AA or AS: Associate of Arts or Science degrees are two-year transfer degrees earned at a junior or community college.
Accelerated program: An accelerated degree program is one that reduces the amount of time it takes to obtain a degree by at least one year. Accelerated Bachelor programs can potentially combine a Masters degree.
Accredited: Approval given by an outside agency or association to an institution.
Academies: Military schools (mostly in the USA) with special entrance requirements and an obligation to participate in military service upon completion. View our Academies section here.
Admission test: A standardized test designed to evaluate high school students’ level of preparedness for college. The two most commonly accepted admissions tests are the SAT and ACT exams.
Admit rate: The percentage of applicants a uni accepts in a given year.
Advanced Standing: Granted by some universities to students who earn good AP exam scores. You could potentially be admitted as a Sophomore, thus saving time and money on your degree completion.
Application fee: Many colleges require students to pay a fee upon submission of their applications. These fees typically range from $25 to $100, and can sometimes be waived depending on the college.
Admission requirements: Basic guidelines for admission as well as additional requirements that apply to certain degree programs. Admission requirements can give you a general understanding of whether or not you have the academic credentials necessary for the school.
Bachelor’s degree: A diploma earned after completing a required course of study at a college or university. The degree usually takes four years and is abbreviated B.A. (Bachelor of Arts) or B.S. (Bachelor of Science).
Bursary: Money given to a student to help pay for their education, based mainly on financial need (ability to pay), not just grades.
Clearing: Clearing is how you can find and apply for courses in the United Kingdom that still have spaces if you don’t have an offer, didn’t meet your offers, or applied late.
Coalition Application: An online application for admission created by the Coalition for Access, Affordability, and Success (CAAS) that is accepted by over 135 universities in the US.
Common Application: An online application for admission that is accepted by over 900 universities in the US, Canada, the UK, and more.
Concentration: A specific focus in an area of studies that is a subset of (or related to) your major.
Conditional Offer: A conditional offer is an offer of a place at a university or college that depends on you meeting certain requirements, usually your exam results.
Core curriculum: A group of specially designed courses in the humanities, arts, social sciences, and sciences designed to give students a strong foundation in general education
Cost of Attendance (COA): The cost to attend an institution, includes tuition, housing*, books and mandatory fees. Mandatory Fees will vary by campus and by region.
Course catalog: an overview of all the courses available at a college. You can find this catalog on the college’s website. The catalog will list required classes for each degree program and provide additional details such as how many credit hours are awarded upon completing the course. When enrolling, students will use the course catalog to see what classes are available for the upcoming term.
Credit hours: The amount of credit a student receives for completing a college course.
CSS profile: College Scholarship Service; the division of the CollegeBoard that facilitates the financial assessment process for over 300 institutions.
Deferred admission: the college is still reviewing your application and will make a final admission decision at a later date. For example: if you applied during the Early Decision or Early Action cycles, this means the application has been moved and will be re-evaluated with the Regular Decision pool.
Deferral: If you have an extenuating circumstance that prevents you from enrolling during your intended term, you may contact the university and ask for a deferral, which is a commitment to attend in the subsequent semester or the following school year.
Dual degree program: allows students to obtain Bachelor degrees in two majors or two degrees (i.e. Bachelor and Master) in one field of study. These programs feature a more rigorous curriculum designed to save students time while preparing for their careers.
Demonstrated interest: the way that a college might evaluate your level of enthusiasm and interest. Some use college visits, emails, social media interaction, admissions event attendance, and other aspects to determine a student’s level of interest. Only a small number of universities use demonstrated interest in their decision.
Demonstrated need: the amount of money needed to afford the cost of college. This is calculated by subtracting Expected Family Contribution from the Cost of Attendance for a particular college. FAFSA® and the college will use this number to evaluate a student’s eligibility for receiving financial aid and scholarships.
Early Action: a college application deadline that requires students to submit their applications early in order to receive a decision well in advance of the school’s regular decision date. Unlike Early Decision, there is no binding commitment to attend the college if accepted, and you can decline an EA offer if you choose.
Early Decision: An Early Decision deadline allows students to submit their applications in advance of the Regular Decision deadline and requires these students to make a binding commitment to attend the college if admitted. You may only apply ED to one campus. Choose ED if your heart is set on one specific campus and your family is comfortable with the 4-year cost of attendance. Do not choose ED if you'd like to know the admissions outcomes of all your schools and you want to compare their financial award letters.
English Proficiency: an exam or other qualifier used to determined your mastery of the English language. The most commonly used exams are IELTS, TOEFL and Duolingo.
Expected Family Contribution (EFC): Expected Family Contribution is a numerical figure that a college’s financial aid office and the government use to determine the amount of financial aid a student may receive. Many factors go into finding this amount, including family income, financial assets, and other related factors. The information entered on the FAFSA form is used to calculate EFC.
