A column challenges recent political claims that the federal Department of Education is a late-20th-century innovation, reminding readers the U.S. first had a federal education agency in 1867. The piece parses the department’s institutional history to inform current debates over federal involvement in schooling and accountability. The clarification has immediate relevance as policymakers and campus leaders debate the scope of federal oversight, conditional funding, and historical precedent for national education interventions. Understanding the department’s evolution helps higher-education administrators frame compliance and advocacy strategies. For university leaders engaged in federal policy discussions, the history places recent enforcement and funding tools—such as conditional research grants and civil-rights compliance—within a long arc of federal engagement rather than as a novel imposition.