FAQ and Glossary

A period of time extending from end August through end May. Summer terms are split between fiscal years and are considered separate.

A process of recognizing educational institutions for meeting standards of performance, integrity, and quality. In the United States, regional accreditation is administered by nongovernmental, voluntary institutional or professional associations.

Non-tenure track faculty serving in a temporary or auxiliary capacity to teach specific courses on a course-by-course basis by contract.

An ongoing process aimed at understanding and improving student learning.

The cycle refers to the calendar cycle of planning and assessment that includes annual submittal of plans from academic and administrative units and the follow-up assessment review.

The loss of students through means other than graduation.

A criterion-referenced objective; "performance data" that are used for comparative purposes.

Continuing Education

The official reporting date for institutional data. Provides a statistical portrait of the institution at a fixed point in time. Data collected on the census date are reported to internal and external authorities, e.g. the board of trustees, state coordinating boards, private college associations, and the Federal government. There are a number of census dates during the year for the collection of different types of information, e.g. enrollment counts, financial statements, or graduation reports.

Enrollment figures include all students registered for at least one credit-bearing course as of the third week of classes.

A formal award certifying the satisfactory completion of a postsecondary education program.

These codes represent a nationally used, common taxonomy for the classification of higher education degree programs. This classification was originally developed by the U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). The CIP is the standard method for reporting academic programs to the Federal government.

A specific group of students established for tracking purposes.

A collaborative effort among data providers in the higher education community and publishers as represented by the College Board, Thomson Peterson's, and U.S. News & World Report. The combined goal of this collaboration is to improve the quality and accuracy of information provided to all involved in a student's transition into higher education, as well as to reduce the reporting burden on data providers.

Students who are enrolled in courses for credit and are recognized by the institution as seeking a degree or formal award.

The assessment of Academic Divisions and Administrative Departments.

A racial or ethnic category that is chosen by the student. International students (non-resident aliens) are not classified by racial/ethnic category, but are included in the total number of students when calculating percent minority.

The group of students entering in the Fall term established for tracking purposes. For the Graduation Rates component, this includes all students who enter an institution as full-time, first-time degree or certificate-seeking students during the fall term of a given year.

Grants, loans, assistantships, scholarships, fellowships, tuition waivers, tuition discounts, veteran's benefits, employer aid (tuition reimbursement) and other monies (other than from relatives/friends) provided to students to meet expenses. This includes Title IV subsidized and unsubsidized loans made directly to students

An undergraduate student who has completed less than the equivalent of one full year of undergraduate work that is, less than 30 hours.

A 12-month period running from July 1 through the following June 30. Fiscal years are designated by the year in which the FY ends, not the year in which the FY begins.

Refers to either faculty or student load, and is used to calculate enrollment and budget figures.

A numerical designator for an appointment based on 100% for full-time. An FTE for a full-time employee is 1.00. (Two people each serving in half-time faculty positions would equal, together, one FTE faculty position.)

A measure of student enrollment calculated on the total number of student credit hours. Every 30 credit hours at the undergraduate level equals 1.0 FTE.

Benefits-eligible employees identified by the institution as such and typically those whose initial assignments are made for the purpose of conducting instruction as a principal activity. They may hold academic rank titles of professor, associate professor, assistant professor, instructor, lecturer or the equivalent of any of those academic ranks.

Students enrolled for 12 or more credit hours.

General Education courses.

Assessment of the college's General Education program/curriculum.

A statement about general aims or purposes that are broad, long-range intended outcomes.

Broad assessment of the institutional Strategic Goals.

The institution’s documented assessment plan that includes reporting plans of annual goals and objectives and follow-up assessment reports of designated departments. The “plan” encompasses the college’s policies and procedures for Assessment and the reporting the results of assessment.

IPEDS is the core post-secondary education data collection program in the U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). It was designed to help NCES meet its mandate to report full and complete statistics on the condition of post-secondary education in the United States. It is a single, comprehensive data collection system developed to encompass all institutions and organizations whose primary purpose is to provide post-secondary education. The IPEDS system is built around