Which Education Department Programs Moved to Other Federal Agencies in 2026
By Muntasir Minhaz • Published Aug 04, 2026 • US Higher Ed News & Policy
Six federal agencies now run programs that used to belong to the Department of Education. Labor handles K-12 grants, HHS handles special education, Justice handles civil rights, and Interior, State, and Treasury each took smaller pieces.
💵 Labor Department: Title I and roughly a dozen other K-12 grant programs.
🎓 HHS: special education and rehabilitation services, plus community school grants.
Justice: civil rights complaint investigations, student privacy enforcement.
Interior: Bureau of Indian Education K-12 programs.
State: international higher ed programs and the foreign gifts database.
Treasury: management of the federal student loan portfolio.
Fourteen agreements, six new homes for Education Department work
By June 16 2026, the Department of Education had signed 14 interagency agreements with six cabinet-level agencies, handing off management of at least 148 K-12 and higher education programs (Department of Education ). Here is what moved where.
| Agency | What it now runs |
|---|---|
| Department of Labor | K-12 Title I and roughly a dozen other ESEA formula and discretionary grant programs through the Employment and Training Administration (NSTA ) |
| Health and Human Services | Special education and rehabilitative services through the Administration on Disabilities, plus Full-Service Community Schools and Promise Neighborhoods grants through the Administration for Children and Families |
| Department of Justice | Civil rights complaint investigation and resolution, four equity assistance centers, and student privacy enforcement, run through the Civil Rights Division |
| Department of the Interior | Bureau of Indian Education K-12 programs for Native American students |
| Department of State | Internationally focused higher education programs and the foreign gifts reporting database colleges use to disclose money from foreign sources |
| Department of the Treasury | Management of the federal student loan portfolio, through the Bureau of the Fiscal Service, in a phased handover |
What the Education Department keeps
The department keeps legal authority over every program on this list. For special education, the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services still coordinates policy and technical assistance even though HHS runs day-to-day grant administration and compliance monitoring. For civil rights, the Office for Civil Rights still manages the office, leads mediation, sets policy, and runs the Civil Rights Data Collection, while the Justice Department evaluates and investigates individual complaints (K-12 Dive ).
Title I money is not moving yet
The Labor Department transfer covers the biggest dollar amount, including Title I, the formula grant that funds schools serving low-income students. States and school districts keep drawing down Title I and other formula grants through the system they already use for now.
The department has held off on the operational transfer of that money for the current school year even as management authority shifts to Labor (The 74 ).
If a program you use has moved
Check the receiving agency's website for updated contact details and application portals.
Applications and deadlines you already know still route through the Education Department for now, especially for Title I and other formula grants.
Watch for separate announcements on civil rights complaints and student loan servicing, since those affect the most students directly.
If you study a program tied to international exchange or a foreign-funded partnership, check with your school's international office, since the State Department now oversees that reporting and program area.
Why the split matters for financial aid specifically
Treasury's role stands apart from the rest. The Bureau of the Fiscal Service already handles federal payment systems government-wide, so it takes over servicing oversight for the trillion-dollar federal student loan portfolio in stages rather than all at once.
The Education Department keeps setting loan policy, including the new limits and repayment terms under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, while Treasury handles the back-end payment infrastructure that moves your loan disbursements and payments (Education Week ). If your loan servicer or account portal changes, that switch traces back to this handover, not to a change in what you owe.