Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)

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​​​Advisory: The FOIA Service Center remains functioning, but mailed and faxed FOIA requests will experience a longer processing time during the pandemic. Please submit all FOIA/Privacy Act requests through our online FOIA portal at: https://foiaxpress.pal.ed.gov/.

About FOIA

More Resources
Annual FOIA Report - FY2020
PDF (1.4MB) | XML (835KB)|
XLSX (raw data) (505KB)
Chief FOIA Officer Report
PDF (654KB)
Attorney General Holder's FOIA Memo PDF (1.187K)
Guide to Requesting ED Records (PDF) (232K)

The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. § 552, was enacted in 1966 and generally provides that:

The federal FOIA does not provide access to records held by state or local government agencies, or by private businesses or individuals. Most states, and some local jurisdictions have their own laws about access to state and local records. State Education agencies should be contacted for further information about these statutes.

Making Requests

Consult the Making a Request link if you plan to make a FOIA request to the U.S. Department of Education. You may be able to access the information you need on the Internet without making a FOIA request. Before making a FOIA request, you should browse our FOIA Library and search the ED.gov website. Both contain many documents that are available to the public.



   
Last Modified: 05/05/2021