college

vocabulary

for first

generation

students

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College Vocabulary

Certification--Certification through Adult Education programs, like at Career and Technical Centers, gives you the training you need to enter fields like phlebotomy or HVAC. These programs take a few months to a year and are job specific.

Associates Degree--A 2 year college degree in a job related field, and often provides the training necessary for a beginning licensure. For example, with an associates degree in nursing you may test to be an RN, with a Bachelors degree you would be a BSN, and with a certification (above) you would be a STNA.

Bachelors Degree--A 4 year degree in a subject (your major), like political science, or skill, like engineering. Bachelors degrees provide an opportunity to take a wide breadth of classes in a variety of subjects and learn more about the world. Most people with a Bachelors degree don't get an associates degree, but some people get both.

Masters Degree--A Masters degree is a specialty degree that takes 1- 3 years and focuses on one topic, like mental health counseling or special education. Masters Degrees are often more career specific, but not always. You must get a Bachelors Degree first. PhD--A PhD, or doctorate degree, takes 3-5 years. Getting a PhD means you are the specialist in one very specific topic, like rural literature or the impact of childhood poverty on literacy. A PhD qualifies you to be a professor at a college, and write in your field as an expert. It is a doctorate but getting a PhD does not make you a medical doctor. You must get a Bachelors or Masters first, depending on the field.

D.O.--This is a medical doctor degree which you must attend medical school to receive. It is not a PhD. Confusing, I know!

ACT-The ACT is a standardized test many colleges require as part of their application. A perfect score on the ACT is 36. The higher your score, the more scholarships available to you.

SAT-The SAT is similar to the ACT. Most people take the ACT, but some colleges require the SAT instead.

PSAT--A practice SAT test given to 10th grade students.

ASPIRE--Like the PSAT, but for the ACT.

FAFSA-The Federal Application for Student Aid. You and/or your parents/guardians must complete this to qualify for grants and loans, and many colleges require the FAFSA. It uses information from your taxes to help decide how much help you will need to pay for college.

Financial Aid--Refers to grants, scholarships, loans, and work study funds provided by private organizations, the government, and your college, to help pay for your education and living expenses while in college.

Loan-Money you must pay back. Federal loans tend to have better interest rates than private loans. I repeat, you must pay these back. Loans ARE NOT free money.

Scholarship--Money you do not pay back, usually given on the basis of merit (grades), citizenship, essays, or financial need.

Grant--Money you do not pay back that is provided on the basis of financial need, often in the form of a Pell Grant.

Work Study-A type of financial aid where you work in the university or in a partnering community agency for up to 20 hours per week, and receive pay for your work. Your paychecks are expected to assist with your living expenses while in college.

Matriculation--Starting your freshman year.

Retention--Remaining a student in good standing.

Major--Your main are of study. Examples of majors include War & Peace Studies, Mechanical Engineering, Costume & Set Design, Middle Childhood Education, Pre Med, and Creative Writing.

Minor--A secondary area of study. You can minor in almost anything you can major in. Popular examples include Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, Biology, Psychology, Sociology, English, Business, and Math. A minor is one way to document a secondary skill that will be useful in your field of employment. A minor is also a way to delve into a passion, like ancient literature or philosophy, that you choose not to major in due to job prospects or any other reason.

Concentration-Can refer to a specific topic you learned more about as part of your major (English: Creative Writing, Poetry), can refer to the focus of your research (the aerodynamic properties of polymer plastics), or can refer to a topic you learned more about, including certificate programs, that was not your major or minor (Certificate in LeadershipStudies, for example).

Learning Community (LC)-A program for freshmen. In a Learning Community a group of students take 2 or more classes together and, at times, live in the same dorm. LCs can be themed (Community Service), major specific, or for undecided students.

Early Decision-This means you apply, get accepted, and decide to go to a college, a bit earlier than others.

Dorm-Dorms are on-campus living. Typically 2-4 students share a bedroom and study space. Every dorm has different rules and personalities. Some are quiet study, some are fine arts specific, others are gender neutral or multilingual.

Roommate--The person (or people) you live with. Dean--The boss of a college.

Dining Hall--Dining halls are campus dining rooms. Most colleges have a swipe or points system you purchase to eat in dining halls.

Ombudsman-A lawyer whose job is to advocate for students if students feel like they have been treated unfairly, for example if a professor changes their grade or singles them out.

University--The entire school (OSU, OU, etc.)

Academic College--Refers to departments in the university. Colleges might include Education, Health & Human Services, and Arts & Sciences.

Department--A major or grouping of very related majors. For example, at Ohio University English, Creative Writing, Rhetoric Studies, and Literature are a department.

Advisor--The person who helps you choose classes and makes sure you're taking the right classes to graduate. You always need to be a smart consumer and double check, though.

Chair--A professor who assists with the running of their department.

Professor--This title is reserved for folks with PhDs who have full professorship, which means they have tenure (defined below). Other instructor should be referred to as "doctor" because they have PhDs but aren't professors.

Tenure--Full professorship. To creative and intellectual freedom tenured professors cannot be fired.

Tenure Track-Professors who are completing the process to become tenured.

Teaching Assistant (TA)-A student who is studying for their masters degree or PhD who assists in teaching, or teaches, a course or lab. In return for teaching a TA receives free tuition and a stipend for living expenses.

Pink Slip-The process to sign up for a course late. Sometimes you can’t pink slip. Sometimes they're called green slips.

Course Evaluation-A student's anonymous opportunity to provide feedback on a professor's teaching.

Accreditation--There are bogus colleges! If you've never heard of them and your HS hasn't either, you should check to see if they're accredited. Accreditation is like quality control—it means a college is qualified to provide you with training and education.

Transfer Credit--Refers to credit for courses from 1 college you attended that another you attend will recognize and count.

Credit--Points you get for passing a class. Classes can be 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or more credits, depending. Most are 3-5. You will need a certain number of credits to graduate.

People too often forget it

is your own choice how you want to spend

the rest of your life.