Big Win: Education Department Restores Research Data Access Following Lawsuit
WASHINGTON, D.C. – On Monday, education researchers learned that the Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences (IES) would not terminate remote access to important education-related data held by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), as was previously planned by a February 2025 DOGE-initiated spree of slashing vital IES contracts and programs. In April, Public Citizen Litigation Group filed a lawsuit on behalf of the Association for Education Finance and Policy (AEFP) and the Institute for Higher Education Policy (IHEP) challenging the termination of the remote access program for restricted-use data, as well as the Department’s termination of other programs and services vital to the education community.
“For researchers like us who are committed to developing evidence-based solutions that support student success, the continuation of remote access to NCES restricted-use data is an important win,” said Mamie Voight, president and CEO of the Institute for Higher Education Policy. “But this step alone is not enough to reverse the harms caused by cuts to IES staff and programs, or the months-long delays in processing requests to publish research using these data. We hope to see even more steps to restore the IES staffing and resources necessary to support restricted-use data. Continued access to these data is vital for conducting research that informs policies to support students.”
“AEFP members around the country rely on remote access to restricted-use data to conduct research that can contribute to improving education,” said Cara Jackson, member of the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors of the Association for Education Finance and Policy (AEFP). “The loss of that access would have been devastating, and we are glad that it will continue for existing users. We remain concerned, though, that IES’s four-month halt on new applications for access to this data and delays in risk disclosure reviews continue, keeping many of our AEFP members, our colleagues, and students from being able to conduct and disseminate important research.”
Adam Pulver of Public Citizen Litigation Group, and the lead attorney on the case, stated: “Yesterday’s reversal of the decision to end the existing remote-access program is just another example of the problems of the cut-first, ask-questions-later approach to government reflected by DOGE’s indiscriminate cancellation of contracts and programs. While ED’s change-of-heart regarding remote access is welcome, other vital services provided by the Institute of Education Sciences have been senselessly, illogically halted without consideration of the impact on the nation’s educational researchers and the education community more broadly. We will continue to press ahead with our case as to the other arbitrarily canceled programs.”