FACT SHEET: Statistical Policy Directive No. 15 (SPD15)

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What is SPD-15?

Statistical Policy Directive No. 15 (SPD-15) sets the minimum categories and rules (i.e., data standards) that federal statistical agencies must follow when collecting race and ethnicity data. Statistical policy directives are often applied more broadly for data collection purposes, under the purview of the Chief Statistician of the United States. SPD-15 applies to agency collections ranging from the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey to administrative forms implemented through the Department of Education, managed by local school districts.  

In plain terms, SPD-15 is the rulebook that tells every federal agency which race and ethnicity categories to use and how to ask about them, so that data collected by different parts of the federal government can be compared. It is a federal data policy issued by the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) through the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA). SPD-15 does not require any agency to collect race or ethnicity data, but if an agency does collect this information, the agency must follow the data standards outlined in SPD-15.

The current minimum categories for race and ethnicity are below as follows: 

• American Indian or Alaska Native
• Asian
• Black or African American
• Hispanic or Latino
• Middle Eastern or North African
• Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander
• White

SPD-15 supports consistent and comparable data across agencies and programs that enables accurately informing public policy, making resource allocations, and enabling other decisions in areas that use race and ethnicity data. 

Where did SPD-15 come from?

OMB first developed SPD-15 in 1977, in consultation with other federal agencies. Before 1977, some data collection relied on an enumerator's observation of a person's race rather than the person's own answer. SPD-15 established self-identification as the standard in government data collection. These standards are used across federal censuses and surveys, such as the decennial census or education surveys. The standards also apply in administrative data collections from federal administrative forms, civil rights data collections, and other areas where comparable race and ethnicity data is requested.    

Has it been updated since 1977?

SPD-15 has been revised twice since originally issued:

What limitations of the SPD-15 1997 standard, led to suggested changes by the Federal Interagency Working Group on Race and Ethnicity Standards?

Some limitations of the 1997 standard are commonly cited as motivations for the 2024 revision, and remain in effect wherever the 1997 standard continues to be used:

• Middle Eastern or North African (MENA) respondents default to "White." The 1997 standard has no separate MENA category, so respondents of Middle Eastern or North African descent are generally counted within the "White" category, even though many do not identify with that category.
• Race and Hispanic/Latino ethnicity are collected as two separate questions. Under the 1997 standard, ethnicity (Hispanic or Latino, or not) is asked separately from race, rather than as part of one combined question. This has been associated with higher rates of Hispanic/Latino respondents selecting "some other race" or leaving the race question blank, since none of the standard race categories captures their identity on its own.

What changed in the SPD-15 revision in 2024?

1. One question instead of two for Hispanic and race. Previously, a separate "Are you Hispanic?" question preceded a separate "What's your race?" question. Now it's a single, combined question, and respondents are encouraged to check as many boxes as apply.
2. A new category: Middle Eastern or North African (MENA). Previously, people with Middle Eastern or North African backgrounds were counted as "White" in federal data, even though most didn't identify that way. They now have their own category.
3. More detail, by default including a write-in option. Agencies must allow respondents to specify more detailed race/ethnicity information beyond the seven minimum categories in the data standard, such as a specific ethnic or national group, through a write-in response, unless they request an exemption. This is a notable change from the 1997 standard, which offered detailed subcategories in some collections but did not require a write-in field as a standard feature across agencies. 
4. Updated guidelines. This included updating definitions, terminology, and guidance to agencies on the collection and presentation of data 

What is the timeline for implementation? 

The 2024 revisions to SPD-15 took effect immediately upon publication in the Federal Register (March 28, 2024) for any new applicable data collection. OMB gave agencies a longer implementation timeline, however, to update existing forms, surveys, and systems under the information collection request requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act.

Under the original schedule, OMB required the 24 largest agencies of the federal government and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to submit implementation "action plans" to OMB by September 28, 2025. Then, the goal was for all federal information collections to reach full compliance by March 28, 2029.

As of July 2026, OMB has extended this timeline twice: