U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government


end of header

National Public Education Financial Survey

Skip top of page navigation
You are here: About the SurveyGovernments Programs › National Public Education Financial Survey

PURPOSE

To collect financial data related to elementary and secondary education on a statewide basis. This collection, the National Public Education Financial Survey (NPEFS), is authorized in Section 153(a)(1)(I) of the Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002 (P.L. 107-279), 20 U.S.C. 9543. The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) funds the survey, which is a key component of the U.S. Department of the Education's Common Core of Data surveys.

COVERAGE

Includes education finance data for the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and 5 outlying areas under U.S. jurisdiction: American Samoa, Guam, Northern Marianas, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.

CONTENT

Data are obtained on employees, by program function, and for selected job categories. Data on employees include number full- and part-time, gross pay, and hours paid for part-time employees (to calculate full-time equivalent employment). Data by function include 25 primary functions such as education, hospitals, police protection, public welfare, and highways. Data for job categories are limited to major categories such as instructional employees in education and public safety officers in police protection.

FREQUENCY

Annual. The Bureau of the Census has been the data collection agent for the National Center for Education Statistics' National Public Education Finance Survey since fiscal year 1993. Reported data are for school system fiscal years; collection begins approximately six months after the fiscal year ends, and continues until the first Tuesday after Labor Day.

METHODS

This survey is a Web collection. Respondent can upload data files into the web application or key directly into a web form.

PRODUCTS

NCES publishes fiscal data reported by states in many different types of publications, ranging from the Statistics in Brief series, Revenues and Expenditures for Public Elementary and Secondary Education, School Year, to the annual Digest of Education Statistics. All NCES publications are available free by calling ED PUBS toll free at 1-877-433-7827.

USES

Data from NPEFS are used to calculate a state per pupil expenditure amount that is used in the formula for allocating a number of federal program funds to states and school districts, including: Title I of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, a reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Act of 1965; Impact Aid; and Indian Education. Other programs make use of state per pupil expenditure data indirectly because their allocation formulas are based, in whole, or in part, on state Title I allocations. The data are also used by researchers and government policymakers to address important education policy and research issues.

SPECIAL FEATURES

Comparability of data collection across the states is facilitated by NCES by requiring each state and territory to report on the federal standard.

RELATED PROGRAMS

Local Government School System Finance Survey (formerly Education Finance Survey)

Non-Fiscal Surveys of the Common Core of Data (CCD)

Teacher Compensation Survey


EXPLORE INFORMATION

CONTINUE OVERVIEW

Governments

Next Program

U.S. Economy

Economy Overview


[an error occurred while processing this directive]