Information involving millions of students across California may be compromised following a data breach that involved a testing company, state education officials said.
The California Department of Education (CDE) on Friday disclosed the breach involving the Educational Testing Service (ETS), which is under contract to provide state and federally required testing to all students enrolled in the state's public schools.
ETS provides support for the state's assessment programs, including the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress and the English Language Proficiency Assessments for California.
On Sept. 25, ETS found unauthorized activity involving a secure file transfer protocol site used to exchange California statewide assessment information with the California Department of Education. After taking the site offline, ETS launched an investigation with the help of outside cybersecurity experts.
Investigators determined that hackers used a compromised login credential to access the site and copy files containing California student information between May 22 and Sept. 18.
Officials said student information "including but not limited to all students enrolled in the three previous school years" had been accessed and copied. The CDE reports that more than 5.7 million students were enrolled in California public schools in the 2025-26 school year.
"The information that was accessed and copied contained student demographic, program participation, and assessment data that ETS maintains in connection with California's statewide assessment programs," officials said.
While the information accessed and copied varies by student, officials said data may include name, date of birth, address, school district and grade level, along with gender, race or ethnicity, primary language, country of origin and English learner status.
Additional data that may be compromised include Disability and Section 504 status, eligibility for certain programs and English language proficiency information statewide assessment registration, participation and results.
Officials said Social Security numbers, drivers license numbers, financial account information or account passwords were not compromised. The incident did not involve personal information involving parents or guardians.
After discovering the breach, officials said ETS has built a new secure file transfer site and taken other steps to reduce the risk of data being made accessible to the public. So far, ETS has not found evidence of the data being made public.
In addition, CDE and the State Board of Education said they are working with state cybersecurity experts to assess the impact of the breach on students and families. Officials said notices to families were sent out beginning on Oct. 16 and are expected to be sent through early November.
ETS is providing complimentary identity protection services through Experian IdentityWorks for two years. Additional information about the services can be found on the California Department of Education Website.
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