First One to College

                                                            College Language

The language or terms colleges use is very different from the terms you used in high school.  An attempt will be made to explain as many terms as possible.  Keep in mind that some terms change from a community college to a university and some change within different regions of a state.  Always remember if you do not know ask.

Admission: The process students go through to be accepted into a community college, college, university or major.

Advisor: A member of the faculty or staff responsible for guiding students through their selection of courses while at the institution.

GPA: The academic status of a student determined by dividing the total number of quality points by the total credit hours attempted.

FAFSA: Free Application For Federal Student Aid is the basic document used for virtually all financial aid.

Term: The school year is broken into three terms for example fall, spring and summer.

Catalog: This is an extremely important document to the student.  This document has in depth information on financial aid, scholarships as well as institutional policies.  Every program and course is listed along with a brief description.

Program: At many community colleges a program is a planned path of study in a particular subject area leading to a degree, diploma or certificate

Major: At the four year college or university, students select an academic area in which they will place their emphasis or specialize in.

Minor: Students select this

Transcript: An official document show all courses attempted and any grades that have been received.

Registration:  The process of selecting courses, days and time which a student wishes to attend class.

Credit  Hours: A unit of time awarded for coursework; credit hours are used in computing grade point average, the status of a student as full time or part time , and for fulfillment of graduation requirements.

Full Time Status :Any student enrolled for at least twelve (12) credit hours.

Part Time Status: Any student enrolled in less than twelve (12) credit hours.