Accreditation - Recognition by an accrediting organization or agency that a college meets certain minimum standards in programs, services and facilities.
ACT - American College Test
AP - Advanced Placement Program
Audit - Attend a class without getting credit for it.
BOCES - Board of Cooperative Education Services
CEEB - College Entrance Examination Board
CLEP - College level examination program
Common Application - Various colleges and universities developed and will accept one universal application, which can be photocopied and sent to each school.
Cooperative Education - A program integrating classroom study and work experience and offering credit and salary.
CSS Profile - College Scholarship Service
CUNY - City University of New York
Deferred Admission - The practice of permitting students to postpone enrollment for one year after acceptance to the college.
Early Action - When a student applies early in the fall of senior year and receives notification usually by the end of January (non-binding.)
Early Decision - This is an application procedure whereby the student applies early in the fall of senior year to their First Choice college and agrees by contract to enter that college if offered admission (binding.)
ETS - Education Testing Service
FAFSA - Free Application for Federal Student Aid
Liberal Arts - A broad course of instruction comprising the arts, natural sciences, languages, literature, philosophy, religion and the classics.
NMSQT - National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test
Private College/University - An educational institution of higher education which is not supported by public taxes. May be independent or church related.
PSAT - Preliminary Scholastic Assessment Test
Public College/University - An educational institution of higher education which is supported by public taxes.
Registration - A process at the beginning of each college semester or a quarter whereby the student selects the courses he or she will enroll in, pays the appropriate fees and sets up a class schedule for the semester or term.
Rolling Admission - Certain colleges or universities have a policy of admitting qualified students on a "first come, first serve" basis.
ROTC - Reserved Officers Training Corps. Program conducted by certain colleges in cooperation with the United States Air Force, Army and Navy.
SAT - Scholastic Assessment Test - Reasoning Test
SUNY - State University of New York
TOEFL - Test of English as a Foreign Language
Transcript - The official record of a students' academic performance from the time or entrance in a given institution to the end of the latest semester.
Tuition - The charge for instruction.
Trimester - An academic calendar period of about 15 weeks. Three trimesters make up one year.
Wait-list - A student is not offered admission, but is placed on a waiting list should an opening occur. If an opening becomes available, the student is admitted.