Data Access

Researchers interested in accessing all raw data, from baseline through the fifth follow-up (2014), need to apply for a restricted-use data license at no cost through NCES’s Restricted-use License Program. Read NCES instructions for more information. All variables available across the study can be viewed through NCES Study Variable List. Survey data and documentation for the sixth follow-up will be made available to researchers through a NCES restricted-use data license by mid-2024.

Genomic data from the sixth follow-up will be available from the National Institute on Aging (NIA) Genetics of Alzheimer’s Disease Data Storage Site (NIAGADS). Blood-based biomarker data (e.g., Ab40, Ab42, total tau, NfL, p-tau 181, GFAp, DNA methylation) will be available through the Global Alzheimer’s Association Interactive Network (GAAIN). In both cases, a unique and anonymous code will link sample members’ genomic or blood-based biomarker data to their survey information at NCES; only NCES holds the crosswalk between these data files.

To access the linked survey and genomic and/or blood-based biomarker records, researchers will have to:

  1. apply for a NCES restricted-use data license,
  2. apply for a NIAGADS data access (genomic data) and/or a GAAIN data access (biomarker data), and
  3. analyze the linked records in a secure facility.