The changing percentage of the Asian population at Bowdoin

Colleges & Universities Bowdoin College
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<p>Starting in 2010, the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) changed its race/ethnicity reporting categories. Before 2010, the categories were:

  1. Non-Resident Alien
  2. Race and Ethnicity unknown
  3. Black, non-Hispanic
  4. American Indian/Alaskan Native
  5. Asian/Pacific Islander
  6. Hispanic
  7. White, non-Hispanic</p>

<p>Beginning in 2010, the new categories are:

  1. Nonresident Alien
  2. Race and Ethnicity unknown
  3. Hispanics of any race</p>

<p>For non-Hispanics only:
4) American Indian or Alaska Native
5) Asian
6) Black or African American
7) Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander
8) White
9) Two or more races</p>

<p>It looks like some students who were being counted as Asian prior to 2010 moved to either Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, or Two or more races. </p>

<p>If you look at any school, there will probably be shifts between pre-2010 data and post-2010 data due to the new categories. </p>

<p>For Bowdoin, from 2009-2010 to 2010-2011, the only category that had a slight percentage increase was Hispanic. That’s because of the new reporting requirements. You are initially asked if you are a non-resident alien, Hispanic (can be any race), or not Hispanic. If you reply Hispanic, you do not report a race. </p>

<p>Given Bowdoin’s high persistence/5-yr graduation rate (over 90%), the population is not changing drastically from year to year. So I think your concerns are due to the new reporting.</p>