Department Of Education Nebraska

The Nebraska Department of Education, a division of the State of Nebraska, functions as a federal grant recipient (99% of recent awards are prime grants) delivering K-12 education administration and student support services across multiple federal education programs. The entity does not compete for federal contracts and operates exclusively as a grant recipient, primarily through formula-grant mechanisms allocating federal education dollars to local school districts, educational service units, and community organizations throughout Nebraska.

The Nebraska Department of Education's federal footprint centers on pass-through administration of Title I, special education, English language acquisition, child nutrition, and vocational rehabilitation programs. The entity received a $1.62 million definitive contract from the Institute of Education Sciences in April 2025 to serve as Nebraska's National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) state coordinator through March 2035, representing the sole contract award in the recent portfolio. Grant work is substantially larger: recent prime awards include $35.36 million under the Title I Grants to Local Educational Agencies program (CFDA 84.010) to support high-poverty schools, $31.15 million under the Special Education Grants to States program (CFDA 84.027) for special education and related services to children with disabilities ages 3–21, $90.67 million under the National School Lunch Program (CFDA 10.555) for child nutrition operations, $7.04 million under the Migrant Education State Grant Program (CFDA 84.011) for supplemental services to migratory students, $6.85 million under the Twenty-First Century Community Learning Centers program (CFDA 84.287) for afterschool and summer enrichment, and $4.37 million under the English Language Acquisition State Grants program (CFDA 84.365) to support English learners and immigrant students—all awarded by the U.S. Department of Education or the U.S. Department of Agriculture and obligated for fiscal year 2026.

Customer concentration is heavily weighted toward education and child nutrition agencies. The Department of Education Office of Elementary and Secondary Education anchors the portfolio with 256 awards, the Department of Education Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services carries 167 awards, and the Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service holds 130 combined awards (66 and 64 awards under different program lines). These five customer agencies represent 84% of award volume. The Institute of Education Sciences contributes 9 awards valued at $4.8 million combined potential value, reflecting the NAEP coordinator contract and related assessment work. Across all 32 distinct federal agencies represented in the portfolio, combined potential value is stated at $5.8 million, though combined dollars obligated across all awards total $7.37 billion, reflecting the massive scale of pass-through formula grant administration—formula grants obligate substantially larger annual dollar amounts than the conservative "potential value" figure indicates for multi-year awards.

Award activity has remained steady: 31 awards in 2022, 32 in 2023, 39 in 2024, 35 in 2025, and 23 through August 2026. Thirty awards face ultimate completion dates within the next twenty-four months, representing renewal opportunities for federal grant programs that operate on recurring annual or biennial cycles (Title I, special education, child nutrition, and English language acquisition grants all renew annually in July).

The Nebraska Department of Education operates as a direct sub-recipient under grants from the Department of Health and Human Services and the Board of Regents of the University of Nebraska. Named sub-award relationships include environmental modification assessments coordinated with the Department of Health and Human Services for Medicaid home and vehicle modifications, early childhood education needs assessment work with the Health and Human Services Department, school kitchen modernization and farm-to-school initiatives through Health and Human Services partnerships, and youth suicide prevention training delivered through the Board of Regents. These sub-recipient roles are ancillary; the entity's primary federal function is as prime recipient and pass-through administrator of education and child nutrition formula grants distributed to over 80 local educational agencies, educational service units, school districts, child care institutions, and nonprofit organizations across Nebraska.