INED has many ties with the academic world. It is part of a post-graduate network linking the universities of Bordeaux IV, Paris I, Paris V, Paris X and IRD. Fifteen INED researchers teach master's courses in demography or related disciplines (statistics, sociology, history, public health, etc.) and as many university academics are associate researchers at INED. Universities and doctoral schools naturally turn to INED to host their PhD students in demography, and since 2000 INED has welcomed an annual contingent of around thirty PhD students. An average of five PhD theses are defended at INED each year.

The universities also participate in demographic surveys led by INED. Researchers from Paris, Orsay, Cergy, Nantes, Aix-Marseille, and Poitiers universities as well as from Sciences Po Paris and École normale supérieure in Lyon regularly take part in INED research projects.