<Tr> <Th> Website </Th> <Td> www.ed.gov </Td> </Tr> <P> The United States Department of Education (ED or DoED), also referred to as the ED for (the) Education Department, is a Cabinet - level department of the United States government . It began operating on May 4, 1980, having been created after the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare was split into the Department of Education and the Department of Health and Human Services by the Department of Education Organization Act (Public Law 96 - 88), which President Jimmy Carter signed into law on October 17, 1979 . </P> <P> The Department of Education is administered by the United States Secretary of Education . It has approximately 4,400 employees and an annual budget of $68 billion (2016). Its official abbreviation is "ED" ("DOE" refers to the United States Department of Energy) and is also often abbreviated informally as "DoEd". </P> <P> The primary functions of the Department of Education are to "establish policy for, administer and coordinate most federal assistance to education, collect data on US schools, and to enforce federal educational laws regarding privacy and civil rights ." The Department of Education does not establish schools or colleges . </P>

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