The Consortium for Education and Social Science Research was founded in 2008 with support from the Office of the Vice Provost for Research. The Consortium encompasses the expertise from four founding centers: the Center for Survey Research (CSR), the Center for Evaluation & Education Policy (CEEP), the Bureau of Social Science Research (BSSR), and the Indiana Institute on Disability and Community (IIDC).

CESSR’s goal is to facilitate high-quality research by creating a "one-stop shop" for reseachers, providing core services from research grant proposal development to surveying, statistical analysis, and evaluation expertise. Specifically, the Consortium seeks to become an intellectual center that will maximize the potential of education researchers and social scientists to attract external funding and foster the development of networks of collaboration and support among social scientists.