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#24Title: OMB Reporting Standards for IPEDS Student and Employee Racial and Ethnic Data Will Not Be Implemented in 2004-05 Prepared: August 2004 Type: Informational Summary The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) announced that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) recommended that the Department of Education delay implementation of new standards for the reporting of race/ethnicity on Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) surveys for at least another six months. All 2004-05 survey forms reflect the categories currently in use. Current Status In an announcement to IPEDS Keyholders, NCES communicated that the Department of Education has been working both internally and with other federal agencies to implement the new racial/ethnic categories for the reporting of race/ethnicity data by institutions as required by OMB Standards set forth in 1997. As yet, however, NCES does not have final approval from OMB on what categories will be used in IPEDS. Further, NCES was informed that OMB recommended that the Department delay any plans to implement the new Standards for at least another six months. All 2004-05 survey forms reflect the “old” categories that have been in use since 1990. The NCES anticipates that these same categories will apply to the 2005-06 survey instruments as well. As soon as OMB approves new categories for reporting aggregate data, NCES will alert IPEDS keyholders and coordinators and will provide a schedule for implementation. Updates on this topic will appear in What's New in IPEDS? (http://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/whatsnew.asp). Implications for Institutions Any changes to forms, databases, and reports should continue to be put on hold until an official announcement of reporting categories is made. Because this topic has broad implications for institutions, AIR’s Higher Education Data Policy Committee recommends that you share copies of this Alert with individuals at your institution who are responsible for reporting IPEDS data for students and employees (e.g., human resources, admissions, student records, financial aid, information technology, athletics, etc.). Timeline October 30, 1997 - OMB published final Revisions to the Standards for the Classification of Federal Data on Race and Ethnicity. January 1, 2003 - Original date for new federal data collection and reporting. Not enforced because reporting guidelines were not available. August 2004 - Announcement from NCES that new reporting requirements have not yet been finalized. Additional Resources
Authors: Coordinated by the Higher Education Data Policy Committee. All opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the official position of the Association for Institutional Research. |