# Federal Statistical Research Data Centers The **FSRDC network** is the set of secure facilities in which approved researchers may work with confidential federal microdata. There are **38 open locations** as of September 4, 2026, partnered with more than fifty universities, non-profit research institutions and government agencies. Nothing leaves the room until the Disclosure Review Board clears the output. Entry requires an approved project through the [[Standard Application Process]] and then [[Special Sworn Status]], which brings the researcher inside 13 U.S.C. § 214. The [[Census Bureau]] charges nothing for access to its own data. **The facility does charge, and that is the network's quietest gate.** Researchers affiliated with an institution that holds a consortium seat often pay nothing; unaffiliated researchers face customary fees on the published schedule of one FSRDC of **$15,000–$20,000 per project per year**. Peer agencies add their own: NCHS lists a **$3,000** minimum project fee plus **$1,800** for the SSS application, and BEA charges a flat annual fee it reevaluates each fiscal year. The Census Bureau's own fee page concedes that "in many cases, the full cost of FSRDC services is not recovered through user fees." The result is that access to restricted federal statistical data is effectively means-tested at the level of the researcher's **institution**, with no statute or policy establishing that outcome. Mapped as Rung 5 of the [[Census Data Access Crosswalk]]. See [[Title 13]] · [[Confidential Information Protection and Statistical Efficiency Act]] · [[Federal Statistical System Tree]] · [[Interagency Council on Statistical Policy]]