Information about U.S. Federal Education Data
Context
In February 2025, the Trump Administration ordered the cancellation of ~$900 million of contracts connected to the Institute for Education Sciences, the non-partisan research and data-analysis division of the U.S. Department of Education. These contracts include wide-ranging research projects and longitudinal surveys focused on collecting and analyzing educational data from across U.S. schools. These cancellations come amidst efforts by the Trump Administration to effectively close the Department of Education. As such, many teachers and education researchers are concerned about the loss of past and future federal data from the IES, NCES, and Department of Education.
Ongoing Preservation Efforts
Below is a list of websites that engage in the collection and preservation of federal education data.
*NOTE: This situation is ongoing and evolving rapidly. UR librarians are working to assess the data landscape and provide assistance whenever possible. Please contact your relevant liaison librarian with any questions or concerns.
- Data Rescue ProjectThe DRP seeks to act "as a clearinghouse for data rescue-related efforts and data access points for public US governmental data that are currently at risk."
- Data Rescue Project - Data Rescue TrackerLanding page for DRP data rescue efforts, tracking which datasets from what federal departments are being preserved.
- DataLumosDigital archive maintained by ICPSR focused on "safekeeping and disseminating" data from federal agencies, including data from IPEDS.
- Data.gov ArchiveProvides access to 16TB of data from over 300,000 data sets hosted on Data.Gov. Organized by Harvard Law School's Library Innovation Lab.
- PolicyMap - Federal Agency Data AccessibilityPress release from PolicyMap noting their federal data preservation efforts. Access to PolicyMap provided by the link below:
- PolicyMap This link opens in a new window
Access a data and mapping resource that combines demographic, health, employment, and socioeconomic data about communities, census tracts, and other regions within the United States. (PolicyMap)
- End of Term Archive"The End of Term Web Archive captures and saves U.S. Government websites at the end of presidential administrations. The EOT has thus far preserved websites from administration changes in 2008, 2012, 2016, and 2020."
Virginia Education Data
- Virginia Department of Education - Statistics and ReportsReports on Virginia public education on variety of factors, including "enrollment, demographics, student achievement, finances, school climate, staffing and safety".
- Virginia School Quality ProfilesData on enrollment, academic assessments, finances, and more. Browsable by county/division and individual VA public schools.
- Higher Ed Data for VirginiaProvided by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia, provides data on VA postsecondary schools, including 2- and 4-year programs.
Statistics
- Childstats.govFrom the Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics (a collaboration of 22 federal government agencies with interests in children and families). Collects information on a variety of topics, including education.
- IPUMSAccess to historic and current census/survey data, with built-in online analysis tools and a commitment to harmonize variable codes, making it easier to compare data sets across multiple years.
- National Center for Education StatisticsPrimary collector and analyzer of education-related data within the federal government; most comprehensive portal for education statistics on the Web.
- OECD: Education GPS"OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) source for internationally comparable data on education policies and practices, opportunities and outcomes."
- UNESCO Education DataThe UNESCO Institute for Statistics is "the official and trusted source of internationally-comparable data on education, science, culture and communication."
- World Bank EdStats Education Statistics - Developing CountriesProvides statistics on education expenditures, projects, attainment and reports by country.
Legal
- Congressional (ProQuest) This link opens in a new windowSearch for Congressional hearings, reports, testimony, bills, laws, and regulations from the first Congress to the current Congress. (ProQuest)
- Education Law (Cornell University Law School Legal Information Institute)Overview of education law and links to relevant resources.
- FindLawResources for both federal and state court decisions.
- OyezOyez (pronounced OH-yay)—a free law project from Cornell’s Legal Information Institute (LII), Justia, and Chicago-Kent College of Law—is a multimedia archive devoted to making the Supreme Court of the United States accessible to everyone. It is the most complete and authoritative source for all of the Court’s audio since the installation of a recording system in October 1955. Oyez offers transcript-synchronized and searchable audio, plain-English case summaries, illustrated decision information, and full-text Supreme Court opinions (through Justia).
- United States ReportsOfficial opinions of the United States Supreme Court, provided via the Library of Congress.
Higher Education
- Institute for Higher Education Policy (IHEP) ReportsNon-profit, non-partisan organization producing research and policy recommendations on topics of access and success for postsecondary students.
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