Sept. 3, 2026
Overview & FAQs of USED’s Proposed Changes to the Education Department General Administrative Regulations (EDGAR)
On 8/24/26, the U.S. Department of Education (USED) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) that proposes several significant changes to the Education Department General Administrative Regulations (EDGAR), which govern USED’s competitive and formula grant programs. The NPRM proposes to revise those regulations in several ways that advance the Administration’s policies and preferences, including greater control over grants and opposition to efforts to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion in education. Public comments on the NPRM can be submitted here through 9/23/26. (USED’s proposal substantively overlaps with, but is procedurally distinct from, the U.S. Office of Management and Budget’s government-wide proposal to overhaul how funding agencies like USED make and manage grants and other forms of federal financial assistance.)
Because these changes could have major implications for federal funding across many USED programs, EducationCounsel has created an EDGAR Overview & FAQ that provides detailed summaries of key provisions and issues in USED’s EDGAR proposal, each of which warrants careful consideration by anyone considering submitting comments before USED finalizes its revisions.
Supplementing the EDGAR Overview & FAQ’s discussion is an Appendix that provides our redlined and annotated version of USED’s proposed revisions to EDGAR’s menu of scoring criteria for competitive grant programs.
Click here to access the document and click here to download a PDF of it.