After the 2022 midterms showed the turnout gap between community colleges and four-year public institutions narrow from nine points to three, advocates hoped 2024 data would show whether targeted outreach had closed the divide. That assessment is now on hold. In March, Tufts University stopped releasing results from the National Study of Learning, Voting and Engagement (NSLVE), and the National Student Clearinghouse — which supplies enrollment information used in NSLVE reports — withdrew from the project after more than a decade of partnership.
The pause follows a February announcement from the U.S. Department of Education that it had opened an investigation, saying unspecified reports suggested NSLVE may have violated the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). The department has not named the complainants and declined to comment to NPR. Tufts and the Clearinghouse say they have followed privacy rules; Tufts emphasizes NSLVE, launched in 2013, is nonpartisan and tracks whether students vote, not how they vote.
The inquiry can be traced to criticism from conservative activists. Cleta Mitchell, a conservative lawyer active in post-2020 election efforts, said in a March online meeting that Heather Honey, a right-wing activist who later worked at the Department of Homeland Security, produced a report alleging FERPA violations and urged Education Secretary Linda McMahon to ‘stop this.’ Critics have highlighted the role of Catalist, a Democratic-aligned data firm whose public voter records were used in past matching; Tufts maintains compliance with privacy safeguards.
Right-leaning groups praised the Clearinghouse’s exit. The America First Policy Institute framed it as protecting students from exploitation of sensitive data. Others warned the episode shows how election-focused networks can shape government action. Brendan Fischer of the Campaign Legal Center said the episode illustrates the influence of election conspiracy networks on policy, while noting the Trump administration itself has faced scrutiny over its handling of other sensitive data sources.
In February the Education Department told colleges not to use ‘any NSLVE report or data this year’ while the probe continues, warning of possible enforcement actions, including withholding or clawing back federal funds if institutions were found in violation. That guidance has had a chilling effect, particularly at small, under-resourced schools that may lack in-house legal counsel and cannot risk jeopardizing federal financial aid.
Former deputy assistant secretary for higher education Amanda Fuchs Miller called the department’s letter a ‘scare tactic,’ saying it is unusual to circulate such warnings without findings of wrongdoing. Amelia Vance of the Public Interest Privacy Center said past Education Department privacy reviews were usually conducted quietly to encourage voluntary fixes, and that making the investigation public is atypical.
Campus leaders say losing up-to-date NSLVE feedback is especially damaging now. Many colleges use NSLVE reports to evaluate which student groups increased turnout and to target future outreach. Melissa Michelson, dean of arts and sciences at Menlo College, said she would choose to protect federal funding over participating in NSLVE if forced to decide, but warned that without 2024 data institutions will go into 2026 with incomplete evidence about what worked.
The NSLVE probe compounds other recent Education Department guidance that unsettled campus voting work. Last August, the department suggested schools could limit recipients of mail voter registration forms and said federal work-study funds could not be used for student voter registration or polling assistance. That guidance conflicted with longstanding interpretations requiring certain institutions to make voter registration forms widely available, and prompted Senate Democrats led by Sen. Cory Booker to ask the department to reconsider.
Advocates say the combined effect of the probe and prior guidance chills civic engagement on campuses, disproportionately affecting community colleges and other institutions with fewer resources. Critics also note the irony that some administration officials pursuing the inquiry have themselves faced questions about their handling of sensitive data.
For now, more than 1,000 colleges and universities that have participated in NSLVE must decide whether to continue voter mobilization without the latest feedback or scale back to avoid potential enforcement. The pause leaves unclear whether the earlier narrowing of the turnout gap will hold, widen, or close — and raises broader questions about how federal investigations and political pressure can affect research and civic engagement on campuses.
Edited by Benjamin Swasey