Transfer Lingo

1) Academic Year: September through the following August. Includes the Fall Semester, Winter Semester, Spring Semester, and Summer Session. 

2) Academic Credits: Credits that apply towards your degree for program completion.

3) Accreditation: Certification that a school or an instructional program meets standards set by an outside reviewing organization. Many forms of financial aid are available only to students attending accredited institutions. 

4) Articulation Agreement: A formal agreement between high schools and colleges or between community/technical colleges and baccalaureate institutions, designed to make it easy for students to move from one educational level to the next without any gaps or repetition in their coursework.

5) Associate in Arts Degree (AA):  A degree designed for transfer to an upper division college or university. 

6) Associate in Applied Science (AAS): A technical degree designed to fully train students in a specific field of work. Majority of the credits taken may not be transferrable to baccalaureate degree programs.

7) Associate in Science Degree (AS):  A broad based degree designed to prepare students to enter a wide variety of careers. 

8) Baccalaureate or Bachelor’s Degree:  completion of all University and major graduation requirements as certified by the University.  A B.A. is the Bachelor of Arts degree, and a B.S. is the Bachelor of Science degree.

9) Common Application: (AKA The Common App) One admissions application used to apply to any of the 456 member colleges and universities. Application can be filled out online and submitted to all schools with the same information going to each.

10) General Education Program: A group of courses in the areas of social science, natural/physical science, communication, and humanities which provide a common and broadly-based body of knowledge.

11) GPA (Grade Point Average): The average number of grade points per semester hour attempted.  GPA is computed by dividing the total number of grade points assigned by the total number of semester hours attempted. The semester GPA includes grades in each semester; the cumulative GPA includes grades from all semesters at the school you attend. 

12) Graduation Requirements: Specific steps and courses you must successfully complete to qualify for a degree or certificate. 

13) Grants: Money provided for educational expenses that does not have to be repaid; also called "gift aid", such as FAFSA (Federal Grant) and TAP (State Grant).

14) Loans: Money you borrow from your bank or credit union for educational expenses which must be repaid after you leave school. 

15) Major:  A group of related courses that constitute a focused program of study in a specific area of knowledge.

16) Memoranda of Understanding: opportunities for collaboration and positive academic engagement between universities to mutual benefit, without establishing a formal legal relationship between the two institutions.

17) Minor:  A compliment to a Bachelor’s degree program/major requiring at least 18 credit hours in a field.

18) Personal Statement: Written essay use to describe a student’s goals, interest, challenges, and achievements. Required by colleges, universities, and scholarship applications.

19) Prerequisite: Courses which must be successfully completed or requirements which must be met before enrolling in a specific course. Prerequisites are listed at the beginning of the course description. 

20) Co-Requisite Course: A course in your program that you can within the same semester as long as in indicated in the course requisites.

21) Program of Study: A group of specific courses which you are required to complete successfully in order to qualify for a degree or certificate. 

22) Scholarship: A type of financial aid. Organizations may give scholarships according to academic achievement, financial need, or any other basis. Usually there is a competitive application process.

23) Semester/Term: The way the academic year is divided into segments.  Each lasts approximately 15 weeks in length.  Some Universities break them up into “quarters.” They are usually referred to as Fall (late August through December), Spring (January through April), and Summer (May through August). 

24) Transcript: Your official College/University record listing all academic courses attempted with grades, credits, and honor points; all transfer credits accepted; any credit awarded by examination or advanced placement; and your cumulative GPA. 

25) Transfer: The official process of moving from attendance at one college or university to attendance at another college or university. 

26) Tuition: The money you pay the College for instruction and services. A dollar amount is assigned to each credit. Tuition is determined by multiplying the dollar amount by the number of credits for which you are registering.  

27) Umbrella  Partnership: is an institution to institution agreement in which the receiving college guarantees that all credits earned at the sending college will be accepted and applied to the respective senior college's degree program.

28) Undergraduate:  Term used to define any student in a college or university who has not completed the coursework required to obtain his Bachelor’s degree.

Sources:

- University of Central Florida

- Montana State University

- University of North Dakota