Big Win: Education Department Restores Research Data Access Following IHEP Lawsuit

Washington, DC (July 1, 2025) – On Monday, education researchers learned that the Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences (IES) would not move forward with plans to terminate remote access to important education-related data held by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES)—a reversal from cuts initiated in February 2025 that dismantled key IES programs and contracts. The restored data access marks a win in IHEP’s lawsuit challenging termination of the remote access program, along with other essential services used by the education research community.

“For researchers like us who are committed to developing evidence-based solutions that support student success, the continuation of remote access to NCES restricted-use data is an important win,” said Mamie Voight, president and CEO of the Institute for Higher Education Policy. “But this step alone is not enough to reverse the harms caused by cuts to IES staff and programs, or the months-long delays in processing requests to publish research using these data. We hope to see even more steps to restore the IES staffing and resources necessary to support restricted-use data. Continued access to these data is vital for conducting research that informs policies to support students.”

Read the full press release from Public Citizen Litigation Group.

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