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Title 20 — EducationRelease 119-73not60

§3473 Reorganization of Department

Title 20 › Chapter 48— DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION › Subchapter IV— ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS › Part B— General Administrative Provisions › § 3473

Last updated Apr 5, 2026|Official source

Summary

The Secretary may move duties among Department officers and create, combine, change, or end internal units, as allowed under section 3412(f). The Secretary cannot change any office or duty that was placed in the Department by law, cannot abolish units created by this chapter, and cannot change required delegations of functions, except as allowed below. The Secretary may consolidate, alter, discontinue, or reassign the functions of certain named statutory entities, including the Office of English Language Acquisition, Teacher Corps, Community College Unit, National Center for Education Statistics, National Institute of Education, Office of Environmental Education, Office of Consumers’ Education, Office of Indian Education, Office of Career Education, Office of Non-Public Education, the bureau for education and training for the handicapped, and the administrative units for guidance and counseling, veterans’ cost of instruction, and gifted and talented programs. Before doing any of this, the Secretary must send a full written notice explaining the proposed action and the facts behind it to the Committee on Labor and Human Resources of the Senate and the Committee on Education and Labor of the House of Representatives, and must wait ninety days after those committees receive the notice.

Full Legal Text

Title 20, §3473

Education — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)The Secretary is authorized, subject to the requirements of section 3412(f) of this title, to allocate or reallocate functions among the officers of the Department, and to establish, consolidate, alter, or discontinue such organizational entities within the Department as may be necessary or appropriate, but the authority of the Secretary under this subsection does not extend to—
(1)any office, bureau, unit, or other entity transferred to the Department and established by statute or any function vested by statute in such an entity or officer of such an entity, except as provided in subsection (b);
(2)the abolition of organizational entities established by this chapter; or
(3)the alteration of the delegation of functions to any specific organizational entity required by this chapter.
(b)(1)The Secretary may, in accordance with paragraph (2) of this subsection, consolidate, alter, or discontinue any of the following statutory entities, or reallocate any functions vested by statute in the following statutory entities:
(A)the Office of English Language Acquisition, Language Enhancement, and Academic Achievement for Limited English Proficient Students;
(B)the Teacher Corps;
(C)the Community College Unit;
(D)the National Center for Education Statistics;
(E)the National Institute of Education;
(F)the Office of Environmental Education;
(G)the Office of Consumers’ Education;
(H)the Office of Indian Education;
(I)the Office of Career Education;
(J)the Office of Non-Public Education;
(K)the bureau for the education and training for the handicapped; and
(L)the administrative units for guidance and counseling programs, the veterans’ cost of instruction program, and the program for the gifted and talented children.
(2)The Secretary may alter, consolidate, or discontinue any organizational entity continued within the Department and described in paragraph (1) of this subsection or reallocate any function vested by statute in such an entity, upon the expiration of a period of ninety days after the receipt by the Committee on Labor and Human Resources of the Senate and the Committee on Education and Labor of the House of Representatives of notice given by the Secretary containing a full and complete statement of the action proposed to be taken pursuant to this subsection and the facts and circumstances relied upon in support of such proposed action.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

2002—Subsec. (b)(1)(A). Pub. L. 107–110 substituted “Office of English Language Acquisition, Language Enhancement, and Academic Achievement for Limited English Proficient Students” for “Office of Bilingual Education”. 1996—Subsec. (b)(1)(H) to (M). Pub. L. 104–208 redesignated subpars. (I) to (M) as (H) to (L), respectively, and struck out former subpar. (H) which authorized Secretary to consolidate, alter, discontinue, or reallocate any functions vested by statute in Office of Libraries and Learning Resources. 1980—Subsec. (b)(1). Pub. L. 96–496 redesignated subpar. (N) as (M) and struck out former subpar. (M), which authorized the Secretary to reallocate the functions or to alter or discontinue the Institute of Museum Services.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Change of Name

Committee on Education and Labor of House of Representatives changed to Committee on Education and the Workforce of House of Representatives by House Resolution No. 5, One Hundred Eighteenth Congress, Jan. 9, 2023. Committee on Labor and Human Resources of Senate changed to Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of Senate by Senate Resolution No. 20, One Hundred Sixth Congress, Jan. 19, 1999.

Effective Date

of 2002 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 107–110 effective Jan. 8, 2002, except with respect to certain noncompetitive programs and competitive programs, see section 5 of Pub. L. 107–110, set out as an

Effective Date

note under section 6301 of this title. National Institute of Education The National Institute of Education was established by section 1221e of this title which as amended generally by Pub. L. 99–498, title XIV, § 1401(a), Oct. 17, 1986, 100 Stat. 1589, provided objectives and duties for the Office of Educational Research and Improvement and established the National Advisory Council on Educational Research and Improvement, and section 1401(b) of Pub. L. 99–498 transferred the property and records of the National Institute of Education to the Office of Educational Research and Improvement. Office of Migrant Education Pub. L. 98–511, title VII, § 701(b), Oct. 19, 1984, 98 Stat. 2405, provided that: “For the purposes of section 413(a) of the Department of Education Organization Act (20 U.S.C. 3473), the Office of Migrant Education shall be considered to be an organizational entity established by such Act [20 U.S.C. 3401 et seq.] and shall not be subject to the reorganizational authority of the Secretary of Education under that section or any other provision of law.”

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

20 U.S.C. § 3473

Title 20 — Education

Last Updated

Apr 5, 2026

Release point: 119-73not60