College Lingo
Colleges that Change Lives (CTCLs): A group of liberal arts colleges that have been
Identified as superbly preparing students for a career, graduate school, or life in general.
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Community Colleges: Two-year colleges that award Associate’s degrees. Some students attend a community college before transferring to a four-year college. This option tends to be more affordable, and also helps students who may not be socially or academically ready for a four-year college.
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For-Profit Schools: These are run as businesses with the main goal to make money for the owners. They traditionally have lower graduation rates and higher loan default rates. While they might sometimes be the right choice, in general they are best avoided.
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Four-Year Colleges: Schools that award a B.A. (Bachelor of Arts) or B.S. (Bachelor of Science) degree for completing four years of prescribed course work.
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Historically Black Colleges and Universities or HBCUs: Institutions that were founded before the Civil Rights era with the purpose of educating African American students.
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Honors Programs/Colleges: These are small schools within a larger school that typically offer smaller class sizes, priority for housing, sometimes dedicated housing, easier access to student research, internships, and other experiential learning opportunities. Most honors colleges have an early deadline, have higher academic qualifications for admittance, and require a supplemental application. Honors colleges do not always mean more difficult classes or coursework, just more intimate with a communal structure of support.
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Ivy League: A collection of eight colleges in the Northeast, including Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Princeton, University of Pennsylvania, and Yale. Contrary to popular belief, “Ivy League” refers to the athletic conference itself and is not an indication of academic quality.
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Institutes of Technology or “Polytechnic” Colleges: Colleges with strong programs in math, science, and engineering. However, they also offer many strong programs in the humanities and other areas of academia.
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Liberal Arts Colleges: Typically smaller institutions with few, if any, graduate programs and/or graduate students. Liberal Arts colleges focus on the undergraduate experience and foster a strong sense of community on campus. The traditional core curriculum on liberal arts includes literature, language, history, philosophy, math, psychology, and science.
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Midsized Research Universities: Student populations of roughly 3,000 to 8,000. These college fall between large state schools and liberal arts colleges, and usually offer many of the amenities of both.
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Private Colleges: Run by non-profit organizations, not by the government. The “sticker price” is usually higher than at state schools, but private colleges often have large endowments that can allow them to offer great scholarships.
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Public Colleges (also called state schools): These schools have large student populations of over 10,000 and receive most of their funding from the state government. These institutions offer many opportunities to students across an array of disciplines. They often feature vibrant Greek life, Division 1 sports, and large spacious campuses. They have two different prices: the lower one for students who live in-state, and the higher for students who live out-of-state.
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Religiously Affiliated Institutions: Colleges with a religious affiliation, which may or may not be particularly apparent to students day to day.
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Service Academies: For those interested in a career in the armed services, these academies will prepare them for a life in the military. These are the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, the U.S. Naval Academy, the U.S. Air Force Academy, the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, and the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy. These academies are free to attend.
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Single-Sex Colleges: Colleges with a student population comprising only one gender. While some students worry about not being able to have friends of the opposite sex, there are usually plenty of co-educational opportunities.
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Predominantly White Institutions (PWI): Universities where more than 50% of the student population identifies as white.
Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA): A form completed by current and prospective college students in the United States to determine their eligibility for student financial aid from the state or federal government.
CSS Profile: An application for institutional financial aid required by more than 300 colleges, universities and scholarship organizations. Most of the colleges and universities that require a CSS profile are private.
Common App: An undergraduate college admission application that applicants may use to apply to over 1,000 member colleges and universities in all 50 U.S. It allows students to streamline the application process by avoiding having to separately send your information to all of the schools you apply to.
Regular Decision: When a student applies to a school before the application deadline for the year. Most students apply this way.
Early Action: Allows a student to submit their application before an earlier deadline, normally in October, and receive their admissions decision back early. Students who apply early action are often automatically considered for institutional scholarships and the honors college.
Early Decision: Like early action but if a student is accepted by a school they are automatically admitted to the school. You should only consider this if you are 100% sure that the school you apply early to is the school you want to attend. You can only apply early decision to one school.
Financial Aid: money that is given or lent to students in order to help pay for their education.
Institutional Aid: Financial aid offered to the student by their university. This is the most common way that students will receive financial aid. Institutional aid packages will normally be higher at private institutions since students receive less federal student aid.
Scholarships: A form of financial aid that doesn't need to be paid back. Scholarships are typically merit-based meaning they were awarded based on a student's academic or extracurricular achievements. Scholarships are awarded by state and federal governments, colleges, and private organizations.
Grants: Similar to scholarships. Also a form of financial aid that doesn't need to be paid back. Grants are normally need-based meaning they are awarded based on a student's financial need.
Federal Student Loans: Loans that can be taken out from the federal government to be used to pay for college. These loans normally have lower interest rates and more flexible payment plans than private loans.