National Center for Education Statistics

National Center for Education Statistics
NCES
Agency overview
Formed	1867
Jurisdiction	Federal government of the United States
Headquarters	Washington, D.C., United States
Leadership
Agency executive	Matthew Soldner Acting commissioner
Organization
Parent department	United States Department of Education
Parent agency	Institute of Education Sciences
Website	https://nces.ed.gov/

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) is the principal federal statistical agency responsible for collecting, analyzing and reporting information about education in the United States. It operates within the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), the independent statistics, research and evaluation arm of the United States Department of Education.

NCES produces statistics concerning early childhood education, elementary and secondary schools, colleges and universities, adult education, educational achievement, school finance, teachers, students and international comparisons. Its products are used by government agencies, schools, researchers, journalists, families, policymakers and members of the public.

The center is one of the principal federal statistical agencies whose primary activities involve collecting, processing, compiling and analyzing information for statistical purposes. NCES states that its work is intended to be objective, neutral, nonideological and free from partisan political influence or demographic and regional bias.

Mission and legal mandate

Federal law establishes the National Center for Education Statistics within the Institute of Education Sciences.

The center's congressional mandate includes:

• collecting, collating, analyzing and reporting statistics on the condition and progress of education in the United States;
• producing regular and specialized reports explaining the meaning and significance of education statistics;
• helping state and local education agencies improve their statistical systems;
• collecting and reporting information about education in other countries;
• developing comparable education data and terminology; and
• making timely and useful statistical information available to Congress, government agencies, researchers and the public.

Federal law also authorizes the center to establish cooperative education-statistics systems with states and other educational organizations. These systems are intended to produce comparable information about early childhood, elementary, secondary, postsecondary and adult education, as well as libraries.

The center is headed by a commissioner for education statistics. Federal law requires the commissioner to have substantial knowledge of statistical methods and the activities performed by NCES.

As of July 2026, Matthew Soldner serves as acting commissioner of NCES and acting director of the Institute of Education Sciences.

History

The federal government's organized collection of national education statistics began in 1867, when Congress established a federal education agency and directed it to collect information showing the condition and progress of education across the states and territories.

The organization responsible for this work underwent a series of name and administrative changes. It operated at different times as a bureau, office and division within the United States Department of the Interior, the Federal Security Agency and the former Department of Health, Education, and Welfare.

In 1965, the National Center for Educational Statistics was created as a staff unit within the federal Office of Education. The name National Center for Education Statistics was formally recognized in federal law in 1974.

When the present United States Department of Education was established in 1979, NCES became part of the department's Office of Educational Research and Improvement. The Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002 later established the Institute of Education Sciences and placed NCES within the institute.

Organization and statistical independence

NCES is part of the Institute of Education Sciences but performs a distinct federal statistical function. Its responsibilities include producing information that is relevant to public decision-making while maintaining statistical quality, confidentiality and independence from political influence.

The center's work encompasses several broad areas:

• assessment of student and adult skills;
• early childhood and longitudinal studies;
• elementary and secondary education statistics;
• postsecondary education statistics;
• international education comparisons;
• school finance and geographic data;
• statistical standards and data confidentiality; and
• public data tools, reports and research files.

NCES performs much of its survey, assessment and data-processing work through grants, contracts and cooperative agreements with research organizations, educational institutions and other qualified entities.

Major programs and data collections

National Assessment of Educational Progress

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), commonly called The Nation's Report Card, is a continuing and nationally representative assessment of the academic knowledge and skills of elementary and secondary students in the United States.

NAEP was first administered in 1969. It has assessed student performance in subjects including reading, mathematics, science, writing, civics, geography, United States history and the arts. Results may be reported for the nation, participating states and selected urban school districts.

Although NCES administers NAEP, the independent National Assessment Governing Board establishes policies, assessment frameworks and achievement levels for the program.

Common Core of Data

The Common Core of Data (CCD) is the Department of Education's primary database for public elementary and secondary education. It is an annual national database covering public schools, school districts and state education agencies.

CCD data include school and district names, addresses, grade ranges, enrollment, staffing, student demographics, operational status, finances and identification numbers. NCES assigns identification numbers to public schools and school districts so that institutions can be consistently tracked across federal datasets.

The database is also used by the NCES School Locator and District Locator, which allow the public to search for schools and retrieve official NCES identification numbers.

Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System

The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) is NCES's primary data-collection system for colleges, universities and technical and vocational institutions in the United States.

IPEDS consists of 12 interrelated annual survey components. Institutions participating in federal student financial-aid programs report information about:

• institutional characteristics;
• admissions;
• enrollment;
• degrees and other completions;
• graduation rates;
• outcome measures;
• student financial aid;
• tuition and fees;
• institutional finances; and
• employees and human resources.

