Data Definitions
All definitions related to the financial aid section appear at the end of the Definitions document. Items preceded by an asterisk (*) represent definitions agreed to among publishers which do not appear on the CDS document but may be present on individual publishers' surveys.
A B C D E F G H I L M N O P Q R S T U V W
Financial Aid
A
*Academic advisement: Plan under which each student is assigned to a faculty member or a trained adviser, who, through regular meetings, helps the student plan and implement immediate and long-term academic and vocational goals.
Accelerated program: Completion of a college program of study in fewer than the usual number of years, most often by attending summer sessions and carrying extra courses during the regular academic term.
Admitted student: Applicant who is offered admission to a degree-granting program at your institution.
*Adult student services: Admission assistance, support, orientation, and other services expressly for adults who have started college for the first time, or who are re-entering after a lapse of a few years.
American Indian or Alaska native: A person having origins in any of the original peoples of North America and who maintains cultural identification through tribal affiliation or community recognition.
Applicant (first-time, first year): An individual who has fulfilled the institution's requirements to be considered for admission (including payment or waiving of the application fee, if any) and who has been notified of one of the following actions: admission, nonadmission, placement on waiting list, or application withdrawn (by applicant or institution).
Application fee: That amount of money that an institution charges for processing a student's application for acceptance. This amount is not creditable toward tuition and required fees, nor is it refundable if the student is not admitted to the institution.
Asian or Pacific Islander: A person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, the Indian Subcontinent, or Pacific Islands. This includes people from China, Japan, Korea, the Philippine Islands, American Samoa, India, and Vietnam.
Associate degree: An award that normally requires at least two but less than four years of full-time equivalent college work.