Blog
Time-Sensitive Request & Update on AEFP IES Litigation
- By: AEFP
- On: 08/26/2025 16:51:01
- In: Lawsuit Updates
Read an update on the AEFP IES litigation.
Dear AEFP Members,
We know it is a busy time as a new school year begins for many of you, but we write with a request for assistance and an update about our lawsuit relating to the Institute of Education Sciences.
A time sensitive request:
As you may recall, in April 2025, represented by Public Citizen Litigation Group, we, along with the Institute for Higher Education Policy filed a lawsuit in federal district court in Washington, DC, challenging a variety of actions relating to programs and functions of the Institute of Education Sciences.
As part as those efforts, our lawyers are urgently looking to speak with AEFP members who:
- Planned to use data from BPS:20/25, HSLS:09, and HS&B:22 in their work had those data collections not been canceled;
- Have (individually or through your institution) pending applications for access to restricted-use data that have not been acted upon, or would submit such an application if processing were to resume
If you fit in either of these categories and might be willing to speak with our lawyers, please email Cara Jackson, Daphna Bassok, and/or Michal Kurlaender.
An update on the suit:
For some more context on the state of the suit: In June, the court denied our request for a preliminary injunction, as well as a request for a preliminary injunction filed in a companion case filed by the National Academy of Education and the National Council on Measurement in Education. A Maryland judge later denied a motion for a preliminary injunction in a similar case brought by the American Educational Research Association and the Society for Research on Educational Effectiveness. In all three cases, the courts suggested that the claims were too broad in attacking all of the ways in which the current administration has hampered IES from fulfilling its mission.
We have since narrowed our case, in response to both the court's ruling and IES's subsequent extension of remote access to restricted-use data, and its reinstatement of the National Postsecondary Student Aid Study: 2024 (NPSAS:24). We are currently challenging as unlawful IES's termination of four studies--the Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS:20/25); the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 (HSLS:09); the High School and Beyond Longitudinal Study of 2022; and the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten: 2024 (ECLS-K:2024). We are also challenging the termination of the peer review program for new grants, and the indefinite halt on processing applications for access to restricted-use data. We are very aware of the continuing difficulties in obtaining disclosure risk reviews, but AEFP is not bringing any claims related to those delays at this time.
The Department has moved to dismiss our case, as amended, and our lawyers are preparing our response, to be filed in mid-September. This is where hearing from our membership about their experiences would help.
Thank you for all that you do, and for your continued support. We will keep you apprised as the case continues.
Sincerely,
Michal Kurlaender, AEFP President
Cara Jackson, AEFP Past President
Daphna Bassok, AEFP President-Elect
An update on the suit:
For some more context on the state of the suit: In June, the court denied our request for a preliminary injunction, as well as a request for a preliminary injunction filed in a companion case filed by the National Academy of Education and the National Council on Measurement in Education. A Maryland judge later denied a motion for a preliminary injunction in a similar case brought by the American Educational Research Association and the Society for Research on Educational Effectiveness. In all three cases, the courts suggested that the claims were too broad in attacking all of the ways in which the current administration has hampered IES from fulfilling its mission.
We have since narrowed our case, in response to both the court's ruling and IES's subsequent extension of remote access to restricted-use data, and its reinstatement of the National Postsecondary Student Aid Study: 2024 (NPSAS:24). We are currently challenging as unlawful IES's termination of four studies--the Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS:20/25); the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 (HSLS:09); the High School and Beyond Longitudinal Study of 2022; and the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten: 2024 (ECLS-K:2024). We are also challenging the termination of the peer review program for new grants, and the indefinite halt on processing applications for access to restricted-use data. We are very aware of the continuing difficulties in obtaining disclosure risk reviews, but AEFP is not bringing any claims related to those delays at this time.
The Department has moved to dismiss our case, as amended, and our lawyers are preparing our response, to be filed in mid-September. This is where hearing from our membership about their experiences would help.
Thank you for all that you do, and for your continued support. We will keep you apprised as the case continues.
Sincerely,
Michal Kurlaender, AEFP President
Cara Jackson, AEFP Past President
Daphna Bassok, AEFP President-Elect