College Board Search is a service that helps institutions connect with high school students.  

Beginning September 2022, College Board offers subscription plans based on the access level appropriate for each institution. Learn more at the College Board Search website.

Step 1: Adding the College Board ID field

The College Board assigns a unique ID to each student in their prospect and applicant lifecycle.

To receive data from College Board, you need a person-scoped, unique for merging field in your database to represent this College Board ID. This field appears pre-mapped for all new College Board sources that contain this ID.

To create this field:

1. From the main navigation, select Database.

2. Select Fields under the Records and Datasets section.

3. Select New Field.

4. Configure the following settings:

   • Scope: Person

   • ID: collegeboard_id

   • Name: Enter a name (for example, College Board ID).

   • Field Type: Free Text

   • Unique for Merging: Value contains a unique ID which identifies a single record for merging

5. Select Save.

   

Import destinations are cached to improve performance and are refreshed approximately every five minutes in production environments. Select the refresh link in Database → Fields to force a refresh of this cache after editing a source format's remap settings.

Step 2: Adding the Student Search Service source format

With a College Board ID field, we must now add the Student Search Service source format to your database.

💡 The file layout for Student Search Service data changed for the cycle beginning September 2022. If your institution receives Search data from The College Board, use the following steps to configure the new source format.

1. Go to Database → Source Format Library.

2. Next to Student Search Service (Fixed Width (2022)), select Add.

3. In the pop-up, select Add.

4. In the system dialogue, select OK.

5. Select Remap. Many items are pre-mapped.

6. Configure the remap settings for the format definition:

   • 🔔 Do not modify the Student ID source field as it appears mapped to the College Board ID destination. See Pre-mapped College Board ID source fields.

   • Otherwise, feel free to customize how the data will be imported.

7. Select Prompt Value Mappings.

8. Customize the prompt value mappings as needed.

9. Select Static Mappings.

10. Customize the static mappings as needed.

11. Select Review.

12. Ensure there are no errors in your remapping.

13. Select Retroactive Refresh.

14. Select the destination fields to refresh and the sources from which to re-run the import.

15. Use the breadcrumb navigation to return to the source format overview page.

16. Select Edit.

17. Set Remap Active to Active.

The import runs using the remap settings you configured for all files uploaded on or after the Remap As Of Date value.

Step 3 (Optional): Adding the Living Record source format

Once your institution has licensed a student record, access to updated details about the student as they engage with College Board over time is provided via a Living Record file. Living Record is available as part of some subscription tiers, or it may be purchased a la carte.

If your institution's subscription includes Living Record data:

1. Go to Database → Source Format Library.

2. Next to Student Search Service: Living Record Data (Fixed Width), select Add.

3. Select Remap. Many items have been pre-mapped.

4. Configure the remap settings for the format definition:

   • 🔔 Do not modify the Licensed Student ID and Student ID source fields. See Pre-mapped College Board ID source fields.

   • Otherwise, feel free to customize how the data will be imported.

5. Select Prompt Value Mappings.

6. Customize the prompt value mappings as needed.

7. Select Static Mappings.

8. Customize the static mappings as needed.

9. Select Review.

10. Ensure there are no errors in your remapping.

11. Select Retroactive Refresh.

12. Select the destination fields to refresh and the sources from which to re-run the import.

13. Use the breadcrumb navigation to return to the source format overview page.

14. Select Edit.

15. Set Remap Active to Active.

The import runs using the remap settings you configured for all files uploaded on or after the Remap As Of Date value.

Pre-mapped College Board ID source fields

The College Board ID field has been pre-mapped as a destination from two source fields: Licensed Student ID and Student ID.

Licensed Student ID

The Licensed Student ID field will contain the value of the Student ID field that was most recently sent as the Student ID for the record. In the event that a record is merged in College Board's database after it was initially licensed by your institution, the new ID associated with that student will be sent in the Student ID field in the Living Record Data file.

Because of this, the Licensed Student ID source field is mapped to the College Board ID destination for matching purposes only. The configuration for this destination prevents this field from overwriting existing field values by utilizing the Do not overwrite existing values setting.

Student ID

The Student ID source field is configured to allow updates to this field, so if the College Board ID that was sent previously has changed, the Living Record data will be able to update it appropriately. Additionally, since the Living Record data is the originating source of the College Board ID, this destination is further configured with the Unsafe Override setting to allow its update even if the record has an active application.