On March 28, 2024, OMB finalized revisions to Statistical Policy Directive No. 15: Standards for Maintaining, Collecting, and Presenting Federal Data on Race and Ethnicity (SPD 15). The 2024 revisions to SPD 15 are effective as of its publication date, and Federal agencies must comply with these updates as soon as possible, and, in any case, no later than March 28, 2029. The revisions to SPD 15 require the use of one combined question for race and ethnicity, and encourage respondents to select as many options as apply to how they identify. These options now include Middle Eastern or North African as a required minimum category. The revised SPD 15 also requires the collection of additional detail beyond the minimum required race and ethnicity categories for most situations.

Starting the day the 2024 revisions to SPD 15 were published, OMB and Federal agencies began the critical work of updating all censuses, surveys, and forms that collect race and ethnicity data to begin using the updated question format and data presentation approaches, as required by the revised SPD 15. This means, for example, that Federal agencies are working hard as they print or program new forms and surveys, re-program databases, ensure that various datasets are able to link as needed, and more.