Definition of Terms

Accrediting Agencies – Organizations (or bodies) that establish operating standards for educational or professional institutions and programs, determine the extent to which the standards are met, and publicly announce their findings.

Adjunct Faculty – Non-tenure track faculty serving in a temporary or auxiliary capacity to teach specific courses on a course-by course basis.

Admissions (students admitted) – Applicants that have been granted an official offer to enroll in a postsecondary institution.

Adult Student – A student enrolled who is 22 years of age or older at the time of enrollment.

Applicant – An individual who has fulfilled the institution’s requirements to be considered for admission.

Bachelor’s Degree – An award that normally requires at least 4 but no more that 5 years of full-time equivalent college-level work.

Branch Campus - An instructional location at a place other than the institution's principal center at which the institution offers one or more complete curricula leading to a certificate or degree.

Certificate – A formal award certifying the satisfactory completion of a postsecondary education program.

Cohort Student – A specific group of students established for tracking purposes.

Continuing Student - A student that is entering a multiple semester with the same institution.

Completer – A student who receives a degree, diploma, certificate, or other formal award. In order to be considered a completer, the degree/award must actually be conferred.

Degree - An award conferred by a college, university, or other postsecondary education institution as official recognition for the successful completion of a program of studies.

Degree/Certificate Seeking Students – Students enrolled in courses for credit who are recognized by the institution as seeking a degree or other formal award.

Enrollment - Students enrolled in courses on the census date for the reporting term.

First-time Full-time – Students enrolled in college for the first time (usually following high-school graduation) on a full-time basis.

Flat Rate Equivalent (FRE) – Financial measure converting part-time and over-load undergraduate credits to the equivalent number undergraduate students enrolled full time for one academic year plus the actual number of full time students.

Full-time Equivalent (FTE) – Standardized measure used for comparisons. Generally calculated as the number of full time students plus one-third the number of part time students or the number of full time faculty plus one-third the number of part-time faculty.

Full-time Instructional Faculty – Those members of the instruction/research staffs who are employed full-time and whose major regular assignment is instruction, including those with released time for research.

Full-time Undergraduate Student – A student enrolled for 12 or more semester credits.

Full-time Graduate Student – A student enrolled for 9 or more semester credits.

Graduate Student – A student who holds a bachelor’s or first-professional degree, or equivalent and is taking courses at the post-baccalaureate level. These students may or may not be enrolled in graduate programs.

Graduation Rate – Based on the first-time full-time cohort, this rate is calculated as the total number of completers within 150% of normal time divided by the revised cohort minus any exclusions.

IPEDS – Integrated postsecondary education data system.

Master’s Degree – An award that requires the successful completion of a program of study of at least the full-time equivalent of 1 but not more than 2 academic years of work beyond the bachelor’s degree.

Matriculated Student - A student that is considered "degree-seeking" and is enrolled in a program that can be attributed to a certificate or a degree.

NCES - National Center for Education Statistics

Off-Campus Centers (extension centers) – Sites outside the confines of the parent institution where course are offered that are part of an organized program at the parent institution.

Part-Time Undergraduate Student – A student enrolled for 11 semester credits or less.

Part-Time Graduate Student – A student enrolled for 8 semester credits or less.

Post-Baccalaureate Certificate – An award that requires completion of an organized program of study equivalent to 18 semester credit hours beyond the bachelor’s.

Residence – A person’s permanent address determined by such evidence as a driver’s license or voter registration. For entering first-years, residence may be the legal residence of a parent or guardian.

Retention Rate – A measure of the rate at which students persist in their educational program at an institution, expressed as a percentage. This is calculated by determining the percentage of the first-time full-time cohort from a specified fall semester who are again enrolled in the following fall semester.

Traditional – A student enrolled who is under 22 years of age.

Transfer - A student who has enrolled at Marist subsequent to enrollment at another institution of higher education.

UCAN - University and College Accountability Network

Undergraduate – A student enrolled in a 4- or 5- year bachelor’s degree program, an associate’s degree program, or a vocational or technical program below the baccalaureate.