College Terminology

Accreditation: The process where by a nationally recognized agency or organization grants public recognition to a unit of an educational organization (such as a school, institute, college, university, or specialized program of study) indicating that it meets established standards of quality, as determined through initial and periodic self-study and evaluation by peers. Accreditation provides professional judgment on the quality of the educational institution or programs offered and thus encourages continual improvement.

Admission, Rolling: A procedure by which decisions are made and applicants notified about their request for admission. Under this procedure, admission decisions are made throughout the year, as opposed to applications being pooled during the year and all decisions announced at the same date.

Admission Decision: Determination of eligibility to enroll at an institution based upon defined admission standards.

Admission Decision Notification: Acceptance and deferral letters are the official notification of eligibility to enroll.

Admissions Counseling: Guidance offered to prospective students to acquaint them with such matters as the choice of an institution and factors considered for admission such as admissions standards.

Admissions Officer: A professional staff member in the admissions office who provides information and advice for prospective applicants, parents, school counselors and other interested persons. Usual duties will include participating in college fairs held days and nights, making individual visits to high schools, counseling with applicants, assisting in admissions decisions, and answering correspondence.

Admissions Criteria: The clearly defined, institutionally approved and systematically validated elements used to select students( e.g., high school record, course requirements, test scores).

Advanced Placement: Progressing beyond the normal academic level. A common illustration for secondary and college students is the exemption of basic-level coursework through the achievement of strong scores on subject matter examinations such as The College Board's Advanced Placement tests.

Advising: The process of assisting the student in planning and executing an educational program, with emphasis on meeting departmental and institutional requirements for graduation.

Assessment: This occurs after acceptance to an institution and is the role of an advisor within a general advising center or a program advising center.

Baccalaureate: A term referring to the bachelor's degree, typically a four year program, full time.

Carnegie Unit: A unit for measuring the amount of secondary school work. One unit normally represents a year's study of one subject in a class meeting, comprising not less than 120 sixty-minute recitation
hours or the equivalent.

Early Admissions: Practice followed by some colleges/universities allowing students to enter college prior to high school graduation if they score in the 95th percentile or above on the SAT or ACT and have
at least a 3.5 academic gpa at high school.

Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA; formerly know as the Buckley Amendment): A federal law designed to protect the privacy of education records, to establish the right of student to inspect and review their education records and to provide guidelines for the correction of inaccurate and misleading data through informal and formal hearings. Students must have access to records and re protected against the dissemination or records without authorization. Students (and parents of minors) have the right to view all documents, including letters of recommendation, that students have not waived the right to view.

GPA: Grade point average, or high school or college academic average.

Nontraditional Students: Generally students who graduated from school five years or more ago and are beginning (or returning) to college/university study.

Orientation: Helps new students transition into the University. The program involves academic advising, assistance registering for courses, KSU ID and parking decal, interaction with other new students and general campus information.

Portfolios: Admission files and policies that include a wider array of credentials then simply academic records and standardized test results.

Readmission: The practice of admitting students to a
college/university that they previously attended.

Records, Confidentiality of: The right of the student not to have his or her official educational record or other records released except through personal consent or another, legal process. See also Family Education Rights and Privacy Act of 1974

Registration: The procedure by which students sign up for courses for which they are eligible and pay tuition and fees.

Satisfactory Academic Progress: The acceptable status of a student; specifically, he or she is in good academic standing based upon grade point average and courses completed.

Selective Institutions: Institutions that have more qualified applicants than can be admitted and that generally accept only a small percentage of these candidates. Other categories include competitive institutions whose application processing allows acceptance of the best qualified applicants.

Standardized Test: Often included as a criterion for the selection of candidates, a standardized test is a widely administered exam intended to measure a specific achievement, competency, or aptitude. Common undergraduate admissions tests include the SAT, the ACT, and the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL)

Transient Student: A student in good standing in any recognized institution who is enrolling in coursework at another institution with the intent to transfer back to the first institution.

TOEFL: The Test of English as a Foreign Language, which is administered by the Educational Testing Service and is an English language proficiency exam required of foreign student applicants for many universities.

Transcript: A copy of the permanent academic (Educational Record) at an institution of higher education. The transcript becomes official when the seal of the institution is affixed and the signature of an authorized person is appended. Transcripts remain official if issued directly from original institution to another institution.

Transfer Credit Evaluation: Determination of the amount of credit earned at one college/university that will be credited toward work an at another college.

Transfer Student: A student who has earned college-level credit after high school at one college/university that will be credited toward work at another.

Viewbook: A publication produced to offer general information and pictures to the prospective student constituency.