General Resources

Cato Institute. Cato’s website provides extensive research on educational reforms such as school choice.

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance. The CFDA website has an official listing and description of all federal subsidy programs, including Department of Education programs.

Congressional Research Service. The CRS issues briefing papers on current education issues. CRS studies are available here.

EdChoice is a nonprofit group founded by Milton and Rose Friedman devoted to expanding school choice. 

Government Accountability Office. The GAO produces reports on the operations of the department’s programs. You can search for GAO studies here.

U.S. Department of Education. The department’s website provides information on its agencies and programs.

U.S. Department of Education. The Office of Inspector General investigates waste, fraud, and abuse in department programs.

U.S. Department of Education. The department’s annual Digest of Education Statistics provides a wealth of data.

Primary and Secondary Schools

Andrew J. Coulson, “K-12 Education,” Cato Handbook for Policymakers, 7th ed. (Washington: Cato Institute, 2009). 

Andrew J. Coulson, “Markets vs. Monopolies in Education,” Cato Institute Policy Analysis no. 620, September 10, 2008.

Robert C. Enlow and Lenore T. Ely, eds., Liberty and Learning: Milton Friedman’s Voucher Idea at 50 (Washington: Cato Institute, 2006).

Neal McCluskey, Feds in the Classroom (Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 2007).

Neal McCluskey and Andrew J. Coulson, “End It, Don’t Mend It: What to Do with No Child Left Behind,” Cato Institute Policy Analysis no. 599, September 5, 2007.

Herbert J. Walberg, School Choice: The Findings (Washington: Cato Institute, 2007).

Wayne J. Urban and Jennings L. Wagoner Jr., American Education: A History, 3rd ed. (Boston: McGraw-Hill, 2004).

National Commission on Excellence in Education, “A Nation at Risk,” April 1983.

Diane Ravitch, Left Back: A Century of Battles over School Reform (New York: Touchstone, 2000).

Higher Education and Student Financial Aid

Neal McCluskey, “Higher Education Policy,” Cato Handbook for Policymakers, 7th ed. (Washington: Cato Institute, 2009). 

Richard Vedder, Going Broke by Degree: Why College Costs Too Much (Washington: American Enterprise Institute, 2004).

Gary Wolfram, “Making College More Expensive,” Cato Institute Policy Analysis no. 531, January 25, 2005.