Race and Ethnicity Data Field Updates - Colorado Department of Education

Requirements

Required by September 1, 2026

All parent, student, and staff forms must add:

Middle Eastern or North African
South Asian

Schools/LEAs do not need to go back and collect this information from people who have already submitted forms.

Optional Now (Required by March 2029)

Schools/LEAs may begin updating forms early to match the upcoming federal rules:

Remove the separate question “Are you Hispanic or Latino”
Use one combined question: “What is your race/ethnicity? Select all that apply”

This becomes mandatory in 2029.

CDE Reporting

In 2026-2027, interchange and periodic files collecting race/ethnicity data will add the new race/ethnicity fields and update the business rules for these changes.

Added Race/Ethnicity Fields

South Asian
Middle Eastern or North African

Business Rule Change

Hispanic/Latino can be reported alone.

For federal reporting, CDE calculates the overall race/ethnicity category. With these changes, CDE will need to calculate a state and federal race/ethnicity category going forward. This will be completed in two phases.

Phase 1 (2026-2027 through 2027-2028)

State Race/Ethnicity

Colorado will use a new set of calculated categories:

American Indian or Alaska Native
Asian
South Asian
Asian and South Asian
Black or African American
Hispanic/Latino
Hispanic/Latino in Combination
Middle Eastern or North African
White
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander
Multiracial and/or Multiethnic

Code	Description	Logic Notes
11	American Indian or Alaska Native	Individual solely indicated as American Indian or Alaska Native
12	Asian	Individual solely indicated as Asian
13	South Asian	Individual solely indicated as South Asian
14	Asian and South Asian	Individual reported as both Asian and South Asian
15	Black or African American	Individual solely indicated as Black or African American
16	Hispanic/Latino	Individual solely indicated as Hispanic/Latino
17	Hispanic/Latino in Combination	Individual indicated as Hispanic/Latino and any other race
18	Middle Eastern or North African	Individual solely indicated as Middle Eastern or North African
19	White	Individual solely indicated as White
20	Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander	Individual solely indicated as Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander
21	Multiracial and/or Multiethnic	Individual reported as two or more races/ethnicities Does not include individuals who are coded as Hispanic/Latino Does not include individuals only indicated as Asian and South Asian

State race ethnicity categories for 2026-2027 school year, visualizing the reported race/ethnicity values and how they translate to the calculated state race ethnicity fields. — State Race and Ethnicity Categories for 2026-2027 school year, visualizing the calculated state category based upon the reported race/ethnicity.

Federal Race/Ethnicity Categories

Federal rules continue to combine some groups for consistency with older definitions:

Asian = Asian + South Asian
White = White + Middle Eastern or North African
Hispanic/Latino includes individuals who select Hispanic alone or with any other race
Two or More races excludes Hispanic/Latino, Asian + South Asian, and White + Middle Eastern or North African Combinations

Code	Description	Logic Notes
01	American Indian or Alaska Native	Individual solely indicated as American Indian or Alaska Native
02	Asian	Individuals indicated as Asian, South Asian, or both Asian and South Asian
03	Black or African American	Individual solely indicated as Black or African American
04	Hispanic or Latino	Individuals solely indicated as Hispanic/Latino or individuals indicated as Hispanic/Latino in combination with any other race
05	White	Individuals indicated as either White or Middle Eastern or North African
06	Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander	Individual solely indicated as Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander
07	Two or More Races	Individual reported as two or more races/ethnicities Does not include individuals who are coded as Hispanic/Latino Does not include individuals only indicated as Asian and South Asian Does not include individuals only indicated as White and Middle Eastern or North African

Federal Race and Ethnicity Categories and Education Statistics reporting categories for the 2026-2027 school year, visualizing the calculated federal category based upon the reported race/ethnicity.

Phase 2 (2028-2029 and Beyond)

Federal rules change significantly in this phase.

