Trump administration ends federal high‑school longitudinal surveys
The Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) ordered the February 2025 cancellation of the Education Department’s long‑running High School Longitudinal Studies — a series of surveys begun in 1972 that tracks more than 100,000 students across multiple cohorts — terminating contracts worth tens of millions and creating a decades‑long gap in nationally representative data used by researchers, states and districts to guide education policy.
Education
Government/Regulatory
Research
📌 Key Facts
- On a single day in February 2025 the DOGE directed the cancellation of the High School Longitudinal Studies overseen by the Institute of Education Sciences.
- The contracts supporting the surveys were worth 'tens of millions of dollars' and the program has followed more than 100,000 students since 1972 across six cohorts.
- Education officials and researchers warn the cut creates a significant data gap for policymaking and district benchmarking; the Department of Education says it is reviewing how longitudinal studies 'fit into the national data collection strategy.'