Congress mandates that millions of dollars each year go toward researching best practices in special education, but a new analysis warns that the vast majority of the funds could go unspent this year.
The Trump administration has not allocated 84% of the money budgeted for special education research through the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences, according to a review of publicly available data conducted by Knowledge Alliance, a nonprofit comprised of leading education organizations that advocates for federal investment in education research.
The government has until Sept. 30 to spend $77 million on the special education research and evaluation program, but only $11 million has been spoken for so far. The remaining funds are now at risk of lapsing, the report indicates.
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Stalled special education research dollars come as the federal Institute of Education Sciences, or IES, which focuses on education research, has been slow to distribute funds generally. Nearly 36% of the agency’s budget — $289 million — is at risk of expiring at the end of September, the analysis found.
As a result, long-running studies following students with disabilities as they enter college and the workforce have already been halted, said Rachel Dinkes, president and CEO of Knowledge Alliance. If funding lapses, research on how to support students with disabilities in inclusive classrooms and other important issues will be lost, leaving policymakers and educators without up-to-date evidence, the group said.
“IES research is critical to identifying what truly works, for whom, and under what conditions — ensuring that limited resources are used in ways that measurably improve educational outcomes,” said Stephanie Smith Lee, co-director of policy and advocacy at the National Down Syndrome Congress, who served as director of the Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Programs under President George W. Bush. “For students with disabilities, the stakes are simply too high not to rely on what works.”
The funding that’s at risk was originally appropriated by Congress in 2025. Unlike many other parts of the federal government, IES has two years to allocate its budget. This year, lawmakers approved an additional $93 million for special education research, studies and evaluation, which is available through September 2027. Knowledge Alliance found that none of that money has been allocated yet.
“It is alarming that, with only five months left in a two-year spend down period for the fiscal year 2025 research dollars, there appears to be a significant amount of funding still on the table,” said Chad Rummel, executive director of the Council for Exceptional Children.
The group, which advocates for special education professionals, “is particularly frustrated that, despite the flexibility and authority to maintain funding for special education research, the Department of Education has publicly stated that it intends to cut FY 2025 research dollars by nearly a third,” Rummel said.
The Education Department’s recently released budget request for IES for the 2027 fiscal year indicates that the agency reached an agreement with the White House Office of Management and Budget to limit spending on the Research in Special Education program to $45.3 million for the 2025 fiscal year even though Congress appropriated $64.3 million.
Despite this, an Education Department spokesperson told Disability Scoop that “the department is committed to using appropriated funds to meet our statutory obligations and supporting high-quality research.”
While there are other funders of special education research, IES is the largest and the only one that’s focused specifically on education and disability research, according to Meghan Burke, a professor of special education at Vanderbilt University.
“There were no grant competitions in special education last year. So, unless there is an impending research grant competition with a very quick timeline for submission and reviews, it would be difficult to see how this money could be allocated and dispensed in a timely manner,” Burke said.
Without funding, researchers are not able to explore pressing issues like the use of AI in special education, school choice programs and parent involvement in special education decision-making, she noted.
“To ensure that programs are effectively serving students with disabilities, research is paramount,” Burke said.
