Title 20EducationRelease 119-73

§2321 Reservations and State allotment

Title 20 › Chapter CHAPTER 44— - CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER I— - CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION ASSISTANCE TO THE STATES › Part Part A— - Allotment and Allocation › § 2321

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

The Secretary must first set aside 0.13 percent of the yearly money for one program and 1.50 percent for another program (of that 1.50 percent, 1.25 percent goes to subsection (b) work and 0.25 percent goes to subsection (h) work). After those reserves, each State gets the same dollar amount it got in fiscal year 2018 from what remains. If there is not enough money to pay those 2018 amounts, every State’s payment is cut proportionally. Any extra money left after those steps is split among States by age group: 50 percent based on ages 15–19, 20 percent based on ages 20–24, 15 percent based on ages 25–65, and the last 15 percent in the same proportion as the first three amounts. Each of those shares is weighted by a State “allotment ratio” so poorer States get relatively more. No State can get less than 0.5 percent of those extra funds; money to raise small payments comes by reducing others proportionally. For a “qualifying State” that would get under 0.5 percent, the minimum is the lesser of 0.5 percent or a calculated amount using one-third of the extra funds and a special ratio formula based on how much that State would have received. If a State will not use its allotment in a year, the Secretary may reassign that money to other States on dates and by rules the Department sets. Reallotted funds must be used for the same purpose, remain available into the next year when obligated, and count as part of the State’s allotment when spent. The allotment ratio equals 1.00 minus 0.50 times the State per capita income divided by U.S. per capita income, but it cannot be above 0.60 or below 0.40; Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands have a 0.60 ratio. The Secretary publishes these ratios each year between October 1 and December 31 using a 3-year average of per capita income and the latest population estimates. “State” here means the 50 States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Full Legal Text

