Welcome to OPE

Thank you for visiting the Office of Postsecondary Education (OPE) Web site. We want to provide you with useful and timely information about OPE grants, grant opportunities, and the role OPE plays in the accreditation process and development of higher education policy and regulations.

Office Responsibilities

OPE works to strengthen the capacity of colleges and universities to promote reform, innovation and improvement in postsecondary education, promote and expand access to postsecondary education and increase college completion rates for America’s students, and broaden global competencies that drive the economic success and competitiveness of our Nation.

OPE’s Office of the Assistant Secretary facilitates this work through its two divisions:

• Higher Education Programs (HEP):
• Institutional Service: Administers grant programs designed to improve academic quality, institutional management and fiscal stability, and strengthen physical plants and endowments of institutions of higher education, with an emphasis on institutions that enroll large proportions of minority and financially disadvantaged students.
• Student Service: Administers grant programs supporting low-income, first-generation students and individuals with disabilities as they progress through the academic pipeline from middle school to graduate school, in addition to programs focused on college readiness, campus-based child care and graduate fellowships.
• Office of Policy, Planning and Innovation (PPI): Develops Federal postsecondary education policy and regulations including policy which supports the Federal student financial assistance programs and programs authorized by the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (HEA) and administers the review process for accreditation agencies to ensure that the education provided by the institutions of higher education meets acceptable levels of quality.