Higher Ed Groups Raise Concerns Over Census Changes

The American Council on Education and 18 other higher education associations warned the Trump administration that its proposed changes to the U.S. Census could inhibit accurate counts of the populations on and around college campuses. It could also hinder researchers, policymakers and institutional leaders from accessing accurate data when making decisions, they add. 

The change, proposed by the Census Bureau in September, would exclude undocumented immigrants and some legal noncitizen residents from being counted in the decennial survey and strike certain demographic questions from the questionnaire. The proposal is open for public comment until Nov. 2; more than 80,000 comments have been submitted so far, including ACE’s.

ACE and the other dissenters worry the proposed changes would prevent international students, faculty and scholars who are here on visas from being counted and harm campuses and surrounding communities, in which these individuals make up a significant chunk of the population through a “negative and unrealistic count of the true population.” (Advocates for Native American students have raised similar concerns.)

The higher ed associations fear that eliminating demographic questions about race, ethnicity and sexual orientation could also make it harder to compare demographic trends across surveys; data on race and ethnicity has been collected since the survey’s inception in 1790. Those comparisons, ACE says, are critical to understanding disparities among minority groups and identifying declines and growth in population that affect workforce needs.

In response, the associations urged the bureau to withdraw its proposal.

“The Decennial Census must remain a fair, accurate, inclusive, and trusted count of the people living in the United States,” ACE wrote. “Any rule governing residence criteria or demographic questions should strengthen that mission, not weaken it.”