WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Education moved to terminate nearly $1 billion in research contracts on Monday, a decision critics said depleted the government of vital data sources on American schooling and all but decimated the agency’s research division.
The move was announced on social media by the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, a new quasi-government agency run by X owner Elon Musk. The task force helmed by Musk, a tech billionaire, said it terminated 89 contracts worth $881 million. In another X post, DOGE said it had canceled 29 “DEI training grants” totaling $101 million.
Eliminating the agreements effectively halted the work of the Institute of Education Sciences, the arm of the Education Department responsible for gathering information about students and schools nationwide.
The scope of DOGE’s changes may be larger than publicly stated, according to an internal memo from an Institute of Education Sciences employee obtained by USA TODAY. Members of the DOGE team said Monday that 169 education research contracts would be canceled, ending nearly all of the institute’s work, the memo said. Although institute employees hadn’t been placed on leave, they expected to receive notices soon. The DOGE team, according to the memo, communicated that the legality of its cost-cutting measures wasn’t a factor in its decision-making.
The department said Tuesday that several contracts, including the National Assessment of Educational Progress, also known as the “Nation’s Report Card,” were spared. Also intact was the College Scorecard, an Obama-era tool that uses information about universities to help students decide whether programs provide value that merits the investment. College Navigator, a similar government platform, was saved, too.
But scores of other major research undertakings were scrapped seemingly overnight. What Works Clearinghouse, a project that has helped school administrators and educators make decisions for years, was nixed. The School Pulse Panel, which began surveying public K-12 schools on education-related topics during the 2021-2022 school year, was also wiped out.
Based on a list of federal contracts for fiscal year 2024, studies about international education, career and technical education and early childhood education also appeared to be contenders for DOGE’s cuts.
Michael Itzkowitz, who oversaw the creation of the College Scorecard, said cutting critical research about schools and colleges will have ripple effects that could endanger American global competitiveness.
“We don’t want consumers to have more information about buying the best blender than they do about attending an institution of higher education,” he said.
The termination of the contracts is the latest example of turmoil at the federal Education Department, which President Donald Trump has routinely criticized. An employee familiar with the matter confirmed that Musk’s DOGE team has gained access to vast databases containing the personal and financial information of millions of students, USA TODAY reported last week. Droves of staffers at the agency have also been placed on paid leave since the president signed an executive order banning diversity, equity and inclusion in the federal workforce.
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Zachary Schermele is an education reporter for USA TODAY. You can reach him by email at zschermele@usatoday.com. Follow him on X at @ZachSchermele and Bluesky at @zachschermele.bsky.social.