FY2017 State Grants Under Title I-A of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA)

Summary

The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA; P.L. 114-95), is the primary source of federal aid to K-12 education. The Title I-A program is the largest grant program authorized under the ESEA and is funded at $15.5 billion for FY2017. It is designed to provide supplementary educational and related services to low-achieving and other students attending elementary and secondary schools with relatively high concentrations of students from low-income families.

Under current law, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) determines Title I-A grants to local educational agencies (LEAs) based on four separate funding formulas: Basic Grants, Concentration Grants, Targeted Grants, and Education Finance Incentive Grants (EFIG). The four Title I-A formulas have somewhat distinct allocation patterns, providing varying shares of allocated funds to different types of states. Thus, for some states, certain formulas are more favorable than others.

This report provides estimated FY2017 state grant amounts under each of the four formulas used to determine Title I-A grants. Overall, California is estimated to receive the largest FY2017 Title I-A grant amount ($1.8 billion, or 11.98% of total Title I-A grants). Vermont is estimated to receive the smallest FY2017 Title I-A grant amount ($35.3 million, or 0.23% of total Title I-A grants). As final data needed to determine actual Title I-A grants for FY2017 are not yet available, all of the estimates included in this report are subject to change before ED makes final Title I-A grant allocations on October 1, 2017.