Ed Finance-Related Datasets
Ed Finance-Related Datasets
Our team has compiled a list of datasets commonly used in education research and practice focused primarily on finance-related data. This is not a comprehensive list. We have not listed all of the key features or limitations, and we encourage users to review the documentation provided by each individual source, especially when merging or comparing datasets. If you have questions, suggestions, or edits, please email us at Edunomics@Georgetown.edu.
Ed Finance-Related Datasets: Key Features and Limitations
| DATASET OR DATA STRUCTURE | KEY FEATURES | CURRENT LIMITATIONS |
|---|---|---|
FINANCE INFORMATION | ||
National Education Resource Database on Schools (NERD$)Database with files by state containing school-by-school spending data. | Currently includes FY2018-19 school-by-school spending data for all states and DC (except SD, which did not report FY2018-19). FY2019-20 data will be posted in Fall 2022. | Limited common financial variables for all states; some states provide more detailed financial breakdown. |
NCES School District Finance Survey F-33Mandatory federal collection of LEA-level financial data. | Includes&annual district-level data for ALL districts on expenditures and revenues by source, object, and function. Captures total current district spending. | No school-level figures are included. Public release of data is delayed. |
Census Bureau F-33Provides statistics about finances of elementary and secondary public school systems. | Data includes revenue by source, expenditure by function and object, indebtedness, and cash and investments for school systems in all states and D.C. | Does not include data on independent charter school districts. Note: This F-33 lists NYC as a singular district, whereas NCES lists NYC as 32 geographic areas. This is applicable for 10 other districts. |
School-Level Finance Survey (SLFS)An optional NCES initiative that serves as an extension of the F-33. | States and LEAs opt in to report selected spending tracked to the school level by standard function and object codes. The object and function codes follow standard definitions and are consistent with the F-33 district data. | Because it is optional, some districts/states do not participate, or do not report data in all fields or for all schools. Participating districts may choose to report only selected expenditures, so expenditure data is incomplete. Users must request data from participating states. |
Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC)A biennial initiative from U.S. Department of Education to collect data on key civil and education issues. | Key purpose is to explore inequity in selected inputs, and the dataset focuses on those selected inputs across schools. | Data are available every other year. Because CRDC requests selected expenditures (e.g., for teacher salaries, aides) only those costs are reported. Note: Starting 2020-21, CRDC no longer collects data on school finance, including FTE data (view other dropped items & here).&CRDC is typically collected every other year; however, there will be successive collections of 2020-21 and 2021-22 data (see&here&for more information). |
School Finance Indicators Database (SFID)Database created by Albert Shanker Institute and Rutgers Graduate School of Education. | Collection of 130 state-by-state school finance measures, including a set of district-level measures for all U.S. public school districts used to assess the adequacy and fairness of each state’s revenue, spending, and resource allocation. | No school-level spending figures are included. |
Common Core of Data (CCD)U.S. Department of Education primary database on public elementary and secondary education in the U.S. | A comprehensive, annual, national database of all public elementary and secondary schools and school districts. | |
Elementary/Secondary Information System (ELSI)An application that allows users to view public and private school data and create custom tables and charts. | Uses demographic and financial data from the Common Core of Data (CCD) and Private School Survey (PSS) to build customized tables/charts for school-, district-, and state-level systems. | Data limited to availability of CCD and PSS. |
Office of Elementary & Secondary Education: Per-Pupil Expenditure TransparencyInteractive map showing school-level per-pupil expenditures by state. | Interactive tool displays per-pupil expenditure data required under ESSA on state and local report cards beginning with SY2018-19. Additional data not from the state’s publicly reported PPE data comes from the CCD. | 14 states/territories are not yet available. Data is not comparable across states. No plans to update or add more states. |
National Public Education Financial Survey DataState-level survey of revenues and expenditures. | Makes publicly available an annual state-level collection of revenues and expenditures for public education in grades PK-12. | Data only audited from 1989 and after. |
National Teacher and Principal Survey (NTPS)System of questionnaires that provide descriptive data on the condition and context of public and private education. | Surveys collect information from teachers and principals. Includes data on teacher and principal salaries, union membership, and professional developments. | Access to some databases are restricted by restricted-use licenses. |
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)A developing database of education statistics. | Available statistics include graduation and entry rates, enrollment demographics, student-teacher ratios, and educational finance indicators. | Access to some datasets are restricted by subscription basis. |
National Education Association (NEA) Rankings & EstimatesProvides state data and national averages on public education statistics. | Comparative state data and national averages on public education statistics, including teacher salaries, student enrollment, and revenue and expenditures through the current year. | Limited to state and national data and trends. Variables are not consistent between reporting years (only most recent rankings report per-pupil expenditures by fall enrollment and ADA). |
Public Plans Data (PPD)Comprehensive data on state and local pensions and retiree benefits. | Provides information on public pension plans, including statewide teacher plans, with data on costs, funding levels, and contribution rates. | |
National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) Teacher Contract DatabaseDatabase includes policy information on selected districts across the country. | Includes data on collective bargaining agreements, evaluation handbooks, salary schedules, and teacher work day. | Available for 145 school districts across the U.S., including the 100 largest districts and the largest district in each state. |
Urban Institute: State-by-State Spending on Kids DatasetComprehensive accounting of public spending on children. | Draws on U.S. Census Bureau’s Annual Survey of State and Local Government Finances, as well as several federal and other non-census sources, to capture state-by-state spending on education, income security, health, and other areas. | State-level data on topics including and outside education. |
OTHER EDUCATION DATA | ||
EdFacts Data FilesDatasets from U.S. Department of Education on assessment proficiency. | Datasets include information on assessment and proficiency in Math and ELA. Data available at the LEA and school levels. | Some data is suppressed or rounded to protect student information. |
Stanford Education Data Archive (SEDA)Detailed data on educational conditions, contexts, and outcomes in schools and school districts in the US. | Data include measures of academic achievement, achievement gaps, school and neighborhood racial and socioeconomic composition and segregation patterns. Data are comparable across all states. | Required to submit a form to view and download data. |
Data Profiles from U.S. Department of EducationCollection of federal data. | Compilation of federal datasets on a wide swath of categories pertaining to U.S. public education. | |
Urban Institute Education Data ExplorerCan search and compare schools, districts, or colleges across various data points. | Interactive tool in which users can limit the dataset, choose selected data points, and export data to make comparisons with similar entities. Dataset brings together data from several federal databases. | |
Updated 1/6/22 |
