Glossary/Definitions

Glossary and Definitions

Term	Definition
Academic Career	A grouping of students by academic level, such as Undergraduate, Graduate & Professional (Law & Medicine)
Academic Group	Academic Subdivisions of the Institution – see College Abbreviations
Academic Level/Classification	A grouping of students within a career defined by credit hours earned and institutional policy. Undergraduate Student Classification per UND Academic Catalog: Freshman: 0-23 credits completed Sophomore: 24-59 credits completed Junior: 60-89 credits completed Senior: 90+ credits
Academic Plan	Academic Plans are majors/minors/certificates.
Academic Program	Designated major/program (area of study) in which a student is working.
Academic Standing	A level of academic performance measured by grade point average per term.Good Academic Standing - Students who have earned fewer than 90 total credit hours and maintain a UND Grade Point Average (GPA) of C (2.00) or higher. Academic Warning. Students with fewer than 90 credit hours and a gpa less than 2.0 at the end of the fall, spring, or summer term. Suspension. A student on Academic Warning who earns less than a 2.00 term GPA at the end of the semester of warning is considered not to be making academic progress and will be suspended. Dismissal. After the first suspension, failure to achieve minimum academic standards will result in the student being dismissed from the University. For more detail please see: Undergraduate Academic Warning, Suspension and Dismissal Policy
Academic Year	The academic year for official reporting is defined as Summer, Fall, and Spring. This definition aligns with the way data are reported to NDUS. All reports on the OIRE website use the official definition of an academic year (Summer, Fall, Spring) unless explicitly noted otherwise. If you are uncertain what semesters are included in a report by academic year, it’s a good idea to ask for clarification.
CIP Codes	The Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) was developed by U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), which classifies education program descriptions and titles at the secondary and postsecondary. The 6-digit CIP is intended to establish standard terminology and program descriptions. For a more detailed definition and information, please refer to the CIP Code Guide published by the National Center for Education Statistics.
Citizenship Country	The student's current citizenship country.
Class Number	A unique number assigned to each section of a class offered in a particular term and used for student registration. This number is located in the institution's Schedule of Classes.
Cohort	A grouping of students used in IPEDS reporting. Each cohort, there are currently six of them, are created at 20th day census for the fall semester. FFTF(FYR) - First-time, full-time freshmen - Include students who have been admitted for summer and/or have enrollment for the summer. FPTF - First-time, part-time freshmen - Include students who have been admitted for summer and/or have enrollment for the summer. FTTR - Full-time Transfer - Include students if they are admitted for summer, but have no enrollment for summer. PTTR - Part-time Transfer - Include students if they are admitted for summer, but have no enrollment for summer. FNON - Full-Time Non-Degree - Include students if they are admitted for summer, but have no enrollment for summer. PNON - Part-Time Non-Degree - Include students if they are admitted for summer, but have no enrollment for summer.
College Abbreviations	College of Arts & Sciences (A&S), College of Business and Public Administration (BPA), College of Education and Human Development (EHD), School of Graduate Studies (GRAD), Odegard School of Aerospace Sciences (JDO), School of Law (LAW), College of Nursing and Professional Disciplines (NUR), College of Engineering and Mines (SEM), and School of Medicine and Health Sciences (SMHS), Undeclared/NonDegree (UND).
Course Number	Also known as catalog number, a number assigned to a course in a department to indicate course level, example: ACCT 200.
Course Success	Course “success” is defined as grades of A, B, C, and S (satisfactory). Low grades are defined as D, F, W, U (unsatisfactory). Records with grades of Audit or Incomplete are often excluded from this analysis.
Grade Point Averages	Cumulative GPA(cgpa ) - GPA earned for all courses taken at accredited institutions. Inclusion or exclusion of courses from this calculation is based on institutional policy. Cumulative GPA includes courses taken at another institution. Institutional GPA(igpa) - GPA earned for all courses taken at a single NDUS institution. Inclusion or exclusion of courses from this calculation is based on institutional policy. Institutional GPA excludes courses taken at another institution. Course taken by a collaborative student at another NDUS institution are considered institutional GPA courses. Term GPA(tgpa, cur_gpa) - GPA which is calculated and stored in the delivered term GPA field. Inclusion or exclusion of courses from this calculation is based on institutional policy. This GPA includes courses taken at a single NDUS institution for a specified term. Official Term GPA is noted on all transcripts as Term GPA and calculated separately by career.
Grading System	At the close of a session or upon the completion of a course, each instructor reports a letter grade indicating the quality of a student’s work in the course. Grade points are assigned for each semester hour of credit earned, according to the following grading system: For more details please see the Academic Catalog
Credit Hour	The unit by which an institution measures its course work for application towards a degree. Historically, each credit hour involves 15 or 16 fifty-minute periods of instruction per semester, or the equivalent.
