Department Of Education Indiana

The Department of Education Indiana, doing business as the Superintendent of Public Instruction, is a U.S. state government entity that receives federal formula grants and project grants as a prime recipient—not a contractor or subcontractor—from the Department of Education, the Department of Agriculture, and other federal agencies. The entity does not compete for contracts or place task orders under federal IDVs, GWACs, or BPAs; rather, it serves as the pass-through state educational agency (SEA) administering federal education and child nutrition grant programs on behalf of Indiana's public schools, local educational agencies, charter schools, and community organizations.

The Department of Education Indiana is a child organization within Indiana's State Budget Agency and serves as the administrative backbone for Indiana's K-12 education system. It receives, manages, and distributes federal education and nutrition funding across the state, operating as the prime recipient for 521 federal awards over the source data period. The entity does not hold SBA certifications or set-asides and competes on a full-and-open basis in its singular contract role (a ten-year NAEP State Coordinator agreement with the Institute of Education Sciences running through 2035).

The grant portfolio is dominated by formula allocations from the Department of Education's Office of Elementary and Secondary Education and the Department of Agriculture's Food and Nutrition Service. Major federal grant programs include Title I Grants to Local Educational Agencies (CFDA 84.010), Special Education Grants to States (CFDA 84.027), Twenty-First Century Community Learning Centers (CFDA 84.287), Student Support and Academic Enrichment (CFDA 84.424), National School Lunch Program (CFDA 10.555), and Child and Adult Care Food Program (CFDA 10.558). Recent awards demonstrate a shift toward project-grant innovation work: a $9.455 million Education Innovation and Research award (CFDA 84.411) to scale literacy tutoring for at-risk third-graders through Indiana Learns 2.0 (August 2026 through July 2031), an $11.662 million Education Innovation and Research grant for tutoring state infrastructure (January 2026 through December 2030), a $2.986 million competitive assessment grant for the iLearn Through-Year Assessment Initiative (October 2024 through July 2027), and a $1.826 million Special Education State Personnel Development award supporting principal instructional leadership for students with disabilities (October 2025 through September 2027). Formula grants account for the bulk of obligated dollars: $203.4 million National School Lunch Program (October 2025 through September 2026), $375.1 million National School Lunch Program (October 2025 through September 2026), $128.1 million Title I Basic Grants (July 2026 through September 2027), and $108.2 million Special Education Grants to States (July 2026 through September 2027).

The Department of Education Indiana operates as the pass-through mechanism for federal funding reaching over one hundred local school districts, charter schools, community-based organizations, child care providers, and nonprofit educational entities throughout Indiana. Named sub-recipients include metropolitan school districts (Indianapolis Public Schools, Fort Wayne Community Schools, Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation, Gary Community School District), charter and specialized schools (Joshua Academy, Steel City Academy, Circle City Preparatory, Paramount Schools of Excellence), youth-serving organizations (YMCA chapters, Boys and Girls Clubs across multiple counties), child care and early childhood providers (Professional Child Care Association of Southwestern Indiana, Early Childhood Alliance, Flanner House of Indianapolis, Kindercare Education), and community action agencies. Sub-recipients use allocations to deliver K-12 instruction, special education services, English language acquisition, school meals, community learning centers, assessment systems, and mental health and wellness programming.

Activity has remained relatively flat across the past five years (2022–2026: 29, 23, 23, 26, and 16 awards respectively in source window), with 23 awards reaching ultimate completion in the next twenty-four months. The entity received $1.445 million in a ten-year definitive contract from the Institute of Education Sciences (April 2025 through March 2035) to serve as Indiana's NAEP State Coordinator, managing statewide participation in the National Assessment of Educational Progress and coordinating cooperative education statistics systems. The combined obligated value across the 521 awards totals $24.75 billion, reflecting the massive scale of formula-grant pass-through administration; the combined potential value is $4.1 million, signaling that most awards are fully obligated historical grant cycles rather than forward-looking ceiling values. The Department of Education is the top funding customer by award count (250 awards through its Office of Elementary and Secondary Education), followed by the Department of Agriculture (162 awards split between Food and Nutrition Service awards), with the Department of Education's Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services contributing 52 awards. The Institute of Education Sciences anchors 9 awards with combined potential value of $3.8 million.