Student Advocates Sue to Stop Cuts to Higher Education Data Systems
Credit: Kayla Bartkowski / Getty Images News- The Department of Education has recently cut many employees at the Institute of Education Sciences.
- IES oversees many systems that provide tuition and outcome data to prospective college students.
- Student success advocates worry staff cuts will inhibit the agency’s ability to provide transparency.
- A lawsuit seeks to stop the department’s dismantling of IES.
A new lawsuit is trying to stop the Trump administration from dismantling the primary source for education data in the U.S.
The Association for Education Finance and Policy (AEFP) and the Institute for Higher Education Policy (IHEP) filed a lawsuit aimed at blocking the Trump administration from making massive cuts to the Institute of Education Sciences (IES).
According to the complaint, filed April 4 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, mass layoffs at IES could affect current and prospective college students’ ability to compare student costs and outcomes between college programs.
The lawsuit names the Department of Education (ED) and Secretary Linda McMahon as defendants.
Plaintiffs in the case allege that ED is violating congressional mandates by drastically reducing staff meant to oversee data systems like the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS). IPEDS provides the data used to update the College Scorecard, which is the primary consumer-facing platform that allows students to compare colleges and programs.
The suit also alleges that ED’s termination of contracts to maintain these data systems has already caused reporting issues.
“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,” IHEP president and CEO Mamie Voight said in a statement.
“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 National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), which compiles and distributes higher education statistics, now has just three employees, according to the lawsuit.
Additionally, only three contracting officers are left at IES.
“It is not possible for three staff members to oversee the contracts that remain in force, to re-compete the contracts that defendants canceled, or otherwise ensure that statutorily mandated programs continue,” the complaint states.
Incomplete data could have many downstream consequences for students.
For one, popular search engines like Google rely on recent IPEDS data to feed information directly to interested students. IPEDS data is also used by many school ranking sites, which may influence a student’s choice of institution or program.
“Without IPEDS, prospective students and their families cannot answer key questions about the likely costs and outcomes at colleges they’re considering,” IHEP said in mid-March.
According to the lawsuit, ED uses NCES data to determine the size of grants different institutions may receive. For example, the average cost of attendance dictates the amount of funds provided to student veterans and to states for tribal colleges and universities.
The plaintiffs are asking the district court for the following relief:
- Declare the department’s actions as unlawful
- Restore terminated contracts
- Restore employees needed to maintain the agency’s statutory functions
- Prevent the department from taking further steps hindering IES’ abilities
- Issue a preliminary injunction to halt the department’s further actions aimed at dismantling IES
The federal government has yet to respond to the lawsuit.