FAFSA®: The Free Application for Federal Student Aid. Families use this form to apply for the financial aid sources that help many students afford the cost of college. The U.S. government and colleges use this form to determine eligibility for grants, loans, work-study jobs, and scholarships. The FAFSA usually becomes available on Oct. 1. More information is available on the FAFSA website.
Financial Aid: The amount of funding a university anticipates offering, usually in the form of grants, loans, work study programs, and/or scholarships.
Financial Award letter/package: a letter describing the amount of financial aid for which you qualify at a particular institution. Some colleges will include scholarship amounts and loan options in the award letter. These amounts are rarely the same at each campus, so it's best to compare. Schools will provide the deadline by which a student must respond to the award offer.
Flagship university: A flagship university is often the most well-known public university in a particular state (USA). This college is usually the first state university established in the system and also tends to receive the most financial support from the state government. For example: the University of Georgia is the flagship of the larger University of Georgia system.
Futures Center: The Futures Center is the hub of all college & career planning at TAISM and is used for Future Planning Classes, guest future speakers, and presentations by universities.
Fraternity / Sorority / Greek Life: student organizations commonly found at American colleges. Traditionally, fraternities are made up of men, and sororities are made up of women members, although many colleges also offer co-ed organizations. Colleges often refer to these groups as “Greek Life” because their names consist of letters from the Greek alphabet, and they have chapter relationships across colleges nationally.
Gap Year: Some students choose to take a “gap year,” meaning they decide to take a semester or year off after graduating from high school. You might spend a gap year traveling, volunteering, taking advantage of a new experience, or discovering new hobbies. You may be able to defer your acceptance to the following school year during your Gap experience.
Grade Point Average (GPA): A number that shows your overall academic performance. It’s computed by assigning a point value to each grade you earn, and might include additional weight for taking rigorous classes such as AP. Universities will primarily use the unweighted GPA from your core classes (English, Math, Science, Social Studies, World Language*) in the admission decision.
Grants: a form of financial aid that doesn’t have to be repaid.
Highly selective: also referred to as Reach or Dream schools. These institutions will deny admission to the majority of their applicant pool. Schools that admit less than 20% of their applicants are considered highly selective.
Holistic admissions: refers to a process that includes factors beyond your transcript and test scores. Holistic admissions can include activities, essays, recommendations and interviews.
Home status: refers to students who have established the region as their home base outside of the regular school year. Home-status is usually proven through flight records and property taxes, and is not guaranteed merely based on citizenship.
In-State vs. Out-of-State tuition: (USA) State public universities often charge different tuition amounts based on whether a student is considered a state resident. At public institutions, in-state students often pay less tuition than out-of-state students. State residency is determined by where a student (or parent/guardian) resides and pays taxes.
Legacy: Students who apply to the same college that an immediate family member attended might be considered legacy applicants. Legacy applicants often receive preference in college admissions at private institutions. In some cases, you may be considered a legacy applicant if other relatives graduated from the college (i.e. grandparent).
Letters of Recommendation: a formal letter written by a teacher, high school counselor, or other person with special knowledge of a student. This letter advocates for your acceptance to a college.
Liberal Arts College: a college that takes a classical approach to higher education. A liberal arts curriculum often puts a heavy emphasis on challenging students’ beliefs and training them to become critical thinkers. Courses tend to focus on the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences, aiming to give students a well-rounded education.
Likely: A Likely school is one where there is a very high chance of acceptance, based on the most recent admit rates. Likely colleges are often schools where a student’s academic profile exceeds what is often accepted, and the admit rate for all applicants is at least 50%.
Loan: a form of financial aid that is expected to be repaid.
Major: the area of discipline that you plan to study while attending college. For example: a student who plans to become a teacher usually chooses Education as their major.
Merit Scholarships: a form of financial aid often awarded to students who demonstrate high levels of academic excellence, athletic achievement, artistic talent, or other recognition. Not all colleges offer merit-based scholarships.
Minor: A minor is similar to a college major but requires a smaller course load to obtain. Many students choose to pursue one or two minors in addition to a Bachelor’s degree focusing on a specific major.
Numerus Fixus: A program or course at a university or university of applied sciences that has a limited number of spots available each year.
NCAA®: The National Collegiate Athletic Association. This is the entity that regulates college student athletes across the U.S. The NCAA ranks schools as Division I, Division II, or Division III based on their enrollment size.
Need-Based Aid: funding provided to students who demonstrate significant financial need, as determined through the FAFSA, CSS Profile or bank documents.
Need-Aware admission: the college will consider an applicant’s ability to pay when deciding who will be admitted, waitlisted, or denied.
Need-Blind admission: the college will not consider an applicant’s ability to pay when deciding who will be admitted, waitlisted, or denied.
