Standard Name: Scholarship Program Exchange Demographic Criteria List
Standard ID: NSPA-SPE-DC-1.0-1
Issued By: NSPA
Version: 1.0d-1 (Initial Release Version)
Obsoletes: --
Obsoleted By: --

Overview

The purpose of the NSPA-SPE-DC list is to define and standardize values used to refer unambiguously to demographic criteria in the context of scholarship eligibility and applications.

Usage

In the Scholarship Exchange, demographic criteria includes coding for concepts such as gender, ethnicity, race, heritage, and ancestry. These values are inclusive of how eligibility criteria are actually stated today by program providers, and we work hard to minimize offense. Awkwardly, this well-meaning effort to connect scholars with opportunities for which they might be eligible causes unintended offense — with an ideal scholarship candidate sometimes objecting to the terms used by a program in describing their eligibility.

Gender

Gender is defined as how an individual identifies with male and female characteristics in their social construct. This may or may not align with one’s biological sex. A person’s gender is separate from their sexual orientation.

Race

Race is explained as “a division of mankind possessing traits that are transmissible by descent and sufficient to characterize it as a distinct human type”. Race(s) are self-identifiable and individuals can identify with more than one. The current list entries are harmonized with the U.S. Census Bureau list of races.

Ancestry

Ancestry refers to one’s heritage or line of descent. Individuals may identify with more than one ancestry. The primary values from this list were based on scholarships actually seen, but normalized against the most common entries in the U.S. Census Bureau last of ancestries.

References

In an effort to be inclusive and comprehensive, the following information was referenced for the code list:

The code list aligns with the values used by the U.S. Census Bureau for consistency and standardization purposes.

List of Demographic Criteria Codes

Demographic Hierarchy	Synonym List
Gender \| Male
Gender \| Female
LGBTQIA+ \| Intersex
LGBTQIA+ \| Transgender Male to Female	Transgender Woman \| Trans Woman
LGBTQIA+ \| Transgender Female to Male	Transgender Man \| Trans Man
LGBTQIA+ \| Transgender	Trans \| Trans*
LGBTQIA+ \| Genderqueer	Non-binary
LGBTQIA+ \| Lesbian
LGBTQIA+ \| Gay
LGBTQIA+ \| Bisexual
LGBTQIA+ \| Asexual
LGBTQIA+ \| Prefer to Self-Identify
Race \| American Indian or Alaska Native
Race \| Alaska Native
Race \| American Indian
Race \| Asian
Race \| Black or African American
Race \| Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander
Race \| Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander \| Native Hawaiian
Race \| White
Ancestry \| Albanian
Ancestry \| Arabic
Ancestry \| Armenian
Ancestry \| Austrian
Ancestry \| Belgian
Ancestry \| Brazilian
Ancestry \| British
Ancestry \| Bohemian
Ancestry \| Cambodian
Ancestry \| Caribbean	Afro-Caribbean
Ancestry \| Cherokee
Ancestry \| Chinese
Ancestry \| Colombian
Ancestry \| Croatian
Ancestry \| Cuban
Ancestry \| Czech	Czechoslovakian
Ancestry \| Danish
Ancestry \| Dominican
Ancestry \| Dutch
Ancestry \| Egyptian
Ancestry \| English
Ancestry \| Ecuadorian
Ancestry \| Filipino
Ancestry \| Fijian
Ancestry \| Finnish
Ancestry \| French
Ancestry \| German
Ancestry \| Greek
Ancestry \| Guatemalan
Ancestry \| Guyanese
Ancestry \| Haitian
Ancestry \| Hmong
Ancestry \| Honduran
Ancestry \| Hungarian
Ancestry \| Irish
Ancestry \| Italian
Ancestry \| Jamaican
Ancestry \| Japanese
Ancestry \| Jewish
Ancestry \| Korean
Ancestry \| Laotian
Ancestry \| Lebanese
Ancestry \| Libyan
Ancestry \| Lithuanian
Ancestry \| Mexican	Mexicano \| Mexican American
Ancestry \| Navajo
Ancestry \| Nicaraguan
Ancestry \| Nigerian
Ancestry \| Norwegian
Ancestry \| Pakistani
Ancestry \| Panamanian
Ancestry \| Pennsylvania German
Ancestry \| Peruvian
Ancestry \| Polish
Ancestry \| Portuguese
Ancestry \| Puerto Rican
Ancestry \| Romanian
Ancestry \| Russian
Ancestry \| Scottish
Ancestry \| Salvadoran
Ancestry \| Samoan
Ancestry \| Serbian
Ancestry \| Slovak
Ancestry \| Slovene
Ancestry \| Somalian
Ancestry \| South Asian
Ancestry \| South Asian \| Afghani
Ancestry \| South Asian \| Indian
Ancestry \| South Asian \| Iranian
Ancestry \| South Asian \| Nepali
Ancestry \| Spanish	Spanish American \| Spaniard
Ancestry \| Sudanese
Ancestry \| Swedish
Ancestry \| Swiss
Ancestry \| Syrian
Ancestry \| Taiwanese
Ancestry \| Thai
Ancestry \| Trinidadian
Ancestry \| Turkish
Ancestry \| Ukrainian
Ancestry \| Vietnamese
Ancestry \| Welsh
Ancestry \| Yemeni
Ancestry \| Yugoslavian
Ethnicity \| Hispanic
Other \| Other

