National Center for Education Statistics

**About NCES** The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) is the primary statistical agency of the [U.S. Department of Education](https://www.ed.gov/). It is one of thirteen principal federal statistical agencies[1](https://nces.ed.gov/about/#note1) whose activities are predominantly focused on the collection, compilation, processing, or analysis of information for statistical purposes. NCES is located within the U.S. Department of Education's [Institute of Education Sciences](https://ies.ed.gov/) (IES). NCES has a Congressional mandate to collect, collate, analyze, and report complete statistics on the condition of American education; conduct and publish reports; and review and report on education activities internationally.