Race and Ethnicity
Background
In 2007, the U. S. Department of Education issued new procedures for maintaining, collecting,
and reporting data on race and ethnicity. These changes are being made in order to implement the
Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) 1997 Standards for Maintaining, Collecting, and Presenting
Federal Data on Race and Ethnicity. The revised standards reflect a change in data collection policy
and were designed so that Federal agencies, such as the U.S. Department of Education, could all
similarly collect information that reflects the increasing diversity of the United States population.
Major Changes
Educational institutions are now required to collect racial and ethnic data from all students, faculty
and staff through the administration of a two-question format. The first question asks about ethnicity
(is the individual Hispanic or Latino, yes or no) and the second question asks respondents to select
one or more races from five racial categories. The category “Asian or Pacific-Islander” has been
separated into two categories, one for “Asian” and one for “Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander”.
All respondents will have the opportunity to select more than one race, and those doing so will be
reported in a generic “Two or More” race category.
Reporting
By AY 2010-11, all colleges and universities are to begin reporting racial/ethnic classifications under
the new format. The category “Asians and Pacific Islanders” will each be reported in separate categories.
Latinos/Hispanics will be identified and categorized by an affirmative response to the yes/no question
regarding Hispanic/Latino identity, regardless of whether these individuals subsequently indicate that
they are from a particular racial background. Individuals will be able to select more than one
race – White, Black, Asian, Pacific Islander, American Indian/Alaska Native. If more than one race is
selected, then that person will be reported as “Two or More Races”. If a person is a non-resident
alien, he/she will be reported as such, regardless of their race selection; this is no change from
the present reporting system. The same holds for the “unknown” category. The result is nine possible
reporting categories under the new system. The table below provides a comparison of the current and
new reporting categories.
Current Reporting Categories |
AY 2010-11 Reporting Categories |
Non-resident Alien |
Non-resident Alien |
Hispanic |
Hispanic (of any race) |
Black, non-Hispanic |
Black or African American, non-Hispanic |
White, non-Hispanic |
White, non-Hispanic |
American Indian or Alaska Native, non-Hispanic |
American Indian or Alaska Native, non-Hispanic |
Asian/Pacific Islander, non-Hispanic |
Asian, non-hispanic
-----------------------------
Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, non-Hispanic |
|
Two or more races, non-Hispanic |
Race and Ethnicity
Unknown |
Race and Ethnicity
Unknown |
Changing Your Race and Ethnicity
Students who are currently enrolled can now update and confirm the race and ethnicity information
we have on file by doing the following: Log onto Towson Online Services and navigate to: Self
Service>Student Center>Personal Information>Demographic Data. Then click the far right tab “Ethnicity”
and review/update your information. If you make changes, be sure to hit the “Submit” button when you are
finished.
Information regarding the resurveying of faculty and staff will be sent at a later date.
Additional information and relevant materials about the transition to the new reporting categories can
be found on the
U. S. Department of Education website
|
