Chapter I FEDERAL PARTICIPATION IN EDUCATION T HERE ARE MANY WAYS in which the Federal Government has continued to show an interest in education through the years. Congress is enacting laws making numerous references to education and it is providing Federal financial assistance for many phases of the program of education. Presentations in this bulletin indicate the variety and scope of this Federal concern. PURPOSE OF THIS BULLETIN As a measure of the extent to which the Federal Government participates in education, this publication reports on Federal expenditures for educational services and programs. Specifically, it presents summaries indicating amounts of Federal expenditures for education and training in recent years, and descriptions of the educational services financed in whole or in part by the Federal Government. In gathering data, reports are invited and included for all Federal educational services. Decisions as to what programs and expenditures are to be included are made by reference to a general guiding statement as follows: GUIDE FOR DETERMINING CONTENTS OF Programs and distributions to be reported in Federal Funds for Education are those which provide Federal assistance in the form of commodities, funds, or services for activities in educational institutions or under Federal, State, local, or private educational agencies. Federally assisted research and training programs conducted in educational institutions and the training of non-Federal research workers and technicians in Federal institutions and under Federal assistance are to be reported. Programs in which a pupil-teacher relationship exists and for which a Federal department, agency, or office provides instruction, lectures, tuition, contracts for educational services, school housing, or expenses required by students engaged in educational activities under Federal sponsorship are to be included. Programs of in-service training for Federal employees while on duty provided outside of educational institutions and open only to Federal employees are to be excluded. Reports are included in this publication for 99 programs qualifying according to the above guide. Other reports have implied that there may be a total of approximately 300 such programs. Apparently, a third of the operating programs are reported here but information is not available to support any conclusions with reference to the proportion that the total of $1,616,654,000 of Federal funds for education given in table 2 is of the total amount expended by the Federal Government for educational services. For most of the programs, figures are provided indicating the amounts of the Federal expenditures. However, in some instances the figures are not reported since the Federal offices could not easily separate them from expenditures for administration or for other services. For these, only the descriptions of the programs are included. Some of the data were assembled from official reports of the Federal departments and agencies. Others were obtained through correspondence with officials responsible for the administration of the various Federal appropriations for education. Presentations in this bulletin are grouped or arranged according to the Federal agencies that administer the programs. The arrangement of the programs is evident in the table of contents. NATIONAL SUMMARIES OF FEDERAL Interest in Federal aids for education continues at a high level throughout the Nation. Inquiries concerning such aids come from students, leaders, educators, legislators, research workers, citizen committees, and also from ministers of education in other nations. The present series of bulletins has been a systematic attempt to provide continuing information about Federal expenditures for educational programs. Two studies directed toward a complete review of educational activities of the Federal Government have provided unusual opportunities to learn about many other programs not previously described. One of these was the study conducted by the Hoover Commission included in the Task Force report on public welfare.1 This report indicated that approximately $3.7 billion of Federal funds had been obligated for educational programs for the 194849 school year. A second opportunity to learn more about Federal funds for education was the report of a comprehensive survey of Federal activities in education completed by the Legislative Reference The Brookings Institution. Functions and Activities of the National Government in the Field of Welfare. A report with recommendations prepared for the Commission on Organization of the Executive Branch of the Government. Washington, U. S. Government Printing Office, 1949. 590 p. Service of the Library of Congress. For this study and publication, data were obtained by means of brief questionnaires which the Bureau of the Budget sent to all Federal offices. Responses indicated that 298 separate and distinct programs in education were operating in the various departments and agencies. Federal funds, specifically obligated for the 1949-50 school year for 255 of these programs, totaled more than $3.6 billion. A review of the Quattlebaum report reveals the numbers of educational programs in the various Federal offices shown in table 1. Nine Departments of the Federal Government were reported to have a total of 218 distinct programs of education. The remaining numbers of educational programs for which Federal funds are expended were administered by the offices frequently designated as independent agencies. Table 1.-NUMBER OF FEDERAL PROGRAMS IN EDUCATION FOR THE 1949-50 SCHOOL YEAR DESCRIBED IN THE QUATTLEBAUM REPORT1 1 Quattlebaum, Charles A. Federal Educational Activities and Educational Issues Before Congress. Washington, U. S. Government Printing Office, 1951. (House Document No. 423). 567 p. Benefits that citizens of the United States receive under these federally supported programs may be associated with various agencies and services, including the public schools, private schools, universities, vocational education, vocational rehabilitation, farming, business, government, military service, office management, health, currency, thrift, research, civil defense, law enforcement, handicaps, veterans' education, citizenship, penal institutions, surveys, social security, occupied areas, school lunches, conservation, national parks, libraries, apprenticeship, and numerous other facets of education in the national life. Programs in education as outlined in table 1 are based upon information for the 1949-50 school year. Since that year, some of the activities which were reported have been eliminated, some have been combined with other activities or perhaps transferred to other offices, while certain new activities have been introduced. However, many of the activities appear year after year inasmuch as they represent continuing or on-going programs. FEDERAL INTEREST IN EDUCATION Reasons for the Federal concern for education are given in the early paragraphs of the numerous public laws which authorize the programs. Some reasons are clearly stated and obviously portray the intent of Congress in supporting the educational services and others are apparent in the kinds of programs authorized. These significant reasons represent the attitude of the people. They need to be examined by public administrators, educators, legislators and citizen committees to determine proper relationships among Federal, State, and local programs of education, and to determine the proportions of financial support that may reasonably be provided by these three levels of government. Here are a few of the more prominent national purposes underlying the provision of Federal funds for education. NATIONAL PURPOSES ITEMIZED 1. To encourage and support programs of education or services in the schools that are essential or beneficial to the national welfare and security. 2. To contribute to or provide for education where there is a Federal responsibility or obligation. 3. To provide educational and training services essential to the national defense but which are not the separate responsibility of any local community, State, or segment of the population. 4. To assist the economically underdeveloped areas of the world and to improve international relationships through the exchange of information and of students, teachers, professors, technicians, and leaders, with other countries. 5. To assist students, selected on the basis of tests and recommendations, to receive scholarships for advanced training that will serve the national welfare. 6. To maintain efficient governmental services and increase the effectiveness of the Federal service through programs of education. |