Placement tests: tests administered by the college that measure your academic skills. They usually cover reading, writing, math and sometimes other subjects. Placement test results help determine what courses you're ready for and whether you would benefit from remedial courses.
Priority date or deadline: applications submitted before this date will receive preference, but students who submit their application afterward can still be considered for admission on a space available basis. Financial Aid applications may also have priority deadlines.
Private vs. Public university: A public university is funded and operated by the state government, while a private university is usually run by a nonprofit organization or other private entity. Public universities tend to rely heavily on local tax dollars while private universities secure funds through other means such as tuition and fees, alumni gifts, and endowments.
Regular Decision: a non-binding, final application deadline. Many colleges only offer Regular Decision deadlines, and the majority of students will apply during the Regular Decision round of college admissions.
Restricted Early Action: a non-binding cycle that prohibits applicants from applying to other restrictive-early programs, including Early Decision.
Retention Rate: the percentage of students at a college who do not flunk out, drop out, or transfer before Sophomore year.
Rolling Admission: The college will accept applications until all spots are filled. Rolling admission is non-binding and spaces tend to fill very quickly at these schools. Apply early!
Room & Board: refers to the housing and meal options available on a campus. Sometimes, the two are charged separately.
Scholarship: a form of financial aid that doesn’t need to be repaid. Students usually have to meet specific criteria to qualify for a scholarship. Scholarships are often provided by colleges, school districts, or private entities.
School Profile: a document typically sent to universities along with a student’s transcript. This tool provides admissions officers with an overview of high school details such as class size, grading scale, and list of available classes. Colleges understand that not all high schools provide the same opportunities, and they use school profiles to understand the range of opportunities and context in which credits are earned at your school.
Score Choice: A score reporting option used by the College Board which allows students who have taken the SAT multiple times to choose which SAT score they would like to send to colleges, rather than sending the full report. Not every college participates in Score Choice.
Selectivity: the level of difficulty to be admitted to a campus. The lower the admit rate, the more selective the campus.
Self-Reported Academic Record (SRAR): Some colleges require applicants to self-report their high school record and test scores rather than rely on high schools or testing organizations to submit them. Instead, 12th graders obtain a copy of their transcript from their high school counselor and enter the information into their college application. It’s important to keep information factual since most colleges will eventually check the official transcript. Students will have to attest that all information submitted to the college is factual.
Single-choice Early Action (SCEA): an early application option that is similar to EA in that you are not bound to attend if accepted. However, with the SCEA restriction, you cannot apply early to any other school, be it Early decision or Early action, until you have heard back from your SCEA school. After you receive the school’s decision of acceptance, deferral, or denial, you may apply to other schools.
Student-Faculty ratio: a numeric figure that is calculated by dividing the number of enrolled college students by the number of faculty members at the institution. Colleges often use low student-faculty ratios as a selling point to demonstrate the high percentage of teachers related to the college’s size.
Studielink: The Dutch Government website where you register your intention to start your application to universities in The Netherlands (Holland). This is Part 1 of your application.
Superscore: a test score derived from a student’s best sub-section scores from multiple attempts at the ACT or SAT.
Supplementary materials: refers to the documents that accompany your application, including your transcript, recommendations and school profile.
Target: A target is a college with a moderate level of competition in which a student’s academic profile matches what is often accepted. The admit rate is at least 25% and there is always a chance of rejection.
Test optional vs. Test blind: Test optional college admissions usually means that the college will accept test scores as part a college application, but scores are not required for admission. Some colleges practice “test blind” admissions meaning that scores will not be factored into an admissions decision at all. Colleges may set or change policies to meet the needs of their institution.
Transcript: a record provided by the school that lists a student’s completed classes, grades, grade weight, cumulative GPA, and other details about their academic history while in high school. High schools send official transcripts directly to a college while unofficial transcripts can be obtained by the student.
Undecided or Undeclared: If students are unsure of what they plan to major in when starting college, they may select “undecided” or “undeclared” as their major and make a decision at a later date. Some colleges will place undecided students into a category such as “General Studies.”
Undergraduate: A college student working toward an Associate or a Bachelor's degree.
US World & News Report: The US World & News Report is a publication known for its variety of lists, especially its list of college rankings. This list of college rankings is based on a wide range of criteria that the publication deems important. We recommend that students do not base their college decision from rankings alone, as they're not a good indicator of a college that will meet your personal needs.
Waitlist: the college has finished reviewing your application and has placed you on the waiting list. The chances of being admitted from the waitlist will depend on the available spots for admission. Waitlisted acceptances usually roll out in late May-July with some students finding out as late as August.
Work-Study: a form of need-based aid that provides eligible students with part-time jobs to help afford the cost of attending college. Your award will determine the number of hours available. You’ll need to contact the college’s financial aid office to find out if they participate. Work-study hours and eligibility varies from country to country.
Yield: The percentage of students who enroll at a university after accepting an offer of admission.