Glossary of Terms
- Acceptance
- Acceptance - a decision that grants an individual admission to a given college or university
- Accreditation
- Accreditation - The college, university, or school has been reviewed
by a regional or national body and judged to meet minimum requirements
- Admit/Deny
- Admit/Deny - A student meets the admission requirements of a given
institution, but the school cannot offer financial assistance
- Associate Degree
- Associate Degree (AA-Associate of Arts; AS- Associate of Science)
The degree granted by a community or junior college after two years of
work
- Bachelor Degree
- Bachelor Degree (BA-Bachelor of Arts; BS-Bachelor of Science) The
degree granted by a college or university upon completion of a precribed
course of study which is usually four years
- Candidate Notification Date
- The date by which a college or university notifies applicants of their
admissions decisions.
- Candidate Reply Date
- The date by which a student must notify the college or university
of their intent to enroll, usually May 1.
- College
- A school of higher learing which may be two or four years, public
or private and offers an academic degree
- College Level Examination Program (CLEP)
- A test given by a university or college which if successfully passed,
allows one to waive certain academic course work.
- Common Application Form
- A uniform application form which is accepted by over 300 private institutions
although each school has additional supplemental materials required.
- Consortium
- Several colleges or universities join together to allow students the
opportunity to use libraries or take classes at all member institutions
- Core Curriculum
- A group of courses across several disciplines, arts and sciences,
designated by a college or univeristy as requirements for graduation.
- Deferred Admission
- Allows a student, once accepted, to postpone matriculation for one
year in order to pursue other plans.
- Deferred Decision
- A college or university determines more information is required in
order to make a final decision about a candidate's application.
- Early Action
- Is a plan that offers a student the opportunity to send in an application
early but does not require the student to attend if accepted. The student
usually has until May 1st to make a decision on enrollment.
- Early Admission
- Exceptional students may terminate their high school education after
the junior year without earning a high school diploma and enroll in
college. Early Admission is highly selective.
- Early Decision
- Allows a student to apply between October and mid-January for an early
determination of admissibility. If accepted, the student is obligated
to attend. If accepted through Early Decision program, the student must
withdraw all other applications.
- Family Contribution
- The amount of money a student and his/her family can afford for a
college education.
- 4-1-4 Plan
- College year that is divided into two semesters with one month between
semesters.
- Grade Point Average
- A system used to evaluate academic performance.
- Liberal Arts
- An academic program designed to provide a broad education experience
and includes the sciences, social sciences, languages, philosophy and
literature.
- Matriculate
- When a student is accepted by a specific college or university and
actually enrolls and attends the institution.
- National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA)
- An athletic governing body which regulates athletic recruitment and
scholarship policies and to which approximately 500 small four year
colleges and universities belong.
- National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA)
- An organization of Christian colleges from twenty-two different denominations
that provides competition in fifteen national tournaments.
- National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)
- An athletic governing body to which over 800 colleges and universities
belong. Each institutions chooses a general division (1,2,or 3) and
is required to follow the policies for recruitment and awarding scholarships
that have been established for that division.
- National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA)
- A national governing body for sports and activities of junior colleges.
- Need Analysis
- The process used to evaluate an applicant's financial situation to
determine how much student aid is needed to meet college expenses.
- Need-blind
- The philosophical position that a college accepts a student based
on his/her meeting specific requirements without regard to ability to
pay. It is assumed that the College's Financial Office will develop
a financial aid package as needed.
- Open Admissions
- Students are accepted upon application. Usually occurs in community
colleges.
- Rolling Admissions
- A college will notify a candidate as soon as the application has been
processed, usually four to six weeks after the file is complete.
- 3-2 Plan
- A student completes three years at one college or university and two
years at a second institution, ie three years liberal arts and two years
of engineering.
- Technical College
- A public or private college or university where a trade or skill is
learned.
- Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL)
- A test used to evaluate the English proficieny of students whose first
language is not English.
- University
- An insitution of higher learning containing one college and that offers
graduate programs.
- Waiting List
- A list maintaind by some schools containing names of students predicted
to succeed at the insitution but have not been accepted until those
who have been accepted decide whether or not they will attend. Wait-listed
students are usually notified between May 1 and June 1.
- Yield
- The number of students offered admissions to an institution who actually
matriculate.
