New York State Education Department

New York State Education Department, operating as Executive Office of the State of New York, is a U.S. state government entity that serves as a federal grant recipient administering formula and project grants for K-12 education, special education, child nutrition, vocational rehabilitation, library services, and scientific research across New York State, with a 10-year federal contract as the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) State Coordinator awarded by the Institute of Education Sciences on April 1, 2025.

NYSED operates exclusively as a prime recipient (100% of recent awards) across federal grant programs, with no federal contract prime awards apart from the definitive NAEP contract. The entity is a child division of the State of New York and carries no SBA designations—it is a state government agency subject to federal audit and compliance requirements under the Education Department General Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) and 2 CFR 200 as a non-federal entity expending more than $750,000 annually in federal assistance.

The grant portfolio concentrates heavily in K-12 education and human services delivery. The Department of Education Office of Elementary and Secondary Education is the largest funding agency by award count (269 awards), anchoring formula grant programs including Title I Part A Basic Grants to Local Educational Agencies ($591.4 million, July 1, 2026), the Student Support and Academic Enrichment Program ($110.4 million, July 2025), Twenty-First Century Community Learning Centers ($104.5 million, July 2026), English Language Acquisition State Grants ($65.1 million, July 2026), and Rural Education ($1.98 million, July 2025). The Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services administers 101 awards funding special education services for children with disabilities ages three through twenty-one under the Special Education Grants to States program ($310.3 million, July 2026), preschool special education ($37.1 million, July 2025), vocational rehabilitation services ($153.3 million, October 2025), and supported employment programming. The Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service funds child nutrition program administration and delivery through the National School Lunch Program ($1.47 billion, October 2025), Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program ($9.3 million, October 2025), and related State Administrative Expenses and technology innovation grants totaling tens of millions annually.

Secondary grant customers include the Institute of Museum and Library Services (Grants to States program, CFDA 45.310: $12.8 million, October 2025), the U.S. Geological Survey (geological mapping and Earth Mapping Resources Initiative cooperatives valued at $1.1 million through $1.3 million over multi-year periods), the National Science Foundation Division of Biological Infrastructure ($135 thousand for the Guccion biorepository digitization and specimen rescue, August 2026; $406 thousand for Appalachian lichen diversity research, June 2024), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (youth risk behavior surveillance, $5 million plus, August 2024 through July 2029), and the Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Community Living (Independent Living Services Grants, CFDA 93.369, $1.4 million, October 2025).

NYSED passes through the vast majority of received formula grant funds as subgrants to eligible local educational agencies, school districts, charter schools, community-based organizations, and regional educational service centers. As a state educational agency administering Title I, special education, English learner, migrant education, and career and technical education programs, NYSED sets aside a portion of awards for state-level administration and activities—typically no more than 1 to 5 percent per program—before distributing at least 95 percent to local sub-recipients. Hundreds of school districts and nonprofit organizations across New York receive annual allocations under recurring formula grants; representative sub-awardees identified in recent grants include New York City Department of Education, Buffalo City School District, Syracuse City School District, Rochester City School District, and numerous rural and suburban districts statewide. Sub-awards support instructional programs, special education services, English language acquisition, career and technical education, child nutrition administration, homeless student services, assessment development, and teacher professional development.

NYSED's single federal contract prime award—the NAEP State Coordinator contract from the Institute of Education Sciences—carries a firm fixed price of $2.147 million over ten years (April 2025 through March 2035) with no set-aside category, covering statewide coordination of the National Assessment of Educational Progress and support to the National Center for Education Statistics State Partnership System. A Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion clause applies. The contract is the exception to NYSED's grant-focused profile.

Recent grant activity shows stable volume—37 awards in 2024, 34 in 2025, and 15 awards to date in 2026—with 23 awards reaching ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months. The portfolio spans cooperative agreements with USGS for geologic mapping, project grants for technology innovation in child nutrition and assessment systems, and ongoing formula grants under entitlement programs. NYSED's operational role is distinctly administrative and pass-through; the organization does not deliver direct K-12 instruction but rather supervises compliance, distributes federal resources, develops assessments and standards, administers child nutrition programs, operates the state vocational rehabilitation agency, and coordinates educational services across New York's educational landscape on behalf of the federal government.