College Admissions Terms (Text Version)

• Rolling Admission: Applications without a set deadline

• Deferred Admission: Waiting for another round of decisions to be reassessed

• Wait List: Can enroll only if space becomes available after acceptances are denied

• Need-blind Admission: Admission decisions made without considering financial need

• Early Action: Earlier decision deadline; can accept, deny, or defer

• Early Decision: Early deadline; student must enroll if admitted

College Admissions Terms (Text Version)

Liberal Arts Colleges: Institutions that put an emphasis on arts and sciences throughout undergraduate studies

The Ivy League: A group of private competitive colleges including Yale University, Harvard University, University of Pennsylvania, Brown University, Princeton University, Columbia University, Dartmouth University, and Cornell University

STEM Colleges: Institutions that focus on the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics

Private Colleges: Schools mostly funded by student fees and donors

Public Colleges: Institutions funded by state governments

College Admissions Terms (Text Version)

FAFSA: Free Application for Federal Student Aid

EFC: Estimated Family Cost

SAR: Student Aid Report

Financial Aid: Describes funds awarded to the students to help pay for his or her college education, may come from the federal or state government, the college at which the student enrolls, or private sources

Scholarship: Financial aid provided as a reward for special talent or academic achievement, does not have to be repaid.

Grant: Financial assistance awarded because of financial need (A grant may be provided by federal or state government, an institution, a foundation, or some other non-profit funding source and does not have to be repaid

College Admissions Terms (Text Version)

Federal Pell Grant: A form of financial aid provided by the Federal government to students whose FAFSA indicates a high level of financial need

Institutional Grant: A need-based grant provided by an institution and and offered to students whose families are unable to pay the full cost of college, do not have to be repaid

Grant-In-Aid: Funds provided to an individual or institution to cover the cost of a project or program

Loan: A financial transaction in which a sum of money is provided, with interest, to a borrower by an institution or individual, must be repaid and the interest that accrues while the funds are kept or used by the borrower

College Admissions Terms (Text Version)

William Ford Direct Loan Program: Program administered by the U.S. Department of Education that provides loans to help students pay for postsecondary education (In the Direct Loan Program, the Department of Education serves as a lender of funds for Stafford loans and PLUS loans. The Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFEL) is the counterpart of the Direct Loan Program. Under FFEL, loan funds are provided by banks and other private lenders.)

Stafford Loan: A direct federal student loan for college students used to supplement personal and family resources, scholarships, grants, and work-study, may be subsidized or unsubsidized dependent on whether it is need-based

College Admissions Terms (Text Version)

Subsidized Loans: Need-based loans with interest paid by the government and payments deferred as long as the student is enrolled in the post-secondary program of studies

Unsubsidized Loans: Loans that are not need-based and on which interest is charged, beginning at the loan’s disbursement and continuing until the loan has been repaid in full

Perkins Loan: A low-interest Federal loan in which the institution is the lender and shares funding responsibility with the federal government (Both undergraduate and graduate students with financial need are eligible for the Perkins loan and the loan must be repaid to the institution when the student graduates or is no longer enrolled as a student)

College Admissions Terms (Text Version)

ACT: American College Testing 

SAT: Scholastic Assessment Test

CAW: College Application Week

RDS: Residency Determination Service 

OOS: Out-of-State

HBCU: Historically Black College or University

PWI: Predominately White Institution 

ASVAB: Armed Service Vocational Aptitude Battery

TOEFL: Test of English as Foreign Language