File Submission: Format the Detail Rows from Scratch (2 minutes)

Learn to format the detail rows for the StudentTracker for High Schools Graduate file using a blank Excel file.

This session is intended for secondary schools active with StudentTracker.

Resources

• Sample Graduates File (XLS)
• Submit a Graduates File Guide (DocX)
• The Difference Between a Graduates File and a Request File
• Formatting and Submitting a Graduates File
• Common Graduates File Submission Errors

Transcript

This video will help you set up your graduates file if you're going to create it from scratch instead of exporting the data from your SIS. If you choose to create your file from scratch, open a blank Excel file. In this example, we use Excel but you can use any tool that lets you save your file as a .txt which is required for the load process. Formatting the file and cells appropriately helps the file to be read correctly by the Clearinghouse's system and reduces errors. Since most cells are text based, let's first format all cells in text format. To do so, highlight columns a through ab and select text from the drop-down menu on the home tab. Then format columns I and L in the year month day format. You should format the cells in this way before you add any data to ensure leading zeros are maintained. Any leading zeros in the student social security number, student ID or high School ACT code must be retained. If the leading zeros get lost during any step in the process, the data may be misread as a number instead of text. It's important to ensure this data is read as text so that the leading zeros will be captured properly. For assistance on text formatting, see graduate files formatting numbers in Excel. You should also format the cells in this way before you add any data to ensure that dates are provided in yyyymmdd format. You will eventually save your file in txt format and if dates are formatted any differently than this, our system will read it as an unintended value. For additional assistance on date formatting, see graduates files formatting dates in Excel. Once you've set up your file with the correct format use the StudentTracker for High School's submit a graduates file guide or the graduates file formatting detail rows video to to help you complete the detail rows.