Recently, Data Privacy has started gaining importance in all sections of the community. Organizations of all stripes are having to reevaluate their collection, storage, and use of personal data with the introduction of particularly onerous privacy regulations – such as Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) or California Consumer Privacy Act(CCPA). Higher Education and Scholarship Programs are no different. Regulations are taking a swing at scholarship applications and selection processes in more ways than they are aiding students or advancing the field of study, states this feature.

New Challenges for Scholarship Programs

Scholarship programs usually ask applicants to provide a lot of identification ingo, including:

Name, Address, and Phone Number

Money things (if applying for need-based scholarships)

Your High School GPA & ACT/SAT Scores

Autobiographical Essays and Statements

Letters of recommendation

Details of accomplishments and activity beyond school hours

With new data privacy regulations, scholarship organizations now have a great deal of responsibility when it comes to this sensitive piece of information. Some key challenges include:

Consent and Transparency – Programs should secure explicit consent from applicants to gather their data, and they must fully disclose how that data will be used.

Principle of Data Minimization — You may only collect data that is necessary for a scholarship application process and selection.

Retention Limitation: Once data is no longer needed, it should be deleted as quickly as possible and therefore make use of the retention and deletion policy.

Security: The health care recruiter will need to ensure that proper policies are put in place and technology is being used securely — including securing data points of applicants from breaches or unauthorized access.

Data Subject Rights: Applicants are also given more control over their information, meaning that scholarship programs need to be better equipped at having the ability to allow applicants access or request rectification/deletion of personal data.

Changes to Application Processes

In response to these challenges, many scholarship programs are tweaking their signup processes significantly:

Digital Application Platforms

An increasing number of institutions follow this practice and work with dedicated digital platforms for scholarship applications. These platforms can:

Use robust encryption and security tools.

Automate privacy notices and consent

Offer a way for applicants to easily view and manage their data

Collect the data you need, and no more (data minimization)

Revised Application Forms

They are in the process of redesigning application forms to:

Explicitly state the purpose for collecting each piece of info

Consent must be explicit for asking for data capture and processing from the user

Limit the personal data that you record

Limited Data Sharing

All applications include an “Applicant Data Sharing” section (internal and, when applicable, external such as to reviewers or partner organizations). In cases where data sharing is required, programs are imposing more stringent data protection agreements and access controls.

Impact on Selection Processes

But data privacy regs also change how scholarship committees decide awards and who they go to:

Anonymization Techniques

A few programs, however, are currently trialing this by anonymizing applications in the first round of assessment. This has the benefit of limiting bias and maintaining applicant anonymity, but also can be more difficult to give a full picture about everything an applicant accomplished or faced while applying.

Restricted Access to Personal Information

Members of the selection committee may now have more restricted access to applicant data (appropriate controls will be in place that restrict applicants’ viewing) by only seeing what’s pertinent to their decision-making duties.

Documentation of Decision-Making

This is a direct result of enhanced compliance with data subject access rights and much stricter documentation around selection criteria and decision-making in broader scholarship programs. This enables them to give reasons to the applicants who asked for explanations why they were/are not admitted.

Balancing Privacy and Fairness

By Engelbert Hunziger, Senior Compliance Consultant at Wittenborg University of Applied Sciences This means scholarship programs are facing a challenge posed by data privacy regulations also as an opportunity to look inside: Fairer process can be established that way. Reaching that balance between privacy concerns and the potential need for information to make an informed decision remains a challenge.

To take one example, using less personal information could result in greater uncertainty about who deserves to be accepted — or not disadvantaged applicants; under first-order stochastic dominance, the outcome is unclear. Data privacy principles about maintaining diversity and inclusionObviously, scholarship programs must find the right balance (or if you’re a wizard at this point), and maintain data-based commitment.

The Future of Scholarship Applications

Given the current state of data privacy regulations, it seems safe to assume that these are merely tentative steps in a rapidly evolving landscape for how scholarship applications are managed:

Expanded use of AI/ML for application processing with solutions in privacy-preserving techniques

Expanded data portability, to make it easy for applicants to re-use their information across more applications

Standardize application processes across multiple scholarship programs to make compliance easier.

Greater openness in criteria for selection and processes adopted as part of decisions,

Conclusion

Data privacy regulations are reshaping the way that scholarship programs work, from their application models to who they award a final spot in the program. Although the changes present challenges, they also provide an opportunity to establish systems that are more secure and equitable than how scholarships have been awarded in the past. Similarly, scholarship providers will have to find a way moving forward to be able to balance these important goals as the landscape continues changing — keeping personal data safe while not preventing those who deserve such opportunities from actually having it in hand.