The standards that federal agencies have used for more than 25 years to collect race and ethnicity data are changing. The revised standards, published by the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in the Federal Register March 29, 2024, add a new race and ethnicity category for individuals identifying as Middle Eastern or North African (MENA).
The new standards also establish a one-question format for collecting race and ethnicity data. In most circumstances, the 1997 standards called for a two-question format, which solicited information about ethnicity, and then about race, through two separate questions. The revised standards discard the two-question format and use a combined race/ethnicity format, allowing respondents to select as many race/ethnicity categories as they wish.
The new standards took effect immediately for all new recordkeeping or reporting requirements that include racial or ethnic information. Agencies must create an action plan on race and ethnicity data within 18 months, and they must make their existing requirements consistent with the new standards within five years.