The Department of Education’s recent contract activity is concentrated in student aid servicing, credit intermediation, IT services, and education-focused research and consulting. Annual obligations remained above 2.15 billion in each year from 2021 through 2025, with the highest total in 2023 at 2.69 billion.
Federal Agency
EDUCATION, DEPARTMENT OF Federal Contract Obligations (Last 5 Years)
FPDS procurement data for the Department of Education (Agency ID 9100) shows 12.40 billion in obligated awards across 11,784 actions over the last 5 years.
Totals reflect obligated amounts in the selected 5-year analysis window and may include vendor name variations such as separate entries for NELNET SERVICING, LLC and NELNET SERVICING LLC.
Agency ID
9100
Total Obligated
12.40 billion
12,404,610,322.32
Award Actions
11,784
Average Action Value
1,052,665.50
About EDUCATION, DEPARTMENT OF federal contract activity
The Department of Education recorded $12.40 billion in obligated contract spending across 11,784 awards over the last 5 years, with an average award value of $1.05 million. The obligation profile indicates a large-volume procurement base concentrated in a relatively small number of high-value service categories rather than a broad mix of discrete purchase types.
Vendor concentration and leading contractors
Vendor obligations are led by ACCENTURE FEDERAL SERVICES LLC at $1.42 billion across 338 awards, followed by MISSOURI HIGHER EDUCATION LOAN AUTHORITY at $1.01 billion across 229 awards. MAXIMUS EDUCATION, LLC, NELNET SERVICING, LLC, and NELNET SERVICING LLC also rank among the top recipients, reinforcing the agency’s reliance on a narrow set of major service providers, particularly in education servicing and administrative support.
Industry profile based on NAICS activity
The largest NAICS category is 522390, Other Activities Related to Credit Intermediation, at $5.80 billion and 1,583 awards, making it the dominant spending area by a wide margin. The next largest categories are computer systems design services, social science and humanities research and development, administrative management consulting, and other computer-related services, showing a procurement mix centered on loan-related operations, IT services, and program support.
Annual contract trend over the analysis window
Annual obligations remained above $2.15 billion in each year of the window, peaking at $2.69 billion in 2023 before declining to $2.15 billion in 2025. Award counts were highest in 2021 at 2,672 and generally trended downward afterward, while obligations moved within a relatively tight band, indicating stable overall spend with modest year-to-year variation.
How to interpret this page
This summary uses FPDS Query contract obligation data for the Department of Education, Agency ID 9100, over the last 5 years. Metrics reflect total obligated dollars, award counts, vendor obligations, NAICS concentrations, and annual totals as reported in the provided analysis window; no additional sources or estimates were used.
Top Vendors
SELECT
vendor_name,
total_obligated,
award_count,
formatReadableQuantity(total_obligated) AS total_obligated_readable
FROM
(
SELECT
content__award__vendor__vendorHeader__vendorName AS vendor_name,
sum(content__award__dollarValues__obligatedAmount) AS total_obligated,
count() AS award_count
FROM fpds.data
WHERE
contract_type = 1
AND content__award__purchaserInformation__contractingOfficeAgencyID = '9100'
AND content__award__vendor__vendorHeader__vendorName IS NOT NULL
AND content__award__vendor__vendorHeader__vendorName != ''
AND parseDateTimeBestEffortOrNull(content__award__relevantContractDates__signedDate) >= toStartOfYear(now()) - INTERVAL 5 YEAR
AND parseDateTimeBestEffortOrNull(content__award__relevantContractDates__signedDate) < toStartOfYear(now())
GROUP BY vendor_name
)
ORDER BY total_obligated DESC
LIMIT 10| Vendor | Total Obligated | Readable | Award Actions |
|---|---|---|---|
| ACCENTURE FEDERAL SERVICES LLC | 1,423,036,528.51 | 1.42 billion | 338 |
| MISSOURI HIGHER EDUCATION LOAN AUTHORITY | 1,013,441,551.62 | 1.01 billion | 229 |
| MAXIMUS EDUCATION, LLC | 980,192,089.22 | 980.19 million | 226 |
| NELNET SERVICING, LLC | 914,272,490.17 | 914.27 million | 285 |
| NELNET SERVICING LLC | 613,373,210.65 | 613.37 million | 104 |
| MAXIMUS FEDERAL SERVICES, INC. | 610,121,921.69 | 610.12 million | 194 |
| GREAT LAKES EDUCATIONAL LOAN SERVICES, INC. | 415,397,452.57 | 415.40 million | 164 |
| WESTAT, INC. | 405,993,131.04 | 405.99 million | 170 |
| EDUCATIONAL TESTING SERVICE | 331,381,962.67 | 331.38 million | 109 |
| EDFINANCIAL SERVICES, LLC | 315,303,597.52 | 315.30 million | 116 |
Insight
Over the last 5 years, the Department of Education obligated $12.40 billion across 11,784 awards, with the top 10 vendors accounting for a substantial share of spending. Accenture Federal Services LLC is the largest recipient at $1.42 billion across 338 awards, followed by Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority at $1.01 billion and Maximus Education, LLC at $980.19 million. Obligations are concentrated among student loan servicing, education support, and related administrative contractors, and several vendors appear in closely named variants, indicating spend distributed across multiple entity records rather than a single consolidated vendor line.
Top NAICS
SELECT
naics_code,
naics_name,
total_obligated,
award_count,
formatReadableQuantity(total_obligated) AS total_obligated_readable
FROM
(
SELECT
content__award__productOrServiceInformation__principalNAICSCode AS naics_code,
anyHeavy(content__award__productOrServiceInformation__principalNAICSCode__description) AS naics_name,
sum(content__award__dollarValues__obligatedAmount) AS total_obligated,
count() AS award_count
FROM fpds.data
WHERE
contract_type = 1
AND content__award__purchaserInformation__contractingOfficeAgencyID = '9100'
AND content__award__productOrServiceInformation__principalNAICSCode IS NOT NULL
AND content__award__productOrServiceInformation__principalNAICSCode != ''
AND parseDateTimeBestEffortOrNull(content__award__relevantContractDates__signedDate) >= toStartOfYear(now()) - INTERVAL 5 YEAR
AND parseDateTimeBestEffortOrNull(content__award__relevantContractDates__signedDate) < toStartOfYear(now())
GROUP BY naics_code
)
ORDER BY total_obligated DESC
LIMIT 10| NAICS Code | Description | Total Obligated | Readable | Award Actions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 522390 | OTHER ACTIVITIES RELATED TO CREDIT INTERMEDIATION | 5,797,587,615.80 | 5.80 billion | 1,583 |
| 541512 | COMPUTER SYSTEMS DESIGN SERVICES | 1,846,038,009.62 | 1.85 billion | 993 |
| 541720 | RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES | 1,131,678,834.17 | 1.13 billion | 1,445 |
| 541611 | ADMINISTRATIVE MANAGEMENT AND GENERAL MANAGEMENT CONSULTING SERVICES | 707,760,832.70 | 707.76 million | 1,699 |
| 541519 | OTHER COMPUTER RELATED SERVICES | 699,015,713.01 | 699.02 million | 1,439 |
| 541511 | CUSTOM COMPUTER PROGRAMMING SERVICES | 484,259,873.34 | 484.26 million | 647 |
| 522110 | COMMERCIAL BANKING | 406,316,166.78 | 406.32 million | 222 |
| 522320 | FINANCIAL TRANSACTIONS PROCESSING, RESERVE, AND CLEARINGHOUSE ACTIVITIES | 383,296,532.85 | 383.30 million | 233 |
| 611710 | EDUCATIONAL SUPPORT SERVICES | 209,394,974.65 | 209.39 million | 789 |
| 561440 | COLLECTION AGENCIES | 170,088,938.04 | 170.09 million | 92 |
Insight
Over the last 5 years, the Department of Education obligated $12.40 billion across 11,784 awards, with NAICS 522390, Other Activities Related to Credit Intermediation, dominating obligations at $5.80 billion across 1,583 awards, or about 47% of total spend. The next largest NAICS codes are 541512 and 541720, which together add another $2.98 billion, indicating that obligations are concentrated in a small number of finance, IT, and research-related categories. Award volume is more dispersed than dollars, with several high-frequency NAICS codes such as 541611, 541519, and 611710 accounting for meaningful counts but substantially smaller dollar shares.
Annual Trend
SELECT
year,
total_obligated,
award_count,
formatReadableQuantity(total_obligated) AS total_obligated_readable
FROM
(
SELECT
toYear(parseDateTimeBestEffortOrNull(content__award__relevantContractDates__signedDate)) AS year,
sum(content__award__dollarValues__obligatedAmount) AS total_obligated,
count() AS award_count
FROM fpds.data
WHERE
contract_type = 1
AND content__award__purchaserInformation__contractingOfficeAgencyID = '9100'
AND parseDateTimeBestEffortOrNull(content__award__relevantContractDates__signedDate) >= toStartOfYear(now()) - INTERVAL 5 YEAR
AND parseDateTimeBestEffortOrNull(content__award__relevantContractDates__signedDate) < toStartOfYear(now())
GROUP BY year
)
ORDER BY year DESC| Year | Total Obligated | Readable | Award Actions |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 2,151,124,208.19 | 2.15 billion | 2,265 |
| 2024 | 2,611,421,151.58 | 2.61 billion | 2,205 |
| 2023 | 2,686,954,587.51 | 2.69 billion | 2,253 |
| 2022 | 2,406,085,705.86 | 2.41 billion | 2,389 |
| 2021 | 2,549,024,669.18 | 2.55 billion | 2,672 |
Insight
Over the last 5 years, the Department of Education obligated $12.40 billion across 11,784 awards, with an average award value of $1.05 million. Annual obligations were relatively stable, ranging from $2.15 billion to $2.69 billion, with the high point in 2023 and the low point in 2025. Award volume was highest in 2021 at 2,672 and generally declined to 2,265 in 2025, indicating slightly lower award counts despite continued multi-billion-dollar annual obligations.
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