IHEP Joins Lawsuit Challenging Dismantling of Institute of Education Sciences

Washington, DC (April 4, 2025) – Today, IHEP and the Association for Education Finance and Policy (AEFP), represented by Public Citizen Litigation Group, filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Education to stop its unlawful dismantling of the Institute of Education Sciences (IES). IES plays a vital role in producing and disseminating education research, statistics, and analyses that inform policy and practice nationwide.

“At IHEP, we rely on data from the Institute of Education Sciences to develop evidence-based insights about how all students access, afford, and make progress toward a college degree or credential, and their eventual workforce outcomes,” said Mamie Voight, president & CEO of the Institute for Higher Education Policy (IHEP). “High-quality federal data and research help institutions, states, researchers, and student success practitioners better understand students’ experiences and develop strategies to improve their outcomes. IES is uniquely situated, and statutorily required, to collect and disseminate these data to the field. As champions for postsecondary data, we feel a responsibility to act in the public interest to protect and preserve the information the field relies upon to better serve our nation’s students.”

The lawsuit asks the court to order Secretary McMahon and the Department of Education to immediately end their efforts to eliminate IES and restore the contracts, staff, and other resources that enable IES to execute its mission. Learn more by reading Public Citizen’s full press release here.

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