Education Secretary McMahon Makes AI a Formal Grant-Selection Priority Across Department Discretionary Programs
A 33-page final rule scheduled for Monday publication establishes "Advancing Artificial Intelligence in Education" as a Secretary's Supplemental Priority for every discretionary grant the Department of Education runs. Grant competitions can now designate AI literacy or AI-integration work as an absolute, competitive-preference, or invitational priority — steering federal education dollars toward AI training, tools, and teacher-prep programs.
The U.S. Department of Education has finalized a Secretary's Supplemental Priority on "Advancing Artificial Intelligence in Education" that will govern how the Department weighs grant applications across its discretionary programs. The 33-page final rule was filed with the Federal Register for public inspection on April 10 and is scheduled for formal publication on April 13. It takes effect 30 days after publication — approximately May 13, 2026.
The rule is codified under 34 CFR Part 75 and filed as Docket ED-2025-OS-0118. It follows a July 21, 2025 Notice of Proposed Priority that drew over 300 public comments. Related final and proposed priorities have been issued in sequence by Secretary Linda McMahon since September 2025.
What a Secretary's Supplemental Priority does
Under 34 CFR 75.105, the Department designates priorities for competitive grant programs as one of three types:
- Absolute priority: only applications that meet the priority are considered at all.
- Competitive preference priority: applications that meet the priority get awarded additional points or, between two applications of comparable merit, the priority-meeting one wins.
- Invitational priority: the Department signals interest but no scoring benefit.
The designation is made program-by-program in the Federal Register when the Department publishes a grant competition. Today's rule makes AI in Education available as an option the Department can invoke in any future discretionary competition. It does not automatically attach to every grant — but it functions as a standing menu item that the Department can now plug into any notice of funding availability.
What the priority actually covers
The rule divides "Advancing Artificial Intelligence in Education" into two parts. Applicants can meet the priority by proposing work in any one of the listed categories.
(a) Expanding understanding of AI, which includes:
- AI literacy skills in teaching and learning, including how to detect AI-generated disinformation or misinformation online
- Age-appropriate AI and computer-science education in K-12