Minority Status in question

entomom
Sat, 21 Apr 2012 01:52:17 +0000

The answer is, it depends on the scholarship.

For instance, APIASF uses the US Census definition (which is also what college admissions uses):

[APIASF: Asian & Pacific Islander American Scholarship Fund. Today’s Minds, Tomorrow’s Future®](APIA Scholarship - APIA Scholars : APIA Scholars)



Be of Asian and/or Pacific Islander ethnicity as defined by the U.S. Census



and also says:

[APIASF: Asian & Pacific Islander American Scholarship Fund. Today’s Minds, Tomorrow’s Future®](http://www.apiasf.org/scholarship_faq.html#10)



I am part-Asian. Can I apply?
Yes, as long as you meet all other eligibility criteria.



The census definition has to do with self-identification, not what percentage of your background is a specific ethnicity or race (see the first post of the Race FAQ sticky thread on the College Admissions forum for the US Census definition).

Check the requirements of each scholarship. I know that for Hispanic scholarships, some do require a student to be half or a quarter Hispanic.

As far as actual college admissions, Asians in general are not considered URMs. However, certain Asian groups (eg. SE Asians) are considered by some schools to be underrepresented, and some schools (particularly rural LACs) often include Asians in their minority weekends, and perhaps scholarships as well.

The take home message here is that you cannot generalize, you need do your homework, go to the source and read what their requirements and definitions are.