Title 20, §2321

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(a)(1)From the amount appropriated under section 2307 of this title for each fiscal year, the Secretary shall reserve—
(A)0.13 percent to carry out section 2325 of this title; and
(B)1.50 percent to carry out section 2326 of this title, of which—
(i)1.25 percent of the sum shall be available to carry out section 2326(b) of this title; and
(ii)0.25 percent of the sum shall be available to carry out section 2326(h) of this title.
(2)(A)From the remainder of the amount appropriated under section 2307 of this title and not reserved under paragraph (1) for a fiscal year, the Secretary shall allot to a State for the fiscal year an amount equal to the amount the State received in fiscal year 2018.
(B)If for any fiscal year the amount appropriated for allotments under this section is insufficient to satisfy the provisions of subparagraph (A), the payments to all States under such subparagraph shall be ratably reduced.
(3)Subject to paragraph (4), from the additional funds remaining from the amount appropriated under section 2307 of this title and not expended under paragraphs (1) and (2) for a fiscal year, the Secretary shall allot to a State for the fiscal year—
(A)an amount that bears the same ratio to 50 percent of the sum being allotted as the product of the population aged 15 to 19, inclusive, in the State in the fiscal year preceding the fiscal year for which the determination is made and the State’s allotment ratio bears to the sum of the corresponding products for all the States;
(B)an amount that bears the same ratio to 20 percent of the sum being allotted as the product of the population aged 20 to 24, inclusive, in the State in the fiscal year preceding the fiscal year for which the determination is made and the State’s allotment ratio bears to the sum of the corresponding products for all the States;
(C)an amount that bears the same ratio to 15 percent of the sum being allotted as the product of the population aged 25 to 65, inclusive, in the State in the fiscal year preceding the fiscal year for which the determination is made and the State’s allotment ratio bears to the sum of the corresponding products for all the States; and
(D)an amount that bears the same ratio to 15 percent of the sum being allotted as the amounts allotted to the State under subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C) for such years bears to the sum of the amounts allotted to all the States under subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C) for such year.
(4)(A)Subject to subparagraph (B), for a fiscal year for which there are additional funds described in paragraph (3), no State shall receive for such fiscal year under paragraph (3) less than 1/2 of 1 percent of the additional funds available for such fiscal year. Amounts necessary for increasing such payments to States to comply with the preceding sentence shall be obtained by ratably reducing the amounts to be paid to other States.
(B)In the case of a qualifying State, the minimum allotment under subparagraph (A) for a fiscal year for the qualifying State shall be the lesser of—
(i)1/2 of 1 percent of the additional funds available for such fiscal year; and
(ii)the product of—
(I)1/3 of the additional funds; multiplied by
(II)the quotient of—
(aa)the qualifying State’s ratio described in subparagraph (C) for the fiscal year for which the determination is made; divided by
(bb)the sum of all such ratios for all qualifying States for the fiscal year for which the determination is made.
(C)For purposes of subparagraph (B)(ii)(II)(aa), the ratio for a qualifying State for a fiscal year shall be 1.00 less the quotient of—
(i)the amount the qualifying State is allotted under paragraph (3) for the fiscal year; divided by
(ii)1/2 of 1 percent of the amount appropriated under paragraph (3) for the fiscal year for which the determination is made.
(D)In this paragraph, the term “qualifying State” means a State (except the United States Virgin Islands) that, for the fiscal year for which a determination under this paragraph is made, would receive, under the allotment formula under paragraph (3) (without the application of this paragraph), an amount that would be less than the amount the State would receive under subparagraph (A) for such fiscal year.
(b)If the Secretary determines that any amount of any State’s allotment under subsection (a) for any fiscal year will not be required for such fiscal year for carrying out the activities for which such amount has been allotted, the Secretary shall make such amount available for reallotment. Any such reallotment among other States shall occur on such dates during the same year as the Secretary shall fix, and shall be made on the basis of criteria established by regulation. No funds may be reallotted for any use other than the use for which the funds were appropriated. Any amount reallotted to a State under this subsection for any fiscal year shall remain available for obligation during the succeeding fiscal year and shall be deemed to be part of the State’s allotment for the year in which the amount is obligated.
(c)(1)The allotment ratio for any State shall be 1.00 less the product of—
(A)0.50; and
(B)the quotient obtained by dividing the per capita income for the State by the per capita income for all the States (exclusive of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Islands), except that—
(i)the allotment ratio in no case shall be more than 0.60 or less than 0.40; and
(ii)the allotment ratio for the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Islands shall be 0.60.
(2)The allotment ratios shall be promulgated by the Secretary for each fiscal year between October 1 and December 31 of the fiscal year preceding the fiscal year for which the determination is made. Allotment ratios shall be computed on the basis of the average of the appropriate per capita incomes for the 3 most recent consecutive fiscal years for which satisfactory data are available.
(3)For the purpose of this section, the term “per capita income” means, with respect to a fiscal year, the total personal income in the calendar year ending in such year, divided by the population of the area concerned in such year.
(4)For the purposes of this section, population shall be determined by the Secretary on the basis of the latest estimates available to the Department of Education.
(d)For the purpose of this section, the term “State” means each of the several States of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the United States Virgin Islands.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Prior Provisions

A prior section 2321, Pub. L. 88–210, title I, § 111, as added Pub. L. 105–332, § 1(b), Oct. 31, 1998, 112 Stat. 3083; amended Pub. L. 106–246, div. B, title II, § 2403(b), July 13, 2000, 114 Stat. 555, related to reservations and State allotment, prior to the general amendment of this chapter by Pub. L. 109–270. Another prior section 2321, Pub. L. 88–210, title I, § 111, as added Pub. L. 98–524, § 1, Oct. 19, 1984, 98 Stat. 2441; amended Pub. L. 101–392, title I, § 111, Sept. 25, 1990, 104 Stat. 763; Pub. L. 103–382, title III, § 391(s)(1), Oct. 20, 1994, 108 Stat. 4024, related to State administration, prior to the general amendment of this chapter by Pub. L. 105–332.

Amendments

2018—Pub. L. 115–224 amended section generally. Prior to amendment, section related to reservations and State allotment, reallotment, and allotment ratios.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

of 2018 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 115–224 effective July 1, 2019, see section 4 of Pub. L. 115–224, set out as a note under section 2301 of this title.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

20 U.S.C. § 2321

Title 20Education

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73