Degree Credit	All instructional activities that can be applied toward college degree or credit based remedial courses taken by a degree seeking student as reported to IPEDS.
End of Term	End of term data is frozen immediately as of the end of the semester, once the official due date for grades has ended.
Enrolled Student (Official Headcount)	SBHE Policy 440 defines enrolled students as students who are registered for classes as of the 20th day of the term (4^th week). SBHE Policy 830.1 requires all registered students to have paid tuition and fees or made arrangements to pay no later than the 12th day of the term.
Ethnicity (race categories)	The race group or groups with which a person identifies or having origins as identified as valid values for IPEDs reporting. Hispanic or Latino - A person of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin, regardless of race. American Indian or Alaska Native - A person having origins in any of the original peoples of North and South America (including Central America) who maintains cultural identification through tribal affiliation or community attachment. Asian - A person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian Subcontinent, including, for example, Cambodia, China, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippine Islands, Thailand, and Vietnam. Black or African American - A person having origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa. Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander - A person having origins in any of the original peoples of Hawaii, Guam, Samoa, or other Pacific Islands. White - A person having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa. Nonresident alien (International)- A person who is not a citizen or national of the United States and who is in this country on a visa or temporary basis and does not have the right to remain indefinitely. Note: Nonresident aliens are to be reported separately in the places provided, rather than in any of the racial/ethnic categories described above. Resident alien (and other eligible non-citizens) - A person who is not a citizen or national of the United States but who has been admitted as a legal immigrant for the purpose of obtaining permanent resident alien status (and who holds either an alien registration card (Form I-551 or I-151), a Temporary Resident Card (Form I-688), or an Arrival-Departure Record (Form I-94) with a notation that conveys legal immigrant status such as Section 207 Refugee, Section 208 Asylee, Conditional Entrant Parolee or Cuban-Haitian). Note: Resident aliens are to be reported in the appropriate racial/ethnic categories along with United States citizens. Two or More – a person having two our more races Race/ethnicity unknown - The category used to report students or employees whose race and ethnicity are not known.
IPEDS Race/Ethnicity Categories	Categories developed in 1997 by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) that are used to describe groups to which individuals belong, identify with, or belong in the eyes of the community. The categories do not denote scientific definitions of anthropological origins. The designations are used to categorize U.S. citizens, resident aliens, and other eligible non-citizens. Individuals are asked to first designate ethnicity as: Hispanic or Latino or Not Hispanic or Latino Second, individuals are asked to indicate all races that apply among the following: American Indian or Alaska Native Asian Black or African American Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander White
First Day Enrollment	Enrollments after the first full day of classes.
Fiscal Year	July 1 – June 30
Graduation Rates	This is the rate, expressed in a percentage, of which first-time, full-time freshmen graduate (Bachelor’s degree) at the institution. New freshmen (cohorts) are tracked by incoming year, until they graduate, or up to ten years. The most commonly reported rate is 150% of completion toward a Bachelor’s degree, or six years after enrolling, commonly referred to as the six-year graduation rate.
Headcount Enrollment	Number of students enrolled at the institution. Each student equals one headcount, regardless of credit hours taken. Full-time Enrollments Full-Time Graduate Students Graduate students enrolled in 9 or more credit hours during fall or spring semester. For institutional academic administration purposes, other assignments may be taken into consideration when considering the full-time status of a graduate student. Full Time Professional Students Medicine, law and pharmacy students enrolled in 9 or more credit hours during the fall or spring semester Full Time Undergraduate Students Undergraduate students who are enrolled in 12 or more credit hours during fall or spring semester. Part-time Enrollments Part-time students – The headcount enrollment of UG students enrolled for fewer than 12 credit hours (fall and spring), 9 credit hours summer. Graduate & Professional less than 9(fall and spring), 6 credit hours summer.
Full-time Equivalent (FTE)	Enrollment based on Student Credit hours The total accumulative student credit hours divided by the following (fall and spring): Undergraduate 15 credit hours Graduate 12 credit hours Professional same as headcount — Law and Medicine Full-time equivalent enrollment of part-time – The student credit hours of part-time students accumulated at the undergraduate level divided by 15 plus the student credit hours accumulated at the graduate level divided by 12. Every professional student is counted as one FTE student (fall and spring).