Demographic Hierarchy	Synonym List
Gender \| Male
Gender \| Female
LGBTQIA+ \| Intersex
LGBTQIA+ \| Transgender Male to Female	Transgender Woman \| Trans Woman
LGBTQIA+ \| Transgender Female to Male	Transgender Man \| Trans Man
LGBTQIA+ \| Transgender	Trans \| Trans*
LGBTQIA+ \| Genderqueer	Non-binary
LGBTQIA+ \| Lesbian
LGBTQIA+ \| Gay
LGBTQIA+ \| Bisexual
LGBTQIA+ \| Asexual
LGBTQIA+ \| Prefer to Self-Identify
Race \| American Indian or Alaska Native
Race \| Alaska Native
Race \| American Indian
Race \| Asian
Race \| Black or African American
Race \| Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander
Race \| Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander \| Native Hawaiian
Race \| White
Ancestry \| Albanian
Ancestry \| Arabic
Ancestry \| Armenian
Ancestry \| Austrian
Ancestry \| Belgian
Ancestry \| Brazilian
Ancestry \| British
Ancestry \| Bohemian
Ancestry \| Cambodian
Ancestry \| Caribbean	Afro-Caribbean
Ancestry \| Cherokee
Ancestry \| Chinese
Ancestry \| Colombian
Ancestry \| Croatian
Ancestry \| Cuban
Ancestry \| Czech	Czechoslovakian
Ancestry \| Danish
Ancestry \| Dominican
Ancestry \| Dutch
Ancestry \| Egyptian
Ancestry \| English
Ancestry \| Ecuadorian
Ancestry \| Filipino
Ancestry \| Fijian
Ancestry \| Finnish
Ancestry \| French
Ancestry \| German
Ancestry \| Greek
Ancestry \| Guatemalan
Ancestry \| Guyanese
Ancestry \| Haitian
Ancestry \| Hmong
Ancestry \| Honduran
Ancestry \| Hungarian
Ancestry \| Irish
Ancestry \| Italian
Ancestry \| Jamaican
Ancestry \| Japanese
Ancestry \| Jewish
Ancestry \| Korean
Ancestry \| Laotian
Ancestry \| Lebanese
Ancestry \| Libyan
Ancestry \| Lithuanian
Ancestry \| Mexican	Mexicano \| Mexican American
Ancestry \| Navajo
Ancestry \| Nicaraguan
Ancestry \| Nigerian
Ancestry \| Norwegian
Ancestry \| Pakistani
Ancestry \| Panamanian
Ancestry \| Pennsylvania German
Ancestry \| Peruvian
Ancestry \| Polish
Ancestry \| Portuguese
Ancestry \| Puerto Rican
Ancestry \| Romanian
Ancestry \| Russian
Ancestry \| Scottish
Ancestry \| Salvadoran
Ancestry \| Samoan
Ancestry \| Serbian
Ancestry \| Slovak
Ancestry \| Slovene
Ancestry \| Somalian
Ancestry \| South Asian
Ancestry \| South Asian \| Afghani
Ancestry \| South Asian \| Indian
Ancestry \| South Asian \| Iranian
Ancestry \| South Asian \| Nepali
Ancestry \| Spanish	Spanish American \| Spaniard
Ancestry \| Sudanese
Ancestry \| Swedish
Ancestry \| Swiss
Ancestry \| Syrian
Ancestry \| Taiwanese
Ancestry \| Thai
Ancestry \| Trinidadian
Ancestry \| Turkish
Ancestry \| Ukrainian
Ancestry \| Vietnamese
Ancestry \| Welsh
Ancestry \| Yemeni
Ancestry \| Yugoslavian
Ethnicity \| Hispanic
Other \| Other

NSPA Scholarship Program Information Exchange

Demographic Criteria List - v1.0d-1