This report portrays and discusses Federal spending for education programs in the context of a 26-year span: the past 20 years of actual experience (1963-1982) and the spending plan for the next six years proposed in the President's 1984 budget. In addition to the 26-year perspective, various measures such as spending in constant dollars, as a percent of the gross national product (GNP), as a percent of total Federal budget and annual and cumulative change analyses are used to help the reader gain a sense of context and perspective.