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Scholarships for Disadvantaged Students (SDS) Program (FY 2016) - FAQs

1) What is the Scholarships for Disadvantaged Students (SDS) program?

The Scholarships for Disadvantaged Students (SDS) program is a federal grant opportunity run by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), within the Bureau of Health Workforce (BHW). For FY 2016, the program invited applications from eligible health professions and nursing schools to expand scholarship support for students from disadvantaged backgrounds.

2) What is the main purpose of SDS?

The main purpose is workforce-focused: to increase diversity in health professions and nursing pipelines by reducing financial barriers for students who have demonstrated financial need and who are enrolled full-time in qualifying programs.

3) Who receives SDS funding: students or schools?

SDS funds are awarded to participating schools, not directly to students. Schools then use the grant funds to provide scholarships to eligible students.

4) Who is the intended applicant for this grant opportunity?

The intended applicants are eligible health professions and nursing schools that want to expand financial support for students from disadvantaged backgrounds and that can administer scholarships in line with SDS requirements.

5) Is eligibility open to all organizations?

No. In the summarized eligibility field, the opportunity is listed as "Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification)." This indicates eligibility is not broadly open to all entities and is defined more precisely in the full funding announcement. Based on the description provided, the opportunity targets eligible health professions and nursing schools.

6) What role do schools play in the SDS program?

Schools have the central administrative role. They are responsible for selecting scholarship recipients, documenting and making reasonable determinations of financial need, and ensuring scholarship awards follow program rules (including allowable costs and award limits). Schools must have processes to verify eligibility, apply consistent selection criteria, and manage disbursement and compliance.

7) What kinds of student expenses can SDS scholarships cover?

SDS scholarship support is intended to cover allowable education-related costs. The funding notice specifically lists tuition, reasonable educational expenses, and reasonable living expenses as allowable costs.

8) Are there limits on how much scholarship funding a student can receive?

Yes. Each scholarship award may be up to $30,000 in total. This is an explicit cap on the total SDS scholarship amount for any one student through the school.

9) Can a scholarship exceed a student's allowable costs?

No. Scholarship awards must not exceed allowable costs (tuition, reasonable educational expenses, and reasonable living expenses), and they must also stay within the $30,000 total cap per scholarship award.

10) What type of grant opportunity is SDS (FY 2016)?

This is a discretionary grant opportunity (Opportunity Category: Discretionary) using a grant funding instrument type.

11) Which federal agencies and offices administer SDS?

The program is run by HHS through HRSA, specifically within HRSA's Bureau of Health Workforce (BHW).

12) What is the funding activity category for this opportunity?

The opportunity falls under the Health funding activity category.

13) What is the CFDA number associated with SDS?

The opportunity is associated with CFDA number 93.925.

14) What is the opportunity number for SDS (FY 2016)?

The opportunity number is HRSA-16-069.

15) When was this opportunity posted, and what was the application deadline?

The opportunity was posted on November 25, 2015. The application closing date was January 25, 2016. The source data indicates the original and current closing dates are the same.

16) About how many awards were anticipated?

The notice anticipated making around 99 awards.

17) What is the award ceiling for SDS (FY 2016)?

The listed award ceiling is shown as 0 in the source data. This typically means the ceiling was not specified in that particular summary field and would need to be confirmed in the full announcement or program guidance.

18) What student characteristics does SDS focus on?

Based on the description provided, SDS focuses on students from disadvantaged backgrounds who have demonstrated financial need and are enrolled full-time in qualifying health professions or nursing programs.

19) Does SDS require students to be enrolled full-time?

Yes. The program description emphasizes support for students who are enrolled full-time in qualifying programs.

20) What does "disadvantaged background" mean in this summary?

The summary states the program supports students from disadvantaged backgrounds, but it does not provide a specific definition within the information provided here. Schools are expected to verify student eligibility and apply consistent selection criteria as required by the grant.

21) How is financial need handled under SDS?

Schools are responsible for documenting and making reasonable determinations of financial need for scholarship recipients. The summary does not describe a specific standardized method, but it emphasizes that the institution must have processes to verify and document need.

22) Do schools have flexibility in selecting scholarship recipients?

Schools select scholarship recipients, but they must do so within SDS program rules. The description emphasizes consistent selection criteria, eligibility verification, documentation of financial need, and compliance with allowable costs and award limits.

23) Is SDS funding intended to improve workforce outcomes?

Yes. The stated purpose is workforce-focused: increasing diversity in health professions and nursing pipelines by reducing financial barriers for eligible students.

24) What should applicants do if they need the precise eligibility categories or missing ceiling details?

The summary indicates that precise applicant eligibility is defined in the full funding announcement (referenced by the "Additional Information on Eligibility" text field) and that the award ceiling is not specified in the summary field. Those details would need to be confirmed in the full announcement or program guidance for HRSA-16-069.