Resources & Glossary

Art School (Arts College, Art Institute, Conservatory):

An institution specializing in the visual, performing, or creative arts.

College:

An institution of higher learning, often referred to as a "four-year" institution, grants the bachelor's degree in liberal arts, science, or both.

Community College:

Community colleges, sometimes called junior colleges, technical colleges, or city colleges, are primarily two-year public institutions providing higher education and lower-level courses, granting certificates, diplomas, and associate's degrees. Many also offer continuing and adult education. After graduating from a community college, some students transfer to a four-year liberal arts college or university for two to three years to complete a bachelor's degree.

Graduate School:

Usually, within universities, these schools offer degree programs beyond the bachelor's degree.

Historically Black College:

Historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are higher education institutions in the United States that were established before 1964 to serve the black community. There are 105 HBCUs today, including public and private, two-year and four-year institutions, medical schools, and community colleges.

Liberal Arts College:

A degree-granting institution where the academic focus is on developing the intellect and instruction in the humanities and sciences, rather than training for a particular vocational, technical, or professional pursuit.

Private Institution:

A college or university funded by private sources without any control by a government agency. The cost of attending a private institution is generally higher than the cost at a public institution.

Proprietary Institution (For-Profit):

Used to describe private post-secondary schools and is legally permitted to make a profit. Most proprietary schools offer technical and vocational courses.

Public Institution:

A college or university that receives public funding, primarily from a local, state, or national government that oversees and regulates the school's operations is considered a public institution.

University:

A "post-secondary institution" that consists of a liberal arts college, a diverse graduate program, and usually two or more professional schools or faculties, and that is empowered to confer degrees in various fields of study.

Vocational or Technical School:

A type of institution similar to a community college that offers specific career-oriented programs that last from a few months to a couple of years. Most are specialized and provide intense training in a particular skill area.

Religion-Based Institution:

These are colleges and universities established by and currently operating under the sponsorship of a church, synagogue, or mosque; a denomination; or a particular religion.

Single-Sex (or Single-Gender) College:

A college that accepts a single-gender.

Acceptance:

The decision by an admissions officer or committee to offer the opportunity for enrollment as a student at a particular institution.

Deferred Admission:

A category of admission used in conjunction with early (action, decision, notification, or acceptance) plans to indicate that a student has not been admitted early but will remain in the applicant pool for reconsideration during the review of applications for regular admissions.

Deferred Enrollment:

This is a category of admission available at some institutions for fully accepted students who wish—for a justifiable reason—to take a semester or year off before enrolling in college.

Denial:

The decision by an admissions officer or committee not to offer a student admission to a particular institution.

Early Action:

Early action is when a prospective student applies for admission by the early deadline (before the regular admission deadline) and receives notice of acceptance, denial, or deferment with no obligation to the university to enroll if accepted for admission.

Early Admission:

Through this program, qualifying high school juniors with outstanding academic records may forego their senior year in high school and enroll in a college/university.

Early Decision:

Through this program offered by many post-secondary schools, students willing to commit to a school if accepted submit their application by a date well before the general admission deadline. If accepted, the student must enroll in that school, so students should only apply early decision to their first-choice school.

Gap-Year Programs:

Year-long programs designed for high school graduates who wish to defer enrollment in college while engaging in meaningful activities, such as academic programs, structured travel, community service, etc.

Notification Date:

The date by which applicants accepted for admission are expected to notify the institutions of their intent to enroll and make enrollment deposits. That date is often on or around May 1.

Rolling Admissions:

Some institutions use this practice to review and complete applications as they arrive, rather than according to a set deadline.

Waitlist:

An applicant is put on the waitlist when an admissions officer or committee decides to offer the applicant the opportunity to enroll in the institution only if there is space available in the incoming class after fully admitted students have responded to their offers to enroll.

Alumni:

A group of people who have graduated from a college or university.

Audit:

To attend a class without receiving credit for the class.

Course Numbers:

Numbers assigned to specific classes.

Credit (or Semester) Hour:

Credit given for attending one lecture hour of class each week for 15 weeks or equivalent. Most college classes are three credit hours, meaning their total meeting time for a week is three hours.

Developmental Education:

Instructional and support activities designed to keep unprepared students in college and help them improve their basic skills to complete a program and achieve their educational goals successfully.

Enrollment:

The action of enrolling or being enrolled. The number of people enrolled, typically at a school or college.

First-Generation Student (First-Gen):

A student whose parents have no college experience.

First-Year Student:

A college freshman.

Matriculation:

The payment of deposits, tuition, fees, and other charges to enroll in a program of studies at an educational institution. A university might make a distinction between "matriculated students," who are accumulating credits toward a degree, and a relative few "non-matriculated students" who may be "auditing" courses or taking classes without receiving credits.

Major:

A student's concentrated field of study.

Minor:

A student's secondary field of study.

Placement Tests:

Colleges and universities use these examinations to place students in courses—most often mathematics and foreign languages—that match their proficiency. In some cases, a student's level of competency on the test may exempt them from taking a course required for graduation.

Prerequisite (Pre-req):

A course that must be taken before enrollment in another course.

Registration:

Enrollment in classes.

Residence Halls:

Dormitories, apartments, houses, and other living quarters provided for students by the college or university in which they are enrolled.

Student Persistence:

This is the act of working, progressing, and earning credits toward graduation in an academic environment.

Student Retention:

This is the degree to which students remain enrolled as members of the college or university community and persist toward graduation.

Undergraduate Student:

A student enrolled in a 4- or 5-year bachelor's degree program, an associate's degree program, or a vocational or technical program below the baccalaureate

AA:

This stands for an "associate of arts" degree, which can be earned at most two-year colleges.

AAS:

This refers to an "associate of applied science" degree, which can be earned at some two-year colleges.

BA or BS:

BA stands for "bachelor of arts," and BS stands for "bachelor of science." Both degrees can be earned at four-year colleges.

Graduate Degrees:

These degrees are earned beyond the bachelor's degree when the student completes graduate school curriculum requirements. Common examples include the MA (master's degree), PhD (doctoral degree) MBA (master's degree in business administration), MD (medical doctor).

Certificates:

In an economy that increasingly rewards specialization, more and more institutions are offering certification programs, typically a package of five or six courses, for credit or not, taken over three to 18 months. Some cost a few thousand dollars, others much more.