Every year the government establishes programs which provide grants to fund various important projects. The education research program is one such program. The program is headed by the Institute of Education Services or IES. The program went into effect in 2000 providing very large amounts of money for very important research. The grant is called a categorical grant meaning that there a many rules determining how the money is spent. One of the conditions of a categorical grant is that an agency must be in charge of distributing the money, in this case that agency is the IES. This type of grant also dictates that the money must be spent for the purpose it was given.

The education research program provides grant opportunities for research in the field of education. The grant covers all ages of students in school or home schooled. Topics of research include: Academic achievement, the educationally disadvantaged, mathematics, reading, research, sciences and teachers. The research is meant to improve schools and education. It is not only for research however, it also is used to train new teachers and evaluate them.

There are very basic guidelines to who is eligible for grant funds. The grant will provide for individuals, institutions of higher learning, local education agencies and state or other agencies. The applicant must have the ability and capacity to conduct scientifically valid research. The grant money does not necessarily have to go to non-profit research but can be given to profit earning pharmaceutical companies as well.

The total amount of grant money given away by the government to researchers under this program is substantial. In the year 2000, $103,567,000 was provided by the government under this program. The spending has grown and the program provided $165,517,650 for the year of 2004. The money also funds the National Library of Education and the Educational Resources Information Center.