The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), which is located within the U.S. Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences, is the federal entity charged with collecting and analyzing data related to education.

The data collected is used to produce fast fact sheets and reports in the areas of academic performance of the nation's students in K-12 and postsecondary institutions, adult literacy, early childhood health and education, the condition of public and private education institutions, comparing the educational experiences and trends in other countries to those of the United States, academic libraries, public libraries, school library media centers, and state library agencies.