Ethnic/Race Data Collecting and Reporting

The Department of Education (DOE) requires that institutions collect and report ethnic and race data. The collection of data requires the gathering of information from individuals by educational institutions and other recipients, whereas the reporting of data require the provision of aggregate information to the DOE by educational institutions and other recipients based on the information that has been collected from individuals.

Collecting of Data

J1 Desktop provides you the ability to store answers to the following questions:

1. Is the respondent Hispanic/Latino?

The Office of Management and Budget defines a Hispanic as "a person of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin, regardless of race." The term "Spanish origin" can be used in addition to "Hispanic/Latino or Latino."

2. Which of the following races is the respondent? Select one or more.

Race	Definition
American Indian or Alaska Native	A person having origins in any of the original peoples of North and South American (including Central America) and who maintains a tribal affiliation or community attachment
Asian	A person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent including, for example, Cambodia, China, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippine Islands, Thailand, and Vietnam
Black or African American	A person having origins in any of the Black racial groups of Africa
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander	A person having origins in any of the original peoples of Hawaii, Guam, Samoa, or other Pacific Islands
White	A person having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa [see 1997 Standards, 62 FR 58789 (October 30, 1997)]

Reporting of Data

Recipients are required to report aggregated racial and ethnic data in seven categories:

· Hispanic/Latino of any race and for individuals who are non-Hispanic/Latino only

· American Indian or Alaska Native

· Asian

· Black or African American

· Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander

· White

· Two or more races

Additional Reporting Information

· The DOE will handle the reporting of individuals who do not self-identify a race and/or an ethnic.

· Elementary and secondary educational institutions will use observer identification when a respondent (typically a parent or guardian at the elementary and secondary school levels) refuses to self-identify the student's race and/or ethnic.

· The DOE will not include a "Race and/or Ethnic Unknown" category for its aggregate elementary and secondary reporting of racial and ethnic data.

· The DOE will include a "Race and/or Ethnic Unknown" category at the college/university level when the student has refused to self-identify ethnic and/or race data

· The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) will use the category of "Nonresident Alien" as an alternative to collecting race/ethnic from nonresident aliens (information that is not needed for civil rights reporting purposes). IPEDS will also include a "Race and/or Ethnic Unknown" category for reporting aggregate data from postsecondary institutions.

· The Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) will use a "Race and/or Ethnic Unknown" category for reporting aggregate data. However, the "Race and/or Ethnic Unknown" category should not appear on forms provided to postsecondary students and staff or to clients and staff of RSA recipients.

· "Two or more races" category will be used for any student who self-identifies in more than one of the "race" categories.

· The DOE requires institutions to keep the original individual responses to requests for racial and ethnic data from staff and students for at least three years (may be longer for some grants).