United States Secretary of Education

Secretary of Education of the United States of America
Seal of the Department of Education
Flag of the Secretary of Education
Incumbent Betsy DeVos since February 7, 2017
United States Department of Education
Style	Mr. Secretary
Member of	Cabinet
Reports to	The President
Seat	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
First holder	Shirley Hufstedler
Succession	Fifteenth in the United States Presidential Line of Succession
Deputy	Deputy Secretary of Education
Salary	Executive Schedule, level 1
Website	www.ed.gov

The United States Secretary of Education is the head of the U.S. Department of Education. The Secretary is a member of the President's Cabinet, and fifteenth in line of United States presidential line of succession. The United States Secretary of Education deals with Education policy.

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."

The current Secretary of Education is Betsy DeVos. She was confirmed by the Senate on February 7, 2017 when Vice President Mike Pence broke a 50-50 tie, the first time a sitting Vice President cast the desiding vote on a Cabinet nominee.

List of Secretaries of Education

Parties

      Democratic       Republican

No.	Portrait	Name	State of Residence	Took Office	Left Office	President(s)
1		Shirley M. Hufstedler	California	November 30, 1979	January 20, 1981		Jimmy Carter
2		Terrel H. Bell	Utah	January 22, 1981	January 20, 1985		Ronald Reagan
3		William J. Bennett	New York	February 6, 1985	September 20, 1988
4		Lauro F. Cavazos	Texas	September 20, 1988	December 12, 1990
							George H. W. Bush
5		Lamar Alexander	Tennessee	March 22, 1991	January 20, 1993
6	75px	Richard W. Riley	South Carolina	January 21, 1993	January 20, 2001		Bill Clinton
7		Roderick R. Paige	Texas	January 20, 2001	January 20, 2005		George W. Bush
8		Margaret Spellings	Texas	January 20, 2005	January 20, 2009
9		Arne Duncan	Illinois	January 21, 2009	January 1, 2016		Barack Obama
10		John King, Jr.	New York	January 1, 2016	March 14, 2016
				March 14,2016	January 20, 2017
-		Phil Rosenfelt	Virginia	January 20, 2017	February 7, 2017		Donald Trump
11	File:Betsy Devos 2.tif	Betsy DeVos	Michigan	February 7, 2017	Incumbent

Living former Secretaries of Education

As of December 2024, there are eight living former Secretaries of Education, the oldest being Shirley Hufstedler (1979-1981, born 1925). The most recent Secretary of Education to pass away was Terrel Bell (1981-1985), on June 22, 1996.

Name	Term of office	Date of birth (and age)
Shirley Hufstedler	1979–1981	(1925-08-24) August 24, 1925
William Bennett	1985–1988	(1943-07-31) July 31, 1943
Lauro Cavazos	1988–1990	(1927-01-04) January 4, 1927
Lamar Alexander	1991–1993	(1940-07-06) July 6, 1940
Richard Riley	1993–2001	(1933-01-02) January 2, 1933
Rod Paige	2001-2005	(1933-06-17) June 17, 1933
Margaret Spellings	2005-2009	(1957-11-30) November 30, 1957
Arne Duncan	2009-2016	(1964-11-06) November 6, 1964

External links

• - Includes the Secretary of Education

United States presidential line of succession
Preceded by Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz	15th in line	Succeeded by Secretary of Veterans Affairs Robert McDonald