More than a third of the federal government’s education research budget — an estimated $289 million — could go unspent this year, according to an analysis by an advocacy group.
The Knowledge Alliance, which represents 20 private research organizations including federal contractors, analyzed public documents from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) detailing how much the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) has spent or plans to spend from the $768 million that Congress appropriated for fiscal 2025. The group estimates that $289 million will not be spent and is at risk of expiring when the current fiscal year ends on Sept. 30.
“We’re very concerned that funding is not on track,” said Rachel Dinkes, president of the Knowledge Alliance. “Everyone should ask questions of this administration of how they’re intending to obligate this money before it lapses.” Unspent federal funds cannot be rolled over or used for future projects and typically return to the U.S. Treasury.
The Alliance is trying ratchet up the pressure and make the case that the permanent loss of these funds would limit guidance to schools on what works in education, reduce federal support for tackling education problems such as absenteeism, and make it harder for states to comply with federal requirements that use data, research and evaluations.
The advocacy group highlighted a near standstill of special education research under the Trump administration. Roughly 85 percent of the $77 million designated for special education remains unspent and there are no federal notices or documents, as there usually would be, detailing plans to launch grant competitions and spend it. More than half of funds for other education research ($136 million), and 40 percent of funding for statistics ($49 million), are also at risk of expiring, according to the Knowledge Alliance’s calculations, which it says are based on publicly available documents from OMB, which controls the release of federal funds and updates research spending plans.
OMB did not respond to my inquiry about the Knowledge Alliance’s analysis or the administration’s plans to spend education research money. In an email, a Department of Education spokesperson said: “The Department is committed to using appropriated funds to meet our statutory obligations and supporting high-quality research.” However, there are no grant competitions in progress or active review panels in place to make that happen, according to education researchers. Last year, DOGE terminated the contract to hire peer reviewers who vet research proposals.
Not all areas of IES are sitting on large, unspent budgets. The National Assessment of Educational Progress, a federal exam that measures student achievement, is over budget by $13 million, including spending by its oversight board. The Knowledge Alliance did not explain the overspending.
According to three researchers who are familiar with federal grantmaking, OMB is the roadblock. The agency is refusing to approve Congressionally appropriated funds and that approval is a prerequisite to proceeding with the education grants, said the researchers, who asked not to be named out of fear of retaliation and of undermining the delicate negotiations between the Education Department and OMB.
OMB has also frozen research funding at the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation, but in some cases reversed course after public pressure. The General Accountability Office, Congress’ watchdog agency, has repeatedly found that the Trump administration has violated the Impoundment Control Act, which requires the executive branch to spend funds according to appropriation laws.
Impoundment is not yet an issue at IES. There are still five months remaining to develop new research plans and award grants to spend this fiscal 2025 money, but that would require an expedited process. In the past, IES would announce a new grant competition for specific areas of research and then applicants would have a few months to develop and submit proposals. Two peer reviewers read the submissions and then a review panel selects the winners. That process has typically taken between six and 10 months, according to Dinkes.
That long time line is one of the reasons that Congress gives IES a full two years to spend its annual budget, which is unusual in the federal government. The $289 million in unspent fiscal 2025 funds at stake right now were first appropriated in October 2024, before President Donald Trump was elected. Congress appropriated an additional $790 million to IES in fiscal 2026. Those funds do not expire until September 2027. The spending of those 2026 funds is also way behind schedule with no funds for research or statistics yet approved by OMB.
Annual research funds go not only to fresh research projects, but also to pay researchers for the continuation of ongoing multi-year studies. Last year, IES was unable to pay researchers on time because of holdups at OMB, but the money was eventually released in September, researchers told me. That is another concern again this year.
With so much money at stake, members of Congress are pushing OMB and urging researchers to also exert pressure. It’s another example of a showdown between Congress and the administration, this one with implications for students nationwide.
IES funds set to expire Sept. 30, 2026
gap between the blue and orange bars is the amount of funding at risk. Source: Table 1, Knowledge Alliance memorandum, April 2026
IES funds set to expire Sept. 30, 2027
gap between the blue and orange bars is the amount of funding at risk. Source: Table 1, Knowledge Alliance memorandum, April 2026
Contact staff writer Jill Barshay at 212-678-3595, jillbarshay.35 on Signal, or barshay@hechingerreport.org.
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