Office of English Language Acquisition

The Department of Education Office of English Language Acquisition is a sub-office within the civilian Department of Education that administers federal funding for English language acquisition programs and services, primarily to state education agencies and districts serving English learner populations.

The Office operates as a grant-making operation; it conducts minimal contract activity relative to its grant portfolio. Contract awards total 125 over the agency's history since 2004, with combined potential value of $40.4 million and $35.2 million obligated to date. Contract activity is sparse and irregular: the Office awarded 3 contracts in 2016, 2 in 2017, 1 in 2018, 2 in 2021, and 1 in 2024. The most recent contract award closed in April 2024. Among 109 distinct prime contractors in the portfolio, the competitive concentration is highly fragmented; the single award in the last five years went to Lux Consulting Group, Inc. for $211 thousand. The vast majority of contract awards (93 percent) carry no set-aside designation, with the remainder split among Total Small Business (4 percent), 8(a) Sole Source (2 percent), and Reserved for Small Business (1 percent) awards.

Grant activity dominates the Office's funding footprint. The Office has obligated $2.42 billion in federal dollars across 877 grant awards since 2001, with a combined federal and non-federal share totaling $3.81 billion. Recent activity has averaged 46 awards per year over the last five years—57 in 2021, 44 in 2022, 6 in 2023, 68 in 2024, and 53 in 2025, with the most recent award closing in July 2025. Grant recipients are highly concentrated by federal dollars: the top five state education agencies account for 34 percent of federal dollars obligated in recent activity. Department of Education California leads with $310.8 million across 2 awards, followed by TX Education Agency ($279.5 million across 2 awards), New York State Education Department ($131.1 million across 2 awards), Illinois State Board Of Education ($61.7 million across 2 awards), and Superintendent Of Public Instruction ($40.8 million across 2 awards). Among 432 distinct grant recipients, by-count concentration is highly fragmented (top five recipients hold 6 percent of recent awards), reflecting a broad distribution of funding to state and local education entities. The grant portfolio is almost entirely Project Grants (88 percent of awards), with Formula Grants making up the remaining 12 percent.

Part of the Department of Education, the English Language Acquisition Office supports programs for English learners.