The National Center for Education Statistics
Summary
NCES runs the Nation's Report Card and the federal government's core K-12 and college data collections on a combined $306.5 million budget Congress held flat for FY2026 -- while the Department of Education's own inspector general found the agency itself down to between one and three employees as of mid-2025, after a March reduction in force.
What is this organization?
What does it do?
administers the National Assessment of Educational Progress⧉ -- the Nation's Report Card -- which every Title I state, D.C., and Puerto Rico must give fourth- and eighth-graders in reading and math every two years. Its IPEDS⧉ system collects enrollment, cost, and graduation data from more than 6,000 colleges as a condition of federal student-aid eligibility. Its Common Core of Data⧉ counted 99,297 public schools, 19,186 districts, and 49.4 million students in school year 2023-24 -- the frame most other federal education surveys build on.
What does it cost to run — money and people?
Congress funded 's Statistics account at $121.5 million and NAEP administration at $185 million for fiscal year 2026⧉ -- $306.5 million combined, flat against prior years. The dollars mask a collapse in people: ED's inspector general found the March 11, 2025 reduction in force cut the Institute of Education Sciences from 191 employees to 30 institute-widev100_508_SECURED.pdf), leaving itself with between one and three employees as of July 2025v100_508_SECURED.pdf). Against the Census Bureau's 341.8 million U.S. residents⧉, $306.5 million works out to about $0.90 per person a year.
View data as table
| FY2025 CR-level appropriation | 121.5 | the amount the year-long continuing resolution allowed for Statistics |
|---|---|---|
| FY2025 actual spending plan | 41.3 | what the Department and OMB actually agreed to release |
Why is it good for society?
NAEP is Congress's only legally insulated, nationally representative measure⧉ of what American students know -- barred by statute from rewarding or punishing any school, state, or student, which is why states and researchers treat its trend lines as neutral ground truth. IPEDS sets the eligibility and disclosure baseline for the colleges taking Pell grants and loans. After 2025's cuts, the suboffice charged with NCES's own statutorily mandated statistics-reporting job had zero employees leftv100_508_SECURED.pdf) -- exactly the function the 1867 statute created this agency to perform.
- 's FY2026 combined budget ($306.5M) is nominally flat since FY2024 -- but the Department's own FY2027 budget justification shows FY2025's Statistics account got only $41.3 million released to spend against its $121.5 million appropriation.
- ED's inspector general found down to 1-3 employees as of July 2025, after a March 11 reduction in force cut the Institute of Education Sciences from 191 to 30 employees institute-wide -- eliminating the office statutorily responsible for reporting on the condition of American education.
Your handles.* Browse 's own data directly at its products and data hub. Report concerns about 's data integrity or operations to the Department's Inspector General hotline -- the same office that documented the 2025 staffing collapse in this entry. Funding and staffing levels are Congress's lever: tell your own member of Congress if you want 's data collections restored to full strength.
Sources(9) ▾
- U.S. Department of Education, FY 2026 Congressional Justification: Institute of Education Sciences (2025-05-30) — The Department's FY2026 budget-justification volume for IES -- source for 's program description, its statutory fundamental responsibilities, the Statistics account's FY2021-2024 funding history, the Assessment (NAEP) section's statutory prohibitions and Title I participation mandate, and the NAEP 2025-2033 assessment schedule. ed.gov · original document
- U.S. Department of Education, FY 2027 Congressional Justification: Institute of Education Sciences (2026-03-01) — The Department's most recent (FY2027) budget-justification volume for IES -- the only Department document found that states the FY2025 continuing-resolution level for the Statistics account against the actual, much lower Department- spending plan, and gives IES Program Administration's onboard count as of September 30, 2025. ed.gov · original document
- U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations, FY 2026 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act -- Explanatory Statement (Final Bill Table) (2026-01-20) — The committee explanatory statement accompanying the enacted Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2026 (P.L. 119-75) -- its Final Bill table is the source for 's actual FY2026 enacted appropriation for the Statistics and Assessment (NAEP/NAGB) accounts, and for the $25 million IES-specific rescission enacted alongside it. appropriations.senate.gov · original document
- U.S. Department of Education, Office of Inspector General, Review of U.S. Department of Education Changes in Staffing and Operations (F25DC0245) (2026-06-22) — ED-'s flash review of the Department's March 2025 reduction in force -- source for IES's total headcount before/after the RIF, the IES-specific staffing table (Table 2), the finding that (with NCEE and NCER) had between one and three employees remaining as of July 14, 2025, the statutory functions left with zero staff, and the IES contract-termination counts. oig.ed.gov · original document
- U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Population Growth Slows Due to Historic Decline in Net International Migration (Vintage 2025 national population estimate) (2026-01-27) — The Census Bureau's own Vintage 2025 national population estimate release, giving the U.S. resident population as of July 1, 2025 -- the per-resident denominator for this entry's cost-per-person KPI. census.gov · original document
- National Center for Education Statistics / Institute of Education Sciences, The National Center for Education Statistics: Who We Are (2026-01-01) — 's own official history/identity page -- source for its 1867 founding legislation, its 1974 renaming statute, its placement under IES by ESRA 2002, and its status as one of 13 principal federal statistical agencies. nces.ed.gov · original document
- National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, Table 2: Number of operating public elementary and secondary schools and districts, student membership, teachers, and pupil/teacher ratio, by state or jurisdiction, School Year 2023-24 (2025-06-01) — 's own published CCD summary table -- source for the U.S. total count of operating public schools, districts, and student membership for school year 2023-24, used to illustrate the scale of one of 's core data collections. nces.ed.gov · original document
- National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS -- National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) (2026-01-01) — 's own IPEDS landing page -- source for the 'over 6,000 colleges' figure and IPEDS's mandatory-reporting basis for institutions taking part in federal Title IV student-aid programs. nces.ed.gov · original document
- U.S. Government Publishing Office (govinfo), Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002 (Public Law 107-279) (2002-11-05) — The statute that created the Institute of Education Sciences and placed within it (Title I, Part C) -- the creation-clause citation for this entry's identity section. Wayback save attempts for this govinfo PDF did not register a capture as of publication; the govinfo URL above is the one-click original-document link (govinfo.gov is itself GPO's own permanent official repository). govinfo.gov · original document
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traces to an 1867 act of Congress⧉ that first ordered federal collection of "the condition and progress of education" nationwide. It took its current name under the 1974 ESEA Amendments⧉, and the Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002⧉ placed it inside the Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences. is also one of 13 principal federal statistical agencies⧉ government-wide, alongside and the Census Bureau.