The resulting data support College Navigator, institutional comparisons, government reporting, academic research and public analysis of postsecondary education.

Longitudinal and school surveys

NCES conducts longitudinal studies that follow students and educational experiences over time. These include the Early Childhood Longitudinal Studies, high-school longitudinal studies and postsecondary student studies.

The center also conducts surveys involving schools, teachers, principals, students and families. Programs have included the National Teacher and Principal Survey, Private School Survey, National Household Education Surveys Program and School Pulse Panel.

These studies provide information about school organization, staffing, educational experiences, family participation, safety, technology, educational access and student outcomes.

International education studies

NCES coordinates United States participation in several international education assessments and surveys. These programs allow educational outcomes and practices in the United States to be compared with those of other participating countries and education systems.

International programs associated with NCES include:

• the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA);
• the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS);
• the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS);
• the International Computer and Information Literacy Study (ICILS);
• the Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS); and
• the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC).

NCES provides an International Data Explorer through which users can create analyses, compare participating education systems and conduct statistical tests using international-study results.

Education geography and demographics

The Education Demographic and Geographic Estimates program, known as EDGE, develops geographic and demographic data resources related to education. It combines NCES information with sources such as the American Community Survey to describe the social, economic, housing and geographic environments surrounding schools and school-age populations.

EDGE products include school geocodes, school-district boundaries, locale classifications and indicators describing communities and families.

Publications

Condition of Education

The Condition of Education is a congressionally mandated collection of indicators describing education in the United States. It covers early childhood, elementary and secondary education, postsecondary education, labor-force outcomes and international comparisons.

Indicators are updated as new statistics become available, while spotlight reports provide more detailed analysis of selected topics.

Digest of Education Statistics

The Digest of Education Statistics compiles statistical tables covering American education from prekindergarten through graduate education. It draws from NCES surveys and from other government and private data sources.

Topics include enrollment, schools, teachers, educational attainment, degrees, school finance, federal education funding, libraries and international comparisons.

Fast Facts

NCES Fast Facts provides concise summaries addressing frequently asked questions about education. The service covers topics from early childhood education through adult learning and is updated when new data become available.

Public data tools

NCES maintains online systems that allow the public to search, analyze and download education data.

Major tools include:

• College Navigator — a public search tool for information about colleges and other postsecondary institutions;
• DataLab — web-based tools for producing tables and custom analyses from NCES studies;
• Elementary/Secondary Information System — a tool for accessing public and private school data;
• School and District Locators — search systems for names, addresses and NCES identification numbers;
• IPEDS data tools — systems for downloading and comparing postsecondary institution data;
• NAEP data tools — applications for examining student assessment results;
• International Data Explorer — tools for analyzing international education studies; and
• education finance tools — applications for comparing public school district revenue and spending.

NCES generally provides public-use datasets without charge. Some restricted-use files containing more detailed information require licenses, security procedures and approved research purposes.

Statistical standards and confidentiality

The NCES Statistical Standards Program develops and administers standards governing survey design, data collection, processing, analysis, publication review and dissemination.

These standards are intended to ensure that NCES products are reliable, useful and methodologically sound. They apply to NCES employees, contractors, statistical publications and electronic data products.

NCES also administers confidentiality procedures and restricted-use data licenses. Federal laws governing its data include the Privacy Act, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, the Education Sciences Reform Act and the Confidential Information Protection and Statistical Efficiency provisions of federal evidence law.

Public statistical reports generally present aggregated information intended to prevent the identification of individual students, families, teachers or other survey participants.

Role in public education information

NCES data are frequently used to describe the size, structure, financing and outcomes of the American education system. Government agencies and educational institutions use the center's definitions and identification systems to connect information across years and datasets.

Researchers and journalists use NCES statistics to examine educational enrollment, achievement, staffing, graduation, affordability, access and inequality. Families and students use public tools such as College Navigator and the school-search databases to locate and compare institutions.

NCES does not operate schools, set local curricula or directly regulate educational institutions. Its principal role is to produce and disseminate statistical information that can support research, public understanding and policy decisions.

See also

• United States Department of Education
• Institute of Education Sciences
• National Assessment of Educational Progress
• Common Core of Data
• Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System
• Education in the United States
• Federal Statistical System of the United States
• National Assessment Governing Board

External links

• Official NCES website
• About NCES
• Common Core of Data
• Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System
• Condition of Education
• Digest of Education Statistics
• NCES Fast Facts
• NCES DataLab
• College Navigator