College Lingo

Your Cheat Sheet to College Lingo

Don’t understand any of the college lingo your student is using? This list of terms will have you up to speed in no time.

A | B | C | D | F | G | H | I | M | P | R | S | T | U

Academic Notice: Students with fewer than 30 credit hours, with a retention GPA of 1.7 to 1.99.
Academic Probation: Students with more than 29 credit hours, with a retention GPA lower than 2.00.
Academic Suspension: Students on academic probation who do not achieve a term GPA of 2.00; must sit out one semester.
Academic Year: August through July
Add/Drop Period: Period of time at the beginning of each semester when students can add or drop courses without financial or academic repercussions. More about Add/Drop.
Adjunct Instructor: Part-time instructor.
Advisor: University official who assists students in choosing appropriate coursework. More about Academic Advising.
Associate Degree: Typically requires 60-65 hours of courses to complete. See our Associate Degrees.
Attendance: Professors must report attendance. The Department of Education requires colleges and universities to verify for all federal financial aid recipients including online classes.
Audit: Taking a course for no credit. See how to Audit a class.

Bachelor Degree: Typically requires 120-130 hours of courses to complete. See our Bachelor Degrees.
Blue Book: Literally a blue book containing writing paper; used for essay tests. Shop the RSU Bookstore.
Bulletin: University publication, produced each academic year, that details policies, degree requirements, and course descriptions.
Bursar: A person who manages student financial affairs of a college or university.

Closed Class: The limit on the number of students allowed in a specific course has been reached. See Class Schedule.
Complete Withdrawal: Withdrawing from every course in a particular semester. More about Withdrawing from classes.
Comprehensive Test: Tests topics covered throughout the entire course.
Course Number: Identifies the course with an abbreviation of the department and a number (ex. BIOL 1114). See Class Schedule.
Credit Hour: Typically referred to as an “hour”; the equivalent of one hour of class per week in a regular 16-week course.
Cumulative GPA: Includes grades from every undergraduate course ever taken.

Dean: Person in charge of each school at the university. See Schools.
Deficiency: Area of academics in which students are not proficient to the college level and must enroll in zero-level courses.
Degree Check/Audit: Prior to graduation, this is completed to make sure students have completed all requirements.
Department Head: Person in charge of each department at the university. See Departments.
Department: Contained within a school offering academic programs; for example Business Department, Visual Arts Department, and Biology Department. See Departments.

FAFSA: Free Application for Federal Student Aid; required for students wishing to obtain financial aid. More about FAFSA.
Fall Semester: August through December.
Federal Loans: Loans awarded by the government; must be paid back. More about Federal Loans.
Fees: Required financial charges placed on student accounts upon enrollment in courses. See Tuition & Fees.
FERPA: Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act is a federal law that protects the privacy of student education records. More about FERPA
Finals: Last week of each semester in which every course has a final test. See Final Exam Schedule.
Full-time Student: Student is enrolled in a minimum of 12 hours per Fall or Spring, or 6 hours in Summer.

General Education: Courses every student is required to take, regardless of major; English, math, science, history, etc.
GPA: Short for Grade Point Average; measure of student’s academic achievement; calculated by dividing total number of grade points received by total number of hours attempted.
Graduate Student: Student with a Bachelor’s degree from a University who is studying or doing research at a more advanced level.
Grants: Financial aid awarded by the government; do not have to be paid back. More about Grants.

Hillcat Card: Student ID card which can serve as a debit card in specific areas on campus. More about ID cards.
Honor Roll: For fall or spring semester, students who complete at least 12 hour and earn at least a 3.5 GPA with no grade lower than a “B” will be placed on the President’s or Dean’s honor roll, depending on specific GPAs.

Intersession Course: Compacted course that meets the two weeks after a semester, but is the equivalent of taking it for one full semester.

M,T,W,R,F: Days of the week: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday.
Major: Primary course of study a student wishes to pursue.
Minor: Secondary course of study a student wishes to pursue.
MyRSU: Online student portal used for enrollment and other services. Visit MyRSU.

Part-time Student: Student who is enrolled in fewer than 12 credit hours in a fall or spring semester, or fewer than 6 hours in summer.
Plagiarism: Using another’s work, whether directly quoted or summarized, without giving credit to the author; results in serious consequences.
Pre-requisite: Sometimes referred to as a “pre-req”; a course that must be taken prior to enrolling in another course (ex. College algebra is a pre-requisite for calculus).

Registrar: University official who maintains academic records for all students.
Resident Assistants (RAs): Students who work for the Residential Life department and are responsible for a specific group of student apartments.
Retention/Graduation GPA: Used to determine students’ eligibility to remain enrolled or graduate; activity courses and forgiven course work (course that has been repeated) are not calculated in this.

Scantron: Used for multiple choice testing; has bubbles to be filled in with pencil. May be purchased in the Hillcat Hut in the DCTC.
Schedule: List of courses student is enrolled in, along with times, days, instructors, and locations.
Scholarships: Financial assistance awarded based on academics or other criteria; do not have to be paid back. See our Scholarship offerings.
School: Contains and administers several academic departments; for example, the School of Arts and Sciences and the School of Professional Studies. See our Schools.
Section Number: Identifies specific class (time, day, instructor) within a course (ex. General Biology may have section numbers of 001, 002, 003, etc). See Class Schedule.
Semester: Portion of the academic year; fall and spring are 16 weeks, summer is 8 weeks.
Spring Semester: January through May.
Student Email: Professors and RSU offices will contact you at this email.
Student ID: A nine-digit number; you will need this number for the following: accessing your online account, contacting an office at RSU, contacting professors, and emailing.
Summer Semester: June through July.
Syllabus: Outline of what is expected in each class; given to student by instructor on first day of class.

Term GPA: GPA for each individual semester.
Transcript: Official academic record of every course student has taken, along with grades and GPA.
Tuition: Charges for classes applied to student account upon enrollment. See Tuition & Fees.

Undergraduate: Student who has not yet earned a Bachelor’s degree.
UNIV 1152: The University Experience course focuses on transitioning you into university life and learning about our community and culture. It introduces students to resources and expectations, skills necessary for student success including study skills, effective communication, and initial steps in career planning. See First Year Experience.