Revisions to Statistical Policy Directive No. 15: Standards for Maintaining, Collecting, and Presenting Federal Data on Race and Ethnicity
INSIGHTi
Proposed Revisions to Statistical Policy
Directive No. 15: Standards for Maintaining,
Collecting, and Presenting Federal Data on
Race and Ethnicity
Updated May 1, 2024
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) oversees the collection of race and ethnicity data through
Statistical Policy Directive (SPD) No. 15: Standards for Maintaining, Collecting, and Presenting Federal
Data on Race and Ethnicity. SPD No. 15 intends to “ensure the comparability of race and ethnicity across
Federal datasets and to maximize the quality of that data by ensuring that the format, language, and
procedures for collecting the data are consistent.” On March 29, 2024, OMB released revisions to SPD
No. 15. The revised standards
• collect race and ethnicity information using one combined question;
• add “Middle Eastern or North African” (MENA) as a new response category;
• require the collection of detailed race and ethnicity categories by default; and
• update certain terminology within categories.
The revisions will impact how population demographics are presented in federal statistics, including the
American Community Survey and the decennial census. This Insight provides information on OMB’s role
in statistical policy, previous revisions to SPD No. 15, and the current revisions. It concludes with
potential considerations for Congress.
Federal Statistical Policy and OMB’s Role
Within OMB, the administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) is responsible
for the development and oversight of implementation of government-wide statistical policies. The chief
statistician heads the Statistical and Science Policy office of OIRA.
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Alongside statutory requirements, OMB has its own administrative process in place for updating existing
SPDs, which includes
• technical evaluation of the current standards by an interagency working group composed
of career federal subject matter experts;
• additional technical research, testing, and analysis to close identified gaps; and
• solicitation and consideration of public comment on ways to improve the standards.
Final decisions on changes to an SPD are determined by OMB.
Previous Revisions of SPD No. 15
Originally developed in 1977, SPD No. 15 was last revised in 1997. The 1977 version established
standard race and ethnicity classifications for federal data purposes. The directive defined the following
racial categories:
• American Indian or Alaskan Native
• Asian or Pacific Islander
• Black
• White
This directive also established these ethnic categories:
• Hispanic origin
• Not of Hispanic origin
These categories were to be used for civil rights compliance reporting; general program administrative
and grants reporting; and statistical reporting. In terms of mixed race or ethnicity individuals, the directive
indicates use of “the category which most closely reflects the individual’s recognition in his community.”
The 1997 revision maintained collection of minimum racial categories as a default along with the ability
to collect more detailed racial data. Furthermore, the directive emphasized self-identification from
respondents:
self-identification is the preferred means of obtaining information about an individual’s race and
ethnicity, except in instances where observer identification is more practical.
The 1997 standards were developed after the previous standards faced increasing criticism since the 1990
decennial census for not reflecting the increasing diversity in the United States. In these standards, among
other changes, the previous “Asian or Pacific Islander” category was separated into two categories,
“Asian” and “Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander.”
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2024 Revision
In 2023, OMB stated that there have been “large societal, political, economic, and demographic shifts” in
the United States since 1997 that warranted an update to SPD No. 15, including
• increasing racial and ethnic diversity;
• a growing number of people who identify as more than one race or ethnicity; and
• changing immigration and migration patterns.
Since 1997, research and practices regarding the collection of race and ethnicity information have also
continued to evolve.
In 2008, for example, the Census Bureau began exploring the possibility of combining race and ethnicity
in one question with the design of the 2010 Census Alternative Questionnaire Experiment (AQE)
Research on Race and Hispanic Origin. The AQE was completed in 2012 and the results found that a
higher number of individuals were more likely to respond to a question which combined Hispanic origin
and race than having Hispanic origin as a separate question.
In 2014, OMB formed the Federal Interagency Technical Working Group on Race and Ethnicity
Standards to “exchange research findings, identify implementation issues, and collaborate on a shared
research agenda to improve Federal data on race and ethnicity.”
This iteration of the working group consisted of representatives from 10 Cabinet departments and 3 other
agencies that collect or use federal race and ethnicity data. OMB presented the working group’s proposals
for comment in March 2017.
A working group was convened again in September 2022 with representatives from the 13 principal
statistical agencies, 24 agencies enumerated by the Chief Financial Officers Act of 1990, and one
additional agency that relies on race and ethnicity data. The working group assessed the research done by
the previous working group; experiences from the 2020 decennial census; work done by the Interagency
Working Group on Equitable Data pursuant to Executive Order 13985; and public input gathered through
bimonthly listening sessions.
The working group released its findings and OMB requested comments in 2023 on the initial proposals to
revise SPD No. 15. The provisions of the revised standards took effect on March 28, 2024. Within 18
months of publication, relevant agencies will be required to submit to OMB an action plan to meet
compliance with these standards by March 28, 2029, though OMB has indicated most programs should be
able to implement the revisions sooner than the compliance deadline.
Potential Considerations for Congress
The new revisions to SPD No. 15 will alter how demographic data are collected and presented in federal
statistics. A number of issues related to the proposed revisions may be of interest to Congress, including
• the implementation of the revisions to SPD No. 15 adopted by OMB, including the
timing of compliance from agencies or programs;
• the impact of data collected under a revised version of SPD No. 15 on the work of federal
agencies that utilize such data; and
• more broadly, the role of Congress in federal statistical policy through its legislative and
oversight activities.
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Author Information
Taylor R. Knoedl
Analyst in American National Government
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