An overview of the status of education and other demographic characteristics for Asian Americans, Blacks, Mexican Americans, American Indians, and Hispanic Americans is given in this report. Major findings follow: (1) In 1982, 36.5 percent of Black families and 29.9 percent of Hispanic families had incomes below poverty level, as compared to 9.1 percent for Whites. (2) 37.7 percent of all Black, and 35.2 percent of all Puerto Rican families were headed by single women. (3) Of female-headed nonwhite families, 70 to 80 percent live in poverty. (4) Almost 18 percent of Blacks and 10 percent of Hispanics were functionally illiterate in 1979. (5) All but two of the largest school systems in the country had enrollments of more than 50 percent minority students. (6) Black and Native American women outnumber men in higher education enrollments. (7) The proportion of Black and Hispanic high school graduates who go on to higher education declined between 1975 and 1980. (8) Over half of Hispanic and Native American students and over 40 percent of Black and Asian students were enrolled in two-year colleges. (9) Blacks received 6.4 percent and Hispanics 2.3 percent of the bachelor's degrees awarded in 1980. (10) Native American enrollment in professional schools dropped 35.9 percent between 1976 and 1980. (11) In 1979, 4.4 percent of faculty were Black and 1.4 percent were Hispanic. (Author/GC)