College Glossary

Types of Degrees

Certificate or Diploma – usually earned after a one-year program. Courses in these areas are generally not transferable to another college.

Associate’s Degree – AA degree received for a two-year course of study.

Bachelor’s Degree – BA (Bachelor of Arts) or BS (Bachelor of Science) Degree awarded by a four-year college or university after satisfactory completion of a program of study to undergraduate students.

Graduate Degree – An advanced degree, such as a master’s, specialist, or doctorate, earned after a bachelor’s degree and earned by graduate students.

College Terms

Advisor, advisee – Your advisor or counselor is the instructor assigned by the college to help you. You are the advisee.

Audit – To take a course without credit. Audited courses are not taken later for credit.

Credit – The numerical reward received for completion of a college course. It is described in semester hours. Typical courses are three credits, meaning that the course usually meets three hours per week. Labs are often one credit. To be a full-time college student, twelve credits are needed.

Department – A division of the college that offers instruction in a particular branch of knowledge (i.e. the music department). In a large university, this may also be called a college within the university, such as the College of Design at ISU.

Emphasis – A concentration of work in an area not officially declared as a minor.

Load – The total hours taken in a semester. An undergraduate load is around 15 hours.

Major – The subject or field of study that is the main focus of a degree.

Minor – The field of secondary importance, often requiring around half the credits of a major.

Pre-professional – Courses preparing undergraduate students to enter graduate colleges for certain professions such as law or medicine.

Pre-requisites – Preliminary requirements met before further courses in an area can be taken. ACT scores or testing out may lessen this number (and its cost).

Probation – A trial period for a student whose work or conduct is unsatisfactory. Students failing to meet minimum GPA or without certain entrance courses in high school may be admitted as probationary or provisional students. Students who have a low semester GPA in college may also be put on probation.

Registration – The act of enrolling in classes, usually at the beginning of a semester. Advisors help in this process.

Required Subjects: Those subjects that are prescribed for completion of a program.

Electives are extra courses that are not required.

TA – A teaching assistant is a graduate student who may assist a professor and/or conduct lower level classes on his/her own.