Proposed Changes to Census Could Affect Native Students

Proposed changes to the 2030 United States Census would change the way the government counts citizens based on where they live and prohibit some questions related to race (including Native American identity), ethnicity and sexual orientation, which experts believe will make it more difficult to accurately count Native Americans who identify as other races and those who don’t live on tribal lands.

Although these proposed changes wouldn’t affect how tribal colleges and Native American–serving nontribal institutions are funded, experts warn that they put key social support services for Native people at risk. The American Indian College Fund said in a statement that Census data helps show the “full demographic footprint of Indian Country—not just reservation populations,” and the data is essential for calculating the size and needs of the Native population.

In the proposal, the Census Bureau argued that these changes would ensure that each American citizen is counted, while those not in the country illegally are not. It proposes counting people based on their “usual residence,” which informs whether they can be included in the Census (undocumented immigrants can’t have a “usual residence,” according to the law) and makes sure they’re only counted once. Limiting demographic questions is aimed at preventing data from being “distorted in any way by questions about immaterial personal characteristics, such as race,” officials said in the proposal.

The proposed changes to the Census are in line with the Trump administration’s broader agenda to curb illegal immigration and end any program or policy that gives distinct treatment based on race.

The changes aren’t final, and members of the public can comment on the changes until Nov. 2. After that, the agency will have to review and respond to those comments before finalizing the rule. More than 54,000 comments have already been submitted.

“The Census is more than a population count,” the National Congress of American Indians said in a statement. “Census data help shape political representation, federal funding decisions, policy development, and planning for essential programs and services across Indian Country.”

Robert Maxim, a fellow at the Brookings Institute, said at least a dozen federal programs for Native Americans are funded based on a formula that relies on Census data. The programs offer housing, employment and vocational training, food, transportation, and support for aging people, Maxim said.

“All of these kinds of investments are whole-person investments that are needed in order to establish conditions that people really need to have success in school but also have access and opportunity in higher education,” Maxim said. “To the extent that you have more robust social infrastructure to support Native communities, that takes the burden off of Native students themselves and allows them to focus on pursuing their education.”

The proposed change related to counting people based on their “usual residence” is a departure from how people were counted in the 2020 Census and previously. According to the proposal, the legal status of foreign citizens wasn’t considered in deciding whether to count them. In 2020, foreign citizens “living in” the U.S. were counted, but those “visiting” the U.S. were not counted.

The American Indian College Fund said this change would affect the accuracy and federal accountability in establishing where American Indians and Alaska Natives live and need services.

Data from the Census’s American Community Survey shows that fewer than 17 percent of Native American adults have earned a bachelor’s degree or higher, compared to about 36 percent of all adults. Maxim said Census data is the most reliable way the United States tracks education, economic and social outcomes by racial and ethnic groups. The proposed rule wouldn’t prohibit ACS from asking questions about race, ethnicity or sexual orientation.

“This is the type of really important funding that is needed to enable student success,” Maxim said. “The level of underinvestment in Indian Country already probably contributes to the relatively low levels of Native American access and attainment in higher education.”

Without this data, Maxim said, he worries whether the federal government would continue efforts to encourage Native American college enrollment and completion. “At a minimum without this data, it’s going to be impossible for the federal government to be held to account about whether it’s meeting its obligations to tribal communities.”

The data isn’t perfect, and many people have advocated separating Native American status from race. But if the question is eliminated altogether, education advocates will lose access to a lot of important information, he said

“Federal data on Native students and Native people is a mess,” Maxim said. Still, “there’s a lot of insight that we currently get from having this data … that we won’t be able to have if we were eliminated entirely.”