Race/Ethnicity Information

The U.S. Department of Education issued final guidance in October 2007 on how postsecondary education institutions will collect and maintain race and ethnicity data on students and employees, and how those data will be aggregated for reporting to the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS). These changes are necessary in order to implement the standards for the classification of federal data on race and ethnicity issued by the Office of Management and Budget in1997.

Implementation is imminent and affects offices throughout the campus, directly impacting institutional research. This Web site, sponsored by the Association for Institutional Research (AIR) with support from NCES, was created as a focal point for useful information and discussion as institutions implement the new standards.

Presentations, Papers and Articles - view and/or download powerpoints, Webinars, manuscripts, and more to learn more about the new race/ethnicity standards from various perspectives. Links - An index of relevant links to resources at various Web sites including NCES, AIR, EEOC, AACRAO, and more. Implementation Status of Non-Federal Organizations - This section presents status reports provided by various vendors, ERP organizations, and data requesters. At this point, we only have information from very few as most are developing their statements. As soon as they become available to us, we shall post them here. This section will be updated continuously.

FAQ -Don’t reinvent the wheel. Your colleague may already have asked your question. Find answers to many frequently asked questions about the new standards. Discussion BLOG - Ask your questions and get your answers plus more; read the commentary; participate in the discussion. All centered on the new race/ethnicity standards. Questions and answers from this BLOG will be added to FAQ. Task Force - AIR acknowledges the AIR Race/Ethnicity Task Force for their work in developing this Web page.

We welcome your feedback about the AIR Race/Ethnicity Information Site.

Last Update: 9/17/200810:23:33 PM