United States Secretary of Education

"Secretary of education" redirects here. For other uses, see Secretary of Education.

The United States secretary of education is the head of the United States Department of Education. The secretary serves as the principal advisor to the president of the United States, and the federal government, on policies, programs, and activities related to all education in the United States. As a member of the Cabinet of the United States, the secretary is sixteenth in the line of succession to the presidency.^[2] Prior to its creation as an Executive Department, there was a non-Cabinet level position called the United States commissioner of education who led the United States Office of Education.

United States Secretary of Education
Seal of the Department of Education
Flag of the secretary
Incumbent Linda McMahon since March 3, 2025
Department of Education
Style	Madam Secretary (informal) The Honorable (formal)
Member of	Cabinet of the United States
Reports to	President of the United States
Seat	Lyndon Baines Johnson Department of Education Building Washington, D.C.
Appointer	The president with Senate advice and consent
Term length	No fixed term
Constituting instrument	20 U.S.C. § 3411
Formation	November 30, 1979; 45 years ago (1979-11-30)
First holder	Shirley Hufstedler
Succession	Sixteenth[1]
Deputy	Deputy Secretary
Salary	Executive Schedule, Level I
Website	ed.gov

The current secretary of education is Linda McMahon, serving in this role under President Donald Trump.^[3]

Function

The United States secretary of education is a member of the president's Cabinet and is the sixteenth in the United States presidential line of succession.^[4] This secretary deals with federal influence over education policy, and heads the United States Department of Education.^[5]

The secretary is advised by the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity, an advisory committee, on "matters related to accreditation and to the eligibility and certification process for institutions of higher education."^[6]

List of secretaries

Prior to the creation of the Department of Education in 1979, Education was a division of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare.

Parties

  Democrat   Republican

Status

  Denotes an acting secretary

Health, education, and welfare

No.	Portrait	Name	State of residence	Took office	Left office	President(s)
1		Oveta Culp Hobby	Texas	April 11, 1953	July 31, 1955		Dwight D. Eisenhower (1953–1961)
2		Marion B. Folsom	New York	August 2, 1955	July 31, 1958
3		Arthur Flemming	Ohio	August 1, 1958	January 19, 1961
4		Abraham A. Ribicoff	Connecticut	January 21, 1961	July 13, 1962		John F. Kennedy (1961–1963)
5		Anthony J. Celebrezze	Ohio	July 31, 1962	August 17, 1965
						Lyndon B. Johnson (1963–1969)
6			John W. Gardner	California	August 18, 1965		March 1, 1968
7			Wilbur J. Cohen	Michigan	May 16, 1968		January 20, 1969
8		Robert Finch	California	January 21, 1969	June 23, 1970		Richard Nixon (1969–1974)
9		Elliot L. Richardson	Massachusetts	June 24, 1970	January 29, 1973
10		Caspar Weinberger	California	February 12, 1973	August 8, 1975
							Gerald Ford (1974–1977)
11		F. David Mathews	Alabama	August 8, 1975	January 20, 1977
12		Joseph A. Califano Jr.	District of Columbia	January 25, 1977	August 3, 1979		Jimmy Carter (1977–1981)
13		Patricia Roberts Harris		August 3, 1979	May 4, 1980[7]

Education

Source^[8]

No.	Portrait	Name	State of residence	Took office	Left office	President
1		Shirley Hufstedler	California	November 30, 1979	January 20, 1981		Jimmy Carter (1977–1981)
2		Terrel Bell	Utah	January 22, 1981	January 20, 1985		Ronald Reagan (1981–1989)
		William Bennett	North Carolina	February 6, 1985	September 20, 1988
3
4		Lauro Cavazos	Texas	September 20, 1988	December 12, 1990
							George H. W. Bush (1989–1993)
–		Ted Sanders Acting	Illinois	December 12, 1990	March 22, 1991
5		Lamar Alexander	Tennessee	March 22, 1991	January 20, 1993
6		Richard Riley	South Carolina	January 21, 1993	January 20, 2001		Bill Clinton (1993–2001)
7		Rod Paige	Texas	January 20, 2001	January 20, 2005		George W. Bush (2001–2009)
8		Margaret Spellings		January 20, 2005	January 20, 2009
9		Arne Duncan[9]	Illinois	January 21, 2009	January 1, 2016		Barack Obama (2009–2017)
10		John King Jr.[9]	New York	January 1, 2016	March 14, 2016
				March 14, 2016	January 20, 2017
–		Phil Rosenfelt Acting	Virginia	January 20, 2017	February 7, 2017		Donald Trump (2017–2021)
11		Betsy DeVos	Michigan	February 7, 2017	January 8, 2021
–		Mick Zais Acting	South Carolina	January 8, 2021	January 20, 2021
–		Phil Rosenfelt Acting	Virginia	January 20, 2021	March 2, 2021		Joe Biden (2021–2025)
12		Miguel Cardona	Connecticut	March 2, 2021	January 20, 2025
–		Denise L. Carter Acting		January 20, 2025	March 3, 2025		Donald Trump (2025–present)
13		Linda McMahon	Connecticut	March 3, 2025	present

See also

• United States portal
• Education portal

• Education in the United States
• Special education in the United States