National Defense Education Act (NDEA)

Federal legislation passed in 1958 providing aid to education in the United States at all levels, both public and private. Instituted primarily to stimulate the advancement of science, mathematics, and modern world languages, the National Defense Education Act (NDEA) has also provided assistance in other areas, including technical education, geography, English as a second language, counseling and guidance, school libraries, and educational media centers. The act also provided for low-interest loans to college students. The NDEA is considered the most important federal law concerning higher education since the 1862 Morrill Act.

Cold War rivalries between the United States and the Soviet Union led to the passage of the National Defense Education Act of 1958. The successful Soviet launch of Sputnik, the first satellite to orbit the earth, and well-publicized American space failures induced a climate of national crisis. Critics pointed to the educational deficiencies of American students, especially in mathematics and science.

Thus, Congress passed the NDEA to help ensure that highly trained individuals would be available to help the United States compete with the Soviet Union in scientific and technical fields. President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the NDEA on September 2, 1958. Because of the NDEA, federal expenditures for education more than doubled in the years that followed. For higher education, this included funding for federal student loan programs, graduate fellowships in the sciences and engineering, aid for teacher education, and increased funds for curriculum development.

In the United States, education was (and remains) primarily a state and local governmental responsibility. States and communities—as well as public and private organizations—establish schools and colleges, develop curricula, and determine the requirements for enrollment and graduation. The NDEA recognizes this local control of education; the act prohibits federal direction, supervision, or control over the curriculum, [Page 493]program of instruction, administration, or personnel of any educational institution.

The NDEA laid the foundation for further federal legislation concerning education. These acts include the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (1965), Higher Education Act (1965), Education for All Handicapped Children Act (1975), Goals 2000: Educate America Act (2000), and No Child Left Behind Act (2001).