State Race/Ethnicity Categories

Colorado will:

Remove "Hispanic/Latino in Combination"
Update the Multiracial/Multiethnic category
Continue using separate categories for American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, South Asian, Black or African American, Middle Eastern or North African, White, and Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander

Code	Description	Logic Notes
11	American Indian or Alaska Native	Individual solely indicated as American Indian or Alaska Native
12	Asian	Individual solely indicated as Asian
13	South Asian	Individual solely indicated as South Asian
14	Asian and South Asian	Individual reported as both Asian and South Asian
15	Black or African American	Individual solely indicated as Black or African American
16	Hispanic/Latino	Individual solely indicated as Hispanic/Latino
18	Middle Eastern or North African	Individual solely indicated as Middle Eastern or North African
19	White	Individual solely indicated as White
20	Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander	Individual solely indicated as Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander
22	Multiracial and/or Multiethnic	Individual reported as two or more races/ethnicities Does not include individuals only indicated as Asian and South Asian

State Race and Ethnicity Categories and Education Statistics reporting categories for the 2028-2029 school year and beyond, visualizing the calculated state category based upon the reported race/ethnicity.

Federal Race/Ethnicity Categories

Key Changes:

Hispanic/Latino = only individuals who select Hispanic/Latino alone
Middle Eastern or North African (MENA) becomes its own federal category
White = only White (no longer includes MENA)
Two or More Races category is discontinued
Multiracial/Multiethnic becomes the new combined category, including:
- Individuals selecting two or more races
- Individuals selecting Hispanic/Latino + any other race

Federal codes for these categories will be assigned later.

Code	Description	Logic Notes
TBD	American Indian or Alaska Native	Individual solely indicated as American Indian or Alaska Native
TBD	Asian	Individuals indicated as Asian, South Asian, or both Asian and South Asian
TBD	Black or African American	Individual solely indicated as Black or African American
TBD	Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander	Individual solely indicated as Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander
TBD	Hispanic or Latino	Individual solely indicated as Hispanic or Latino
TBD	Middle Eastern or North African	Individual solely indicated as Middle Eastern or North African
TBD	White	Individual solely indicated as White
TBD	Multiracial and/or Multiethnic	Individual reported as two or more races/ethnicities (including those reported as Hispanic + another category)

Federal race ethnicity categories for 2028-2029 school year and beyond, visualizing the reported race/ethnicity values and how they translate to the calculated federal race ethnicity fields.

Additional Resources

Training

Training Slides (PDF)

Updated Descriptions

All collected fields use the following codes: 0-No, 1-Yes

American Indian or Alaska Native

Individuals with origins in any of the original peoples of North, Central, and South America; for example: Navajo Nation, Blackfeet Tribe of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation of Montana, Native Village of Barrow Inupiat Traditional Government, Nome Eskimo Community, Aztec, and Mayan.

Asian

Individuals with origins in any of the original peoples of Central or East Asia, Southeast Asia; for example: Chinese, Filipino, Vietnamese, Korean, and Japanese.

South Asian

Individuals with origins in any of the original peoples of South Asia; for example: Asian Indian, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, Nepalese, Bhutanese, Sri Lankans, and Maldivians.

Black or African American

A person having origins in any of the Black racial groups of Africa; for example: African American, Jamaican, Haitian, Nigerian, Ethiopian, and Somali.

Hispanic/Latino

Includes individuals of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Salvadoran, Cuban, Dominican, Guatemalan, and other Central or South American or Spanish culture or origin.

Middle Eastern or North African

Individuals with origins in any of the original peoples of the Middle East or North Africa; for example: Lebanese, Iranian, Egyptian, Syrian, Iraqi, and Israeli.

Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander

A person having origins in any of the original peoples of Hawaii, Guam, Samoa, or other Pacific Islands; for example: Native Hawaiian, Samoan, Chamorro, Tongan, Fijian, and Marshallese.

White

Individuals with origins in any of the original peoples of Europe; for example: English, German, Irish, Italian, Polish, and Scottish.

Impacted Collections

Interchanges:

Special Education IEP
Staff
Student

Periodic

Designated Agency
Kindergarten School Readiness
Postsecondary and Workforce Readiness Collection

READ collections
Student Restraint and Seclusion
WIDA Access SBD

Snapshots

Assessment SBD
Staff Evaluation
Special Education End of Year
Special Education Discipline
Special Education December Count
Human Resources

Student Attendance
Teacher Student Data Link
Student October
Student End of Year
Student Discipline