The Scholarship Program Information Data Exchange specification is operational in a few solutions, but the standard itself is in pre-release. This section outlines the changes in v1.0d, the latest draft of the specification.

The NSPA and Dell Foundation teams thank all the NSPA Members, implementers, technologists, and subject matter experts who provided input.

Overview

The information that follows describes changes in the latest version of Scholar Snapp.

The changes include:

Detail on each change follows.

Changes to the Data Model

This section describes changes to the data model, which defines the data payload representing a scholarship program.

Add Application Cycle Indicator (SSDS-92)

Many scholarship programs make awards every year. The program name, purpose, and core characteristics mostly remain the same year over year, but values do change. For example, long-running major programs typically raise their award amount over time, online application links change, and so forth. Although most scholarship listing services simply use the most current information, many organizations and analysts desire to see the change over time for scholarship programs.

This change will add a value indicating the scholarship application cycle to which a particular record applies, allowing systems to support historical and longitudinal analysis of programs over time.

Change Detail

For Scholarship Exchange v1.0d, we’ve added a new Application Cycle element to the following information to the model:

• Format. The value should follow the school academic year format (e.g., 2019-2020).

• Usage details. The following general rules apply to this element:

  • The element is optional. If a value is not present, the record is assumed to be the current record.

  • Typically, the scholarship application cycle will precede the academic year in which an award will be used (e.g., awards made in the 2019-2020 application cycle will be used by scholars in the 2020-2021 academic year).

  • Notionally, the application cycle starts August 1 and ends July 31 the following year — with the vast majority of programs both opening and closing between those dates. For example, in 2019, Dell Scholars Program opened October 1 and closed December 1, which puts it squarely in the 2019-2020 application cycle.

  • A program that’s always open will typically have multiple records. For example, a program that was open throughout calendar years 2018 and 2019 will have one record for 2018-2019 and another for 2019-2020.

The following XSD snippet shows the definition of the Application Cycle element:

...
  <xs:element name="ApplicationCycle" type="spi:ShortString" minOccurs="0">
	<xs:annotation>
		<xs:documentation>The scholarship application cycle during which this program was accepting applications. Should be formatted as a school academic year (e.g., 2019-2020). Usually precedes the academic year in which the award will be used (e.g., awards in the 2019-2020 application cycle will be used in the 2020-2021 academic year).</xs:documentation>
	</xs:annotation>
  </xs:element>
...

The following XML snippet shows the new Application Cycle value:

<ScholarshipApplicationInfo>
  ...
  <ApplicationCycle>2019-2020</ApplicationCycle>
  ...
</ScholarshipApplicationInfo>

Add Award Duration and Renewability Information (SSDS-96)

Many scholarship programs have important properties related to the award duration. For example, it’s useful to know whether a program’s award is for a single year, or can be used across multiple years. For those programs that only offer single-year awards, it’s useful to know whether an applicant may re-apply for a subsequent award.

Change Detail

For Scholarship Exchange v1.0d, we’ve added the following information to the model:

• An award duration type. To indicate the time period over which the award may be used. Values include “One-Time” (indicating a single point in time), “Multiyear” (indicating that the award spans multiple years), and “Renewable” (meaning that the award is a one-time award, but applicants are explicitly allowed to re-apply for subsequent years).

• An award duration. For multiyear programs, indicates the number of years across which the award may be used. For renewable programs, indicates the number of renewal opportunities.

The following JSON snippet shows an example for a 4-year scholarship.

"ScholarshipApplicationInfo": [
  {
    ...
    "AwardDuration": {
      "AwardDurationType": "Multiyear",
      "DurationYears": 4
    },
    ...
  }
]

Add Scholarship Program Self-Description (SSDS-93)

The Scholarship Exchange specification has had a Blurb since the first release. The Blurb is typically edited by Exchange administrators for consistency in voice, style, terminology, length, third-person perspective, and so forth. However, it’s useful for administrators — and potentially others — to see exactly how a program describes itself. This allows administrators doing QA to ensure important nuance isn’t missing from the Blurb or the Eligibility Criteria Detail. In addition, some programs that provide data may actively desire to have their own description shown to users.

