The 2024-2025 Excel Templates are now available on the Common Data Set Website

[Ashley Robinson-Spann]

Hello,

The Excel versions of the CDS template and list of changes are now available on the CDS website. https://commondataset.org/

Responses to your questions are below.

1. Why does the button on the website say 2023-24? The button update is in progress. The templates at the bottom of the page are the 2024-25 versions. I have downloaded them myself to confirm.
2. Why are there two Excel versions? To support accessibility and to create the opportunity for CDS data to be imported and exported, the template was completely redesigned so that it no longer contains tables and data entry is consistent (column C) across categories. There is an answer sheet that pulls your responses from their respective tabs so answers can be shared. Nothing is locked. The new template is very different from past versions, so to ease the transition, it is being made available along with the Legacy template. However, if the feedback is positive, we can move to one (the new) Excel template next cycle.
3. Do I need to submit both? No, whichever version you submit or post will be processed by our teams. Including the PDF version which will be posted in a week or so.
4. Why is it late? It's not late. It's just not early.
5. Where are the other versions? The PDF is coming soon. It is the preferred version for submitting to U.S. News, so if you want to wait for it, you can. There will not be a Word version this year.
   
6. Do you really mean 2026? Yes. The template admissions policies are for students applying next fall (2025) to enter the following fall (2026).
7. Can we upload this template to College Board's website? No. You can just email your completed template to colleg...@collegeboard.org and we will handle the data entry/uploading on our end. We will be accepting them before the official launch of our survey in January, so feel free to send them in before the new year!

More about the new Excel template:

1. Each question has a unique id in column A
2. Questions are in column B
3. All responses are in column C
4. There is an answer sheet with a vlookup formula. Nothing is locked. If you make changes to the tabs and the columns shift, the formula will still work as long as the column references are updated. You shouldn't have to update the references if changes are made after column C, however.
5. All tables have been removed. This means that some categories are rather long. However, you can hide or delete questions that are not relevant to your institution if you post your excel version online. The answer sheet will not be affected if you hide or delete questions. The questions you delete, hide, or skip will remain empty on the answer sheet.
6. Feel free to hide the columns after C. They are there as database conventions.

Call to Action

I had hoped to be able to figure out how to use the answer sheet csv export to populate other versions of the template (Word, PDF), but I ran out of brain power. If any of you would like to take up the challenge by developing an R, Python or other code, please feel free to experiment and email me about it after the winter break. I cannot think about this template anymore this year.

Last but not least, I'd like to thank Joel Schwartz of California State University, Sacramento for helping with the template's format/conventions.

Thank you,

Ashley Robinson-Spann, Ph.D.

Senior Director, Higher Education

 

College Board

1919 M St., Washington, DC 20036

T 202.741.4755

arobins...@collegeboard.org

P.S. if you hate the design of the new template, use the old one and delay sending your dissatisfaction email until 1/10/25. I should be able to accept constructive criticism by then.

[Robinson-Spann, Ashley]

Hello,

College Board, US News, and Peterson's have different submission deadlines, but they are usually in the spring. We will notify our respective contacts when the surveys open and close. Other surveys that accept the CDS will also contact you about their deadlines.

Thank you,

Ashley Robinson-Spann, Ph.D.

Senior Director, Higher Education

 

College Board

1919 M St., Washington, DC 20036

T 202.741.4755

arobins...@collegeboard.org

 

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From: Afaf Igbaria <Afaf_I...@pitzer.edu>
Sent: Monday, October 7, 2024 2:26 PM
To: Robinson-Spann, Ashley <arobins...@collegeboard.org>; Common Data Set (CDS) <common...@cbcommondataset.org>
Subject: [EXTERNAL] RE: The 2024-2025 Excel Templates are now available on the Common Data Set Website

 

Hi Ashley, When is the deadline for CDS submission, please?? Thanks a million 😊 Afaf Igbaria From: 'Ashley Robinson-Spann' via Common Data Set (CDS) <commondataset@ cbcommondataset. org> Sent: Friday, October 4, 2024 12: 04 PM To: 

Hi Ashley,

When is the deadline for CDS submission, please??

Thanks a million 😊

Afaf Igbaria

To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to commondatase...@cbcommondataset.org.

[Mike Whitcomb]

Hello,

It appears that there is an inconsistency between Section I in the legacy spreadsheet and the spreadsheet with the new layout. The legacy version continues to ask for information on faculty highest degrees, while the new version replaces this with 
items asking for counts of "Faculty on sabbatical or leave with pay," "Faculty on leave without pay", "Replacement faculty for faculty on sabbatical leave or leave with pay" and so on.

Please double check what I am seeing and advise.

Thank you,

Michael Whitcomb
Wesleyan University

[Robinson-Spann, Ashley]

Thank you for catching this, Mike. I have updated tabs F (undergraduate section was missing), I, and the answer sheet. You can use the new template or replace the three tabs in the one you are currently using.

I really tried to get this all right the first time, but the Ph.D. Is not in template making. I will have Peterson's post the corrected version to the website as soon as possible.

Thank you,

Ashley Robinson-Spann, Ph.D.

Senior Director, Higher Education

 

College Board

1919 M St., Washington, DC 20036

T 202.741.4755

arobins...@collegeboard.org

 

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From: Mike Whitcomb <mwhi...@wesleyan.edu>
Sent: Wednesday, October 9, 2024 9:15 AM

To: Common Data Set (CDS) <common...@cbcommondataset.org>

Cc: Robinson-Spann, Ashley <arobins...@collegeboard.org>
Subject: [EXTERNAL] Re: The 2024-2025 Excel Templates are now available on the Common Data Set Website