Spartan Scholarships Portal Assistance

NextGen is SJSU’s scholarship management system. It supports scholarship applications, review, selection, approval, and award processing in a more centralized and consistent way.

SJSU is using NextGen to improve consistency, transparency, compliance, and efficiency in the scholarship process. The system helps reduce manual tracking, better align awards with scholarship criteria, and support more timely processing for students.

Faculty and staff may use NextGen to review applications, serve on scholarship committees, manage scholarship opportunities, approve recipient selections, or coordinate awards for their college, department, or program.

The goal is to manage SJSU scholarships through NextGen, but some scholarships may still require additional setup, review, or alignment before they are fully active in the system. Units should follow guidance from Financial Aid and Scholarships regarding which scholarships are ready for use.

Reviewers are responsible for evaluating eligible applications using the approved rubric and scholarship criteria. Reviewers should only consider information relevant to the scholarship and should complete reviews by the stated deadline.

Rubrics help ensure applicants are reviewed consistently and fairly. They also create documentation that supports transparency, audit readiness, and alignment with donor or scholarship requirements.

Do not proceed with review or selection if the rubric, criteria, or application questions appear incorrect. Contact the designated NextGen support contact or Financial Aid and Scholarships so the issue can be reviewed before awards are made.

Yes. Colleges, departments, and committees may still participate in recipient selection when appropriate. NextGen supports the review and approval workflow but does not remove the role of faculty and staff in scholarships that require committee or departmental review.

Once recipients are selected and approved in NextGen, the award information is routed for processing. Financial Aid and Scholarships reviews the award before it is posted to the student’s financial aid package.

No. Recipient selection may still require eligibility confirmation, approval, and Financial Aid review. Awards may be adjusted if a student is no longer eligible, is not enrolled, or cannot receive the full award due to financial aid rules.

Contact Financial Aid and Scholarships for guidance. Already-selected recipients may still be processed, but the awards must be documented appropriately and aligned with approved scholarship criteria.

Yes. Units that are ready to complete reviews and make selections before the deadline should proceed according to campus guidance. The deadline is the latest target, not a reason to delay completed awards.

The updated timeline may delay some student notifications, but it is not expected to prevent students from receiving their 2026–27 awards. Awards completed earlier can still move forward for processing.

Student information in NextGen must be treated as confidential and used only for official scholarship review and award purposes. Faculty and staff should not download, save, or share application materials outside the approved process.

Reviewers should disclose any actual or perceived conflict of interest and recuse themselves from reviewing that application. This protects the integrity of the scholarship process.

Contact Financial Aid and Scholarships or the designated support contact. Depending on the timing and scholarship criteria, the award may need to be adjusted, canceled, or offered to another eligible student.

Not without review. Donor-funded scholarships must follow the gift agreement and donor intent. If a scholarship cannot be awarded, the unit should consult Financial Aid and Scholarships and appropriate advancement partners before making changes.

Training materials will be available on the Financial Aid and Scholarship website including recordings, business process guides, tutorials, and FAQs.

Faculty and staff should contact the Financial Aid and Scholarship Office for questions about system access, scholarship setup, review workflows, award processing, or eligibility concerns.

Escalate issues involving incorrect criteria, rubric concerns, missing scholarships, system access problems, reviewer assignment issues, gift agreement conflicts, or anything that may affect student eligibility or award processing.