Copy of `Glossary of United States Educational Terminology`

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Glossary of United States Educational Terminology Category: Education > US Education Terminology Date & country: 14/10/2008, FI Words: 160

MBA
Master of Business Administration

MCAT
(Medical College Admission Test) A standardized external examination designed to measure specified science knowledge and its application in solving related problems, and of other learning and reasoning skills considered important for the study of medicine, used by medical schools to assess applicants.

Mid-term examination
An examination administered at the mid-point of the term.

Miller Analogies Test
A high-level mental ability test, used by some graduate schools in lieu of the GRE, which requires the solution of 100 intellectual problems stated in the form of analogies.

Minor
A secondary area of concentration.

Multiple-choice examination
An objective examination giving students several choices of answers to a question of which one is correct.

non-matriculated
Enrolled in courses but not in a program leading to a degree.

Open Admission
Non-selective admission of all students who have completed high school.

Open-book examination
An examination where students are allowed to consult course materials while answering questions.

Part-time
Student taking fewer that 12 semester credits.

Participation
Student's contribution to class discussion, often taken into account in grading.

Pass-Fail
A system of grading which distinguishes only those who pass from those who fail.

Ph.D.
(Doctor of Philosophy) The highest earned degree awarded in the United States.

Placement
The practice of placing a student in a course based on previous achievement levels. For example, a student who has done very well on an appropriate examination in mathematics might be placed in calculus as the first mathematics course rather than college algebra.

Postdoctoral Fellow
Usually a recent Ph.D. holder temporarily appointed to teach or conduct research.

Preliminary Examinations
Written or oral examinations given to all prospective Ph.D. candidates after they have completed doctoral coursework. The examination results determine whether candidates are admitted to the dissertation stage of the program.

Prerequisite
A course which must be completed before a student is allowed to register for a more advanced course.

Private Institution
An institution which is supported primarily from private funds in the form of tuition, fees, endowments and donations.

Probation
A status imposed on students whose work is unsatisfactory until they improve their performance or are asked to leave the program or institution.

Professional Accreditation
Accreditation granted to a professional school or a program offered at a regionally-accredited institution by accrediting commissions affiliated with national professional organizations in such areas as business, engineering, law, medicine, nursing, physical therapy, etc. Professional accreditation is also known as 'specialized accreditation'.

Professional School
A post-baccalaureate institution (usually within a university) which trains students in the traditional professions, e.g., law or medicine.,

Professor
The common honorific for all university faculty members. But it is also the formal rank of senior (full) professors.

Program
see curriculum

Proprietary Institution
Privately owned, profit-making educational institution (mostly) offering practical occupational skills; awards certificates and diplomas.

Provost
The chief academic officer of an institution.

Public Institution
Institutions supported directly by public funds.

Qualifying Examination
Examinatins given at the conclusion of master's or doctoral coursework.

Quarter System
Academic calendar in which the year is divided into four quarters of 10 weeks.

Recitation
A small-group session where students discuss material covered in large lectures.

Regional Accreditation
Accreditation granted to an entire academic institution by the accrediting commission responsible for institutions in the particular geographic area. There are six regional accrediting commissions in the United States. Regional accreditation is also referred to as 'institutional accreditation'.

Registrar
The officer responsible for registering students and maintaining their educational records.

Registration
The formal process of enrolling students in courses.

Remedial Education
Instruction designed to bring students up to required basic skills or knowledge levels to allow them to attend programs which they would otherwise have been unable to follow.

Research Assistant
(RA) A graduate student who is employed part-time to assist with faculty research.

Residence Requirement
An institution's requirement that a student take a set number of credits at that institution in order to receive its degree.

SAT
(Scholastic Assessment Test) A standardized external examination (formerly known as the Scholastic Aptitude Test and then the Scholastic Achievement Test) of mathematical, verbal and analytical skills, taken by high school students to demonstrate their abilities for post-secondary study; often required for admission to undergraduate programs.

Semester System
The academic year is divided into two 15-week semesters.

Seminar
A small class of generally advanced students which meets with a professor to discuss specialized topics.

Senior
Fourth year student (Applies to both college undergraduates and high school students)

Senior High School
see high school

Sophomore
Second year student (Applies to both college undergraduates and high school students)

Specialized Accreditation
see professional accreditation

Summer Session
Formal course offerings during the summer.

Take-home examination
A course examination which is completed outside of the classroom.

Teaching Assistant
A graduate student who is employed part-time to assist with faculty teaching.

Tenure
The status of a permanent member of the faculty earned by peer-review on the basis of publications and scholarship.

Term
A generic word for academic sessions (quarter, semester)

Term Paper
A formal paper required as part of course work.

Thesis
A written piece of work required for a degree.

TOEFL
A standardized test administered world-wide to determine proficiency in English and required by most US institutions of all foreign applicants whose first language is other than English.

Transcript
The official record of a student's academic performance at an institution.

Transfer credit
Credit awarded toward a degree on the basis of studies completed at another institution.

Trimester System
Academic calendar in which the year is divided into three 15-week terms; students may study full-time in two of the three or full- or part-time in all three.

TSE
(Test of Spoken English) A test designed to assess the spoken English proficiency of people whose native language is not English. The TSE is often required of graduate students seeking assistantships.

Tuition
The fee paid by students for their instruction.

Undergraduate
(1) Description of a post-secondary program leading to a bachelor's degree; (2) a student enrolled in such a program.

University
An institution of higher learning and research consisting of several units which offer programs leading to advanced degrees. Universities stress graduate and professional education and research, but also have important undergraduate divisions.

Upper-division
The part of the curriculum which is generally taught beyond the second year of a bachelor's degree program and which constitutes its more advanced component.

Visting Scholar or Student
Individual attending a US institution by special agreement with a foreign institution. A visting scholar or student does not-matriculate which means that he or she is not engaged in a degree program. To change status and matriculate in a degree program a visiting student or scholar must apply for admission to the institution and undergo the usual selection process.

Withdrawal
Formal process of leaving an institution before (and without) completing a degree.