students to pursue employment in certain fields by developing students' language skills and knowledge about other cultures and offering career services...

Charter schools are publicly-funded schools that are governed by independent organizations. The Department of Education awards "Charter Schools Program" grants to help open or expand charter schools across the nation. We reviewed charter schools that received funds from these grants between 2006-2020. The schools generally had higher student enrollment growth compared to similar charter schools that did not receive a grant. We also found that...

The Department of Education gives grants to schools and organizations to help disadvantaged students—including students with disabilities—prepare for, enroll in, and graduate from college. The Student Support Services program is its only college access program whose target population specifically includes students with disabilities. But Education does not collect complete information about the disability status of the students helped through the program. As a result, it...

The United States' adversaries are exploiting social media, IT, and other aspects of the "information environment" to undermine the nation's security. Such actions can include making false social media posts or interfering with GPS data used by DOD leaders to make decisions about their military options, such as troop positions. In response, DOD educates and trains its leaders to address such threats. However, DOD hasn't...

When colleges make false or misleading statements or omit information about their programs, students may have trouble completing a degree, paying back student loans, or finding a job. The Department of Education imposed penalties on 13 colleges when such actions amounted to "substantial misrepresentation" in FY 2016-21. Penalties included ending participation in federal student aid programs or levying fines. Education's written procedures for identifying and...