OLCA leads the planning, developing, and implementing of the Department’s legislative goals and strategies.
OLCA serves as the liaison between ED and Congress, coordinating all Department matters relevant to Congress.
OLCA's organizational structure consists of political leadership who work to effectively communicate the Administration's position on education issues, career staff for policy that advise on legislation, and Congressional affairs staff that aid in resolving constituent concerns.
More specifically, OLCA:
The Office of Legislation and Congressional Affairs serves as the liaison between the U.S. Department of Education and Congressional offices. Please contact this office with any questions, and we will be pleased to respond or connect you with the appropriate office.
Office of Legislation & Congressional Affairs
U.S. Department of Education
400 Maryland Avenue, SW
400 Maryland Avenue, SW-3100
Phone: (202) 992-4903
Fax: (202) 992-4903
Email: OLCAInquiries@usdept.org
Business Hours: 9:00am—5:30pm EST, Monday through Friday
Mary Christina Riley – Assistant Secretary for OLCA
Sarah Ursprung – Principal Assistant Secretary
Brandy Brown – Deputy Assistant Secretary, K-12
Pamela Davidson – Deputy Assistant Secretary, Higher Education
Robert Rische – Deputy Assistant Secretary, Oversight
Molly Petersen – Principal Advisor, Legislative Affairs
James Forester – K-12, FERPA, IES
Nicholas Stone – Special Assistant, K-12
Kim Zarish-Becknell – P-12, OSERS
Isaac Hampton – Special Assistant, Higher Education
Ian Smolka – Higher Education
Jessica Cady – Constituent Casework
Waquesha Canty – Constituent Casework and Grants
Tiffany Lowder – Constituent Casework
Vera Richards – Constituent Casework, Team Lead
Takea Vickers – Constituent Casework, OCR
Madilynn Bulot – Special Assistant, Oversight
Sara Connelly – Correspondence
OLCA is available to assist Congressional offices with constituent casework inquiries related to Federal Student Aid Civil Rights Complaints and Grant inquires. Please send all casework, questions, and other requests to OLCAInquiries@usdept.org
OLCA works with FSA to provide responses to Congressional FSA casework inquiries. The typical time frame for response is 6 weeks. The Department also provides information on a number of frequently asked questions. It may be helpful to reference this website prior to forwarding inquiries to ED as a number of FSA casework inquiries can be answered by information already available on our website. We recommend that Congressional staff view www.studentaid.gov for information. The website includes information on loan forgiveness and cancellation, total and permanent disability, loan servicers, and FAFSA, among other things.
If however, this website does not answer your specific question, OLCA will need the following information from Congressional offices:
The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) is responsible for serving student populations facing discrimination and the advocates and institutions promoting systemic solutions to civil rights problems. The Office for Civil Rights enforces several Federal civil rights laws that prohibit discrimination in programs or activities that receive federal financial assistance from the Department of Education. For more information about the statutes they enforce visit OCR's Overview of the Agency.
An important responsibility of OCR is resolving complaints of discrimination. A number of OCR casework inquiries can be answered by information already available on OCR's website. We recommend that Congressional staff view OCR's Complaint Process for more information.
If however, this website does not answer your specific question, OLCA will need the following information from Congressional offices:
OLCA works with Congressional offices on grants casework inquiries. This would include information about grant opportunities and meeting requests. For more specific information regarding grants and the Congressional notification process please see our "Grants" link above for more information.
Congress sends hundreds of letters to ED annually regarding policy or oversight matters, such as regulations, Administration policies, ED operations, budget or spending, or other topics. Such letters are frequently signed by multiple Members of Congress. The best way to send a letter to ED, is to email a member of OLCA staff--please see our "Contact Information for OLCA" link above for that listing. If you do not have a direct contact, you may email the OLCA Inbox at OLCAInquiries@usdept.org. If you send the letter by U.S. mail, there may be a delay in the letter reaching OLCA, which will affect processing time. Do not send the letter directly to ED program offices or other non-OLCA staff otherwise you will likely experience processing delays.
Please attach your signed letter, in PDF format, to your email.
At times, Congressional offices send ED correspondence with official comment to regulatory activity, such as Notices of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRMs) and Notices of Proposed Priorities (NPPs). If your office wishes to send a letter regarding regulations, please submit the letter to regulations.gov by the deadline specified in the NPRM or NPP. To ensure your comments will be considered in the development of the final regulations or final Notice Inviting Applications (NIAs), the Administrative Procedures Act requires that your office submit such letters through the official comment process by posting the letter to regulations.gov. Also, please send a courtesy copy to OLCA for proper handling.
Grant support letters express support for an applicant to an ED grant or other publicly available opportunity. Please email such letters to the OLCA Inbox at OLCAInquiries@usdept.org.
If your office would like to request a meeting with the Secretary, please follow the process outlined in this link here. We kindly ask that you submit your request at least five weeks prior to your event to ensure timely preparation.
There are currently no job postings for OLCA at USAJobs.gov.
OLCA hires interns for the spring, summer, fall and winter. Our office seeks to enlist and engage students with broad and diverse backgrounds to join our team. We are especially interested in students who are pursuing education related or government policy related fields. We have a great, fast-paced office and every day is a learning experience. Our interns do substantive work, learn a tremendous amount about how our government works, and are valued members of our team. We emphasize personal growth and opportunity to experience a wide range of activities. See below for a summary of intern responsibilities.
Perhaps the most important job of an intern at OLCA is attending congressional hearings on education-related issues, which are typically conducted during the traditional business hours of the United States Congress. These hearings are not only a tremendous opportunity for interns to see their government in action, but the summaries interns are tasked with creating as a result of attending the hearings are dispersed throughout the Department, including the Office of the Secretary.
Due to the importance of these responsibilities, as well as the overall benefit for students who are fully immersed in the work of the office, we seek interns who are generally available to work full-time, 3-5 days per week during traditional office hours (9am – 5pm).
While ED cannot provide compensation or housing for the internship program, all interns are eligible for Metro Transit benefits to cover transportation to and from work. Students receiving outside funding (such as a grant) or school credit for the internship are encouraged to apply. We also provide performance reviews for those institutions requiring them.
OLCA’s internship program is intended to be a positive learning experience for the student.
OLCA interns will: