The Under Secretary of Education is the third-highest-ranking official in the United States Department of Education. The Under Secretary oversees policies, programs, and activities related to postsecondary education, vocational and adult education, and federal student aid.
The Office of the Under Secretary (OUS) is responsible for helping to implement the Secretary’s Action Plan for Higher Education, which calls for expanding the accessibility, affordability, and accountability of higher education for more Americans.
The Under Secretary of Education is appointed by the President of the United States, with the approval of the United States Senate, to serve at the President's pleasure. The current Under Secretary is Dr. Martha Kanter, who was appointed by President Barack Obama in 2009.
Famous quotes containing the words secretary and/or education:
“... the wife of an executive would be a better wife had she been a secretary first. As a secretary, you learn to adjust to the boss’s moods. Many marriages would be happier if the wife would do that.”
—Anne Bogan, U.S. executive secretary. As quoted in Working, book 1, by Studs Terkel (1973)
“The legislator should direct his attention above all to the education of youth; for the neglect of education does harm to the constitution. The citizen should be molded to suit the form of government under which he lives. For each government has a peculiar character which originally formed and which continues to preserve it. The character of democracy creates democracy, and the character of oligarchy creates oligarchy.”
—Aristotle (384–323 B.C.)