Title I-A (Title I) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), provides federal aid to local educational agencies (LEAs), or school districts, for the education of students from low-income families. Title I grants are intended to supplement state and local funding in schools with high concentrations of pupils from low-income families. The primary goal of Title I is to enable students who attend high-poverty schools to meet state achievement standards. Title I’s formulas have been used as the basis for distributing other federal funds.
Title I of ESEA was enacted in 1965 as a cornerstone of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s “War on Poverty” and elevated equitable access to a high-quality education as a major defense against poverty. Congress recognized that children from low-income families had greater educational needs and that school districts serving students living in poverty—especially large concentrations of these students—often lacked the resources to fully meet those needs. Title I Is the largest federal investment in elementary and secondary education. For Fiscal Year 2023 (FY23) that amounts to $18.39 billion in grants to states and school districts.
Nearly all (95%) of school districts in the country are eligible for at least one of the four Title I grant programs, and more than 70% of Title I funds are distributed to school districts with a poverty rate below 30%. Likewise, nearly two-thirds of public schools receive Title I funding, including many schools with relatively low percentages of students from low-income families.
High-poverty elementary and middle schools are also more likely to receive Title I funds; nearly all elementary and middle schools with 90% or more children from low-income families receive Title I funds, compared with just 76.6% of similar high schools.
School district eligibility for Title I funding is determined based on the number and percentage of “formula children” living within the district. “Formula children” typically are children, ages 5-17, living in households with income below the federal poverty line, though some additional groups of children are also included in the definition.
| Basic Grant | Concentration Grant | Targeted Grant | Education Finance Incentive Grant (EFIG) | |
| School District Eligibility Requirements | At least 10 formula children and at least 2% formula children | More than 6,500 formula children or at least 15% formula children | At least 10 formula children and at least 5% formula children | At least 10 formula children and at least 5% formula children |
Title I supports the education of more than 26 million children, or nearly 36% of students, in the country. Children from low-income families are the primary beneficiaries of Title I funds. Districts with high percentages of poverty typically receive more Title I funding per formula child than districts with lower poverty rates. In addition, because districts with higher percentages of children from low-income families also tend to have higher percentages of students of color, Title I funds disproportionately benefit students who are American Indian or Alaska Native, Black, and Latinx.
| American Indian or Alaska Native | 326,360 | 1.25% |
| Asian | 1,068,463 | 4.09%. |
| Black | 5,336,581 | 20.87% |
| Latinx | 9,712,648 | 37.22% |
| Two or More Races | 970,012 | 3.72% |
| White | 8,573,857 | 32.85% |
| 26,097,921 | 100.00% |
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