U.S. Department of Education Funding Opportunities

The U.S. Department of Education is charged with promoting educational excellence throughout the nation. Federal law recognizes the arts as a core subject of learning. As local partners in music education, orchestras should be aware of the direct and indirect funding opportunities available from the U.S. Department of Education. The agency has created an Assistance for Arts Education Center website, which provides news and information about arts in education, including relevant resources in the form of events and publications, as well as related Arts in Education grant program information and stories on successful or innovative grantee practices. 

In FY 2022, the U.S. Department of Education awarded $8 million in a new grant for the Assistance for Arts Education (AAE) grant program to the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts. On September 30, the Department announced FY21 AAE awards totaling $17 million to 27 grants to national nonprofit organizations, local school districts, colleges and universities, and other arts organizations “to enrich the academic experience of and promote arts education for students, including disadvantaged students and students who are children with disabilities.”