Change Detail

For Scholarship Exchange v1.0d, we’ve added a new Program Self-Description element to the model:

• Format. The element is a long string (which currently holds up to 4000 characters).

• Usage Details. The following general rules apply to this element:

  • By design, the Self-Description should reflect what the providing organization wants to say about itself. Accordingly, the Self-Description will only receive light copy editing. It will not be rewritten for style, perspective, and so forth.

  • Most current consumers will prefer the Blurb to the Program Self-Description. Any that do receive and publish the self-description to end-users must frame the description accordingly (e.g., “From the Dell Scholars Program” or similar), to make clear the source of information and “who” is talking (e.g., so it’s clear who “we” are, if the self-description uses the first person).

• Sharing the Value. The NSPA Exchange will record and review the value in advance of providing it to third parties. This will allow a trial period to ensure the quality, consistency, and value of the information.

The following XML snippet shows an example Program Self-Description:

<ScholarshipApplicationInfo>
  ...
  <ProgramSelfDescription>We believe that every student deserves a chance to experience art school. If you have a penchant for painting, a desire to draw, or an imperative desire for interpretive dance, then apply today!</ProgramSelfDescription>
  ...
</ScholarshipApplicationInfo>

Add Award Announcement Date (SSDS-88)

Applicants are, understandably, curious to know when they can expect to hear whether or not they’ve been awarded a scholarship. Also, the length of time between an application close an the announcement is an interesting comparison point between programs.

Change Detail

For Scholarship Exchange v1.0d, we’ve added an Announcement Date element.

• Format. A date string (e.g., “2019-11-11”).

• Usage Details.

  • Ideally, the date that individual applicants are notified. If that value is unknown, the date that awards are posted publicly (e.g., on the program website) or shared (e.g., via notice on bulletin board, telegram, whatever).

  • It’s okay to enter an approximation, if known within a few week span. Just use the latest date in the approximate range. We don’t want to freak out applicants or make work for program administrators.

  • Prefer leaving the value blank if it’s “sometime before summer.”

The value is grouped with other major date values as shown in the XML snippet below:

<ScholarshipApplicationInfo>
  ...
  <OpenDate>2019-09-15</OpenDate>
  <CloseDate>2019-12-31</CloseDate>
  <AnnouncementDate>2020-02-01</AnnouncementDate>
  ...
</ScholarshipApplicationInfo>

Add Country to Location Eligibility Criteria (SSDS-87)

The Scholarship Exchange has a Location Eligibility Criteria to indicate geographic area eligibility requirements for a program. The current model has City, County, and State or Province elements. The next generation of the Exchange will support programs from other countries, so a Country indicator will be useful.

Change Detail

For Scholarship Exchange v1.0d, we’ve added a Country element to Eligibility Location:

• Format. A short string containing the ISO-3166 2-letter country code (e.g., CA, US, MX).

• Usage Details.

  • Country should be present when other Location Criteria are present.

  • Country is NOT required for every listing, even if when implicit from other eligibility criteria.

    • For example, a U.S.-based program requiring U.S. citizenship can be inferred to have a Location Criteria where the Country is “US”. Nevertheless, a Location Criteria should not be added unless other explicit location restrictions are present.

    • This may change over time – but other elements and conventions are currently used to make this kind of national-level contextual filter.

The following JSON snippet shows an example of the Country element in use in the Locations entity:

"EligibilityCriteria": {
  ...
  "Locations": [
    {
      "City": "Santa Monica",
      "County": "Los Angeles",
      "State": "California",
      "Country": "US"
    },
    {
      "City": "Austin",
      "County": "Travis",
      "State": "Texas",
      "Country": "US"
    }
  ]
  ...
}