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Should I Use National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) | IES?

nces.ed.gov·Analyzed 13 hours ago··Based on 7 sources

Since 1867, NCES has been the federal statistical agency responsible for collecting, analyzing, and reporting data on the condition of U.S. education—from early childhood to adult education—to help improve student outcomes.

Depends

Depends

Use it if you need official U.S. education statistics — it is free, authoritative, and unmatched in scope.

Free, authoritative U.S. education data from the feds — great for research, not a software product, and 2025 cuts threaten continuity.

Confidence: Medium

1867

Founded

Second-oldest federal statistical agency

~$300M

Annual budget

Statistics and assessment lines combined

3rd of 13

Rank

Largest federal statistical agencies by budget

$0

Price

Public data, reports, and tools

Value for money5

Free public federal data, no cost

Feature depth5

NAEP, IPEDS, CCD, international assessments, decades of surveys

Pros

  • Official federal source for U.S. education statistics since 1867¹
  • Free access to reports, tables, and downloadable datasets²
  • Runs NAEP, IPEDS, and international assessments
  • ~$300M annual budget; third-largest of 13 federal statistical agencies⁴
  • Nonpartisan, accurate, timely statistical products¹

Cons

  • Not software or a service — no vendor, no contracts, no roadmap
  • 169 contracts reportedly terminated in Feb 2025, imperiling data collections⁵
  • No public security page found on the site⁶
  • Datasets require reading survey methodologies and questionnaires before use

Gotchas

  • highFeb 2025 termination of 169 contracts could stall future survey rounds⁵
  • mediumIt is a statistical agency, not a vendor — no pricing, support, or sales pages exist¹
  • mediumData tools assume you learn survey methods and questionnaires first
  • lowNo security page; no public disclosure of data-protection practices⁶

Best for

  • Education researchers
  • Policy analysts
  • Journalists covering schools
  • Market research on education

Not for

  • Buyers shopping for software — this is a government agency, not a vendor
  • Anyone needing current-year data certainty; 169 contracts were cut in 2025
  • Teams wanting onboarding, SLAs, or vendor support
  • Non-education data needs — U.S. education only

Companies that use it

  • American Institutes for Research (AIR)⁷
  • Lightcast
  • Princeton University

Pricing

Public data and reports

$0

  • All reports, tables, and indicators
  • IPEDS and NAEP Data Explorer tools
  • Downloadable datasets and questionnaires

Security

No known public vulnerabilities found in the sources reviewed.

What users say

No independent user reviews found; sources are official, academic, and news coverage.

Alternatives

Compare National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) | IES with each alternative.

Full analysis

Based on 18 public sources; mostly official and news coverage, no user reviews found.

Sources

  1. NCES official sitences.ed.gov
    official
  2. IES data tools and IPEDS accessies.ed.gov
    official
  3. ED functional statements for NCESed.gov
    official
  4. Amstat: The Nation's Data at Risk — NCES budgetamstat.org
    news
  5. Science.org: Canceling data collections could imperil effortsscience.org
    news
  6. NCES security page (none found)nces.ed.gov
    security
  7. AIR partnership with NCESair.org
    news

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