Federal on-budget support for education increased 388 percent from fiscal year (FY) 1965 to FY 2016, after adjustment for inflation. (On-budget support excludes education funds that are generated by federal subsidies, such as Federal Family Education Loans and the Federal Direct Student Loans.) Increases occurred from 1965 to 1975. After a change of 1 percent from 1975 to 1980, federal funding for education decreased approximately 16 percent from 1980 to 1985. Federal on-budget funding for education increased 131 percent from 1985 to 2016.
Federal support for education in FY 2016 was estimated at $82.1 billion for elementary and secondary education, $63.3 billion for postsecondary education, and $9.0 billion for other programs (see Digest of Education Statistics, 2016, table 401.10). Research support at educational institutions was estimated at $34.5 billion.
In FY 2015, an estimated $100.4 billion (about 51 percent of the $195.8 billion spent by the federal government on education) came from the U.S. Department of Education (see Digest of Education Statistics, 2016, table 401.20). The other agencies with the largest amounts of education funding included the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services ($27.2 billion), the U.S. Department of Agriculture ($23.9 billion), U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs ($13.6 billion) and the U.S. Department of Defense ($7.0 billion).
| Total on-budget support | ||
| Year | Unadjusted dollars | Constant 2016 dollars1 |
| 1965 | $5.3 | $38.7 |
| 1970 | 12.5 | 74.2 |
| 1975 | 23.3 | 97.4 |
| 1980 | 34.5 | 98.3 |
| 1985 | 39.0 | 81.9 |
| 1990 | 51.6 | 93.2 |
| 1995 | 71.6 | 110.5 |
| 2000 | 86.2 | 121.9 |
| 2002 | 109.2 | 147.9 |
| 2003 | 124.4 | 163.8 |
| 2004 | 132.4 | 170.0 |
| 2005 | 148.3 | 184.0 |
| 2006 | 166.5 | 199.7 |
| 2007 | 145.7 | 170.3 |
| 2008 | 144.3 | 163.0 |
| 2009 | 271.3 | 305.7 |
| 2010 | 170.6 | 189.3 |
| 2011 | 182.1 | 197.4 |
| 2012 | 188.0 | 199.8 |
| 2013 | 178.9 | 187.7 |
| 2014 | 188.4 | 194.7 |
| 2015 | 195.8 | 199.5 |
| 2016 | 188.9 | 188.9 |