Does "Asian Pacific Islander" data accurately represent Pacific Islanders?

Q. Does "Asian Pacific Islander" data accurately represent Pacific Islanders?

A. Not when it comes to college graduation rates.

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Pacific Islanders and Asians are two separate, distinct racial groups. However, sometimes they are grouped together for data collection, and categorized as "Asian Pacific Islanders" or "Asian Pacific Americans." API college graduation data often bears no resemblance to what's happening to Pacific Islanders.

Why? First, because in addition to being two different groups, Pacific Islanders and Asians have two very different levels of higher educational attainment -- Asians are three-and-a-half-times more likely to have a bachelors degree, and five times more likely to have an advanced degree. While Pacific Islanders are significantly underrepresented in higher education, Asians have the highest college graduation rate among the major racial and ethnic groups according to the U.S. Census.

Secondly, the Asian American population is much larger than the Pacific Islander American population -- 14 times larger. So when you take all of the Asian Americans and group them with all of the Pacific Islander Americans, the resulting data will have counted fourteen "As" for every one "PI."

The danger is that if you mistakenly think API college graduation data represents Pacific Islanders, you'll be treating an underrepresented group as if they're not underrepresented, and incorrectly excluding them from scholarships and fellowships for underrepresented minorities.

Are Pacific Islanders Asian?

Q. Are Pacific Islanders Asian?

A. No.

Pacific Islanders and Asians are two distinct, different, separate racial minority groups. Federal policy on racial and ethnic data collection recognizes this difference in OMB Directive No. 15, which was updated in 1997 to recognize that Pacific Islanders and Asians should not be lumped together -- instead, they should be acknowledged as distinct racial groups.

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In addition to being two different groups, Pacific Islanders and Asians have two very different rates of higher education attainment.

According to data used by the Census for this year's Asian and Pacific Islander Heritage month, 50 percent of Asians 25-or-older have at least a college degree. For Pacific Islanders, that rate is 14 percent.

For advanced degrees, the difference is even bigger -- 20 percent of Asians in the U.S. hold an advanced degree, compared to 4 percent of Pacific Islanders.

In other words, Asians are over three-and-a-half times more likely to earn a bachelors degree, and five times more likely to earn an advanced degree.

So while Pacific Islanders and Asians can (and do) work together on common issues that serve both communities, it's also important to remember that in some areas, they have different needs.

Are Pacific Islanders historically underrepresented in higher education?

Q. Are Pacific Islanders historically underrepresented in higher education?

A. Yes.

In addition to being currently underrepresented in U.S. higher education, Pacific Islanders are also historically underrepresented. U.S. Census data has consistently shown for over twenty years that Pacific Islanders are underrepresented among college graduates.

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Recent statistics, as we've mentioned before, indicate that while over 28 percent of the U.S. population has a bachelor's degree, the rate for Pacific Islander Americans is just 14 percent. The graduation gap is even wider for advanced degrees.

These recent figures are consistent with data over the past twenty years.

• 2010: According to data published in 2010, 28 percent of the college graduation age U.S. population had at least a bachelors degree. The rate for Pacific Islander Americans was 15 percent. In other words, Pacific Islanders were 46 percent less likely to graduate from college.
• 2000: According to data published in 2000, 24.4 percent of the college graduation age U.S. population had at least a bachelors degree. The rate for Pacific Islanders was 13.8 percent. That means that Pacific Islanders were 43 percent less likely to graduate from college in 2000.
• 1990: According to data published in 1990, 20 percent of the college graduation age U.S. population had at least a bachelors degree. The rate for Pacific Islanders was 11 percent. In other words, Pacific Islanders were 45 percent less likely to graduate from college in 1990.

As you can see here, U.S. Census data has consistently shown that Pacific Islanders are underrepresented in higher education.

Are Pacific Islanders Underrepresented in Higher Education?

Q. Are Pacific Islanders really Underrepresented in Higher Education?

A. Yes. In fact, Census data indicates that compared to the general U.S. population, Pacific Islanders are about half as likely to graduate with a bachelors degree. Pacific Islanders are even less represented at the advanced degree level.

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Over 28 percent of graduation-age (25-or-older) have at least a 4-year-degree. By comparison, only 14 percent of single-race Pacific Islander Americans have a 4-year-degree. For advanced degrees, the national graduation rate is 10 percent, while the Pacific Islander graduation rate is only 4 percent. 

(This is according to data published in May, 2011. Because these numbers continually change, we'll update this section at least once a year. Here's a link to the data we're currently using: LINK)