The report is a comprehensive and descriptive reference source for California State University (CSU) administrators interested in various aspects of ethnic data. Section I is an introduction. Section II presents ethnic data drawn from the 1980 California census, discusses some of the problems in the use and interpretation of such data, and lists nine additional sources of census information. Section III offers data on K-12 ethnic enrollments in California and information on high school achievement, attrition, and graduation patterns. Section IV addresses ethnic enrollments, participation, and transfer rates in California postsecondary education, showing data for all public segments, comparisons among segments, and comparisons between the segments and secondary school data. Section V presents data on academic achievement and student retention and graduation rates by ethnic group. It also provides an analytic review of retention programs in higher education and a 44-item bibliography of major sources of information. Section VI presents the results of the CSU Student Needs and Priorities Survey, with an emphasis on ethnic group variations. Among the topics surveyed are student life goals, educational priorities, satisfaction levels, academic and social issues, finances, and retention. Section VII indexes the tables, figures, and appendices in the report. (SB)