The Case for IES Postsecondary Studies: How Cutting Education Data Threatens U.S. Economic Growth and Global Competitiveness

The Trump Administration has made clear it intends to dismantle the federal systems that support education in this country. The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) set this plan in motion last month when it abruptly cancelled millions in contracts overseen by the Institute of Education Sciences (IES). The cancelled contracts included those that fund the Condition of Education, a congressionally mandated report produced annually by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). This report provides key indicators and trends on academic performance in elementary and secondary schools, college enrollment and completion, workforce outcomes, and international comparisons. The Condition of Education draws from NCES’s annual Digest of Education Statistics and Projections of Education Statistics, as well as other ED and IES data collections such as the Common Core of Data (CCD), EDFacts, and the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), all of which were also halted or curtailed by the contract cancellations.

For more than 40 years, the Condition of Education and the Digest of Education Statistics have provided critically important data that supports evidence-based policymaking at the national and state levels—and extensive use by researchers, journalists, and the public. States and localities do not have the infrastructure or capacity to collect and report these data on their own. It is crucial for the federal government to continue to provide these data to support school and college leaders’ efforts to improve student outcomes. Without the data, we will lose ready access to trusted answers addressing fundamental questions about the state of education in the United States, including:

• How prepared are secondary students in math and science to continue their education beyond high school?
• How many students participate in career and technical education in high school and do they continue their workforce preparation through postsecondary education?
• How many students are graduating from high school, enrolling in college, and earning postsecondary credentials?
• Are students finding employment and how much do they earn by level of educational attainment?
• How is education is financed from the elementary to secondary to postsecondary levels?
• How competitive is the U.S. education system is globally?

Most of these indicators are reported at both the national and state levels as well as by key school and student characteristics such as income and rurality. The Condition of Education and the Digest of Education Statistics provide important comparisons and benchmarks that help guide decision-making by state and local education leaders, whom the Trump Administration says it wants to empower. But as Margaret Spellings, former secretary of education under President George W. Bush, recently said, “Without that research, without that accountability, without that transparency, we’re really flying blind.”

These vital reports must be reinstated to ensure the educational system can continue to track whether we are producing the educated workforce we need to power our economy in the global marketplace.