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Until this year, questions about race on most college applications were much simpler. A student who was white with a distant African American ancestor, for instance, would most likely have identified himself as white.

However, students applying for college must now choose from a menu of new boxes of racial and ethnic categories on their applications. Why? Because the Department of Education now requires universities to comply with a broad federal mandate to collect more information about race and ethnicity in an effort to spur diversity on college campuses. This change has made it easier for students to claim a multiracial identity and has expanded the number of applicants who identify themselves as multiracial.

However it also presents college admissions officers with a whole new raft of questions, including how to account for various racial mixes in seeking diversity on campus and introducing questions such as, is a student applying as black and Latino more desirable in terms of diversity than someone who is white and black? Or white and Chinese? Should the ethnicities of one’s distant relatives be considered fair game, or just parents? And what should be done about students who skip the race question altogether — a sizable number of whom, some studies have shown, are white, and do so either in protest or out of fear that identifying as merely white could hurt rather than help their chances in this new environment? Some scholars worry that the growth in multiracial applicants could further erode the original intent of affirmative action to help disadvantaged minorities.

Admissions officers at many of the nation’s top colleges say they were trying to give students greater freedom to describe their backgrounds, and by increasing diversity on campuses, these institutions will offer enriched peer-to-peer learning opportunities.

Rice University, a private and highly selective institution was founded in the early 1900s as an exclusively white institution, and remained so through the late 1960s. Now, white students comprise only 43 percent of the student body at the Texas university, where an applicant’s racial identification can become an admissions game changer.

“From an academic standpoint, the qualifying records, the test scores, how many AP courses, they may all look alike,” said Chris Muñoz, Rice’s VP of enrollment. “That’s when we might go and say, ‘This kid has a Spanish surname. Let’s see what he wrote about.’ Right or wrong, it can make a difference.”

About 3% of the U.S. population identify as “mixed race,” however at Rice about 6% of the freshman class characterize themselves as of more than one race, nearly as many who identify themselves as “black or African-American.”

“I am honoring, best I can, how the students see themselves,” Muñoz said, going on to note many college counselors will convey to families that a multiracial background gives an applicant a subtle advantage at the most selective colleges and universities. He cautions that students adhere to the honor principle and not stretch the facts regarding their ethnic and racial background for personal gain.

“There are players out there,” says dean of undergraduate admission at Rice. “If they’re lukewarm about it, and they’re trying to make it something they care about, it comes through.”

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