Instructional Modes/Delivery Methods	The course delivery method that is attached to each class section. Combo – A combination of any of the delivery methods. Distance – Types of distance delivery methods are Asynchronous Internet, Correspondence, Face-to-Face Off Campus, Prerecorded Video/Audio, Synchronous Internet, Two-Way Video. Traditional Student – The delivery method in which all courses are taken via traditional classroom. Hybrid/Blended: A form of instruction that includes students from different locations and/or environments (face-to-face, online, IVN, etc.) for synchronous and/or asynchronous instruction. Independent Study: Instruction is provided in a self-study, self-paced format where the instructor and student mutually establish method(s) of communication. Off Campus Face to Face: Describes the traditional classroom setting where the instructor and students are physically located in the same place in an off campus location and may incorporate the use of multiple supportive technologies as appropriate. Online Asynchronous: Online instruction occurring independent of time or location. Online Synchronous: Online instruction occurring independent of location, but at the same time (real time). Interactive Video: A video and audio communications session between two or more remote sites with live, animated image transmission and display. This connection allows for both the faculty and students to be seen and heard by each other.
Location	The location of where a course is delivered or a grouping used for tuition purposes.
Official Enrollment-(Census Data, 4^th week)	The number of students enrolled on the twentieth scheduled class day of the fall and spring semesters.
Peer institutions	Comparison/Aspirational institutions as selected per the 2017-2022 Strategic Plan. Comparison Flagship Universities University of Idaho University of Montana University of South Dakota University of Wyoming Aspirational Flagship Universities University of Iowa University of Minnesota University of Nebraska
Plan College	The college where the plan is housed.
Retention Rate	The rate, expressed in percentage, of which first-time, full-time freshmen persist at the institution. The freshmen are tracked by incoming year (cohorts), until they graduate, or up to ten years. A commonly reported rate are those freshmen who begin in the fall and continue to the next year’s fall semester.
Student	All students taking degree credit courses, irrespective of the time of day or workload of the student. Beginning Freshman Student (FYR) – A full-time or part-time student attending any institution for the first time as a freshman. Because part-time students are included, this number is not the same as the IPEDS first-time full-time count. Collaborative Student – A student who enrolls in a course at an NDUS institution other than their home institution. Dual Credit Student – A high school student who enrolls in college classes and also earns high school credit. First-Time Freshman (Cohort) Student – A student attending any institution full-time for the first time at the undergraduate level. Includes students enrolled in academic or occupational programs. Also includes students enrolled in the fall term who attended college for the first time in the prior summer term, and students who entered with advanced standing (college credits earned before graduation from high school). This is a specific group (or cohort) established for tracking purposes and reported to IPEDS. Graduate Student (GRAD)– A student who holds a bachelor's or first professional degree, or equivalent, and is enrolled in a graduate degree program. Non-resident Student – A nonresident student, for the purposes of reporting, is a student with a legal domicile outside of North Dakota. Professional Student (PROF) – A student who has completed a baccalaureate degree and is enrolled in a post-baccalaureate program leading to a professional degree in law, medicine or pharmacy. (Note: IPEDS and the SBHE Policy recognize pharmacy as a first professional program. ConnectND is being adjusted to report pharmacy students as professional students.) Resident Student – A resident student, for the purposes of this report, is a student having legal domicile in North Dakota. Special/Unclassified Student – A student taking undergraduate or postbaccalaureate level credit courses without declaring an intention to earn a degree, diploma, or certificate although taking courses in regular classes with other students. This category also includes students who cannot be classified by academic level. High school students enrolled in college classes are considered a special/unclassified student. Transfer Student (TRN)– A undergraduate student entering the reporting institution for the first time but known to have previously attended a postsecondary institution at the same level. May include full-time and/or part-time students. The student may transfer with or without credit. Undergraduate Student (UGRD) – A student who is enrolled in an undergraduate program. The year-level designation of an undergraduate student is determined by institutional policy.
Student Credit Hours (SCH)	SCH is the sum of the credits that students generate, regardless of their full or part-time status.
Student/Faculty Ratio (S/F)	One way of measuring instructional workload is comparing the number of faculty members with the number of students. The Student /Faculty Ratio is calculated by dividing the Student Term Full-Time Equivalent (Student Term FTE) by Instructional Full-Time equivalent (IFTE) for the term: S/F = Student Term FTE / IFTE for the Term.
Students’ Reported Address	The official address as reported by the student (permanent). If no permanent address is reported, then the default is home> mail>dorm>campus.
Subject of Courses (Department)	Subject prefix of a course, ex: SPST=Space Studies.
Term	Term identifies a post-secondary academic year and term in which NDUS institutions hold classes. The term identifier is formatted as a four-digit number with the first two-digits representing the academic year while the last two-digits identify a specified term.
Tuition Residency Status	Official institutionally determined residence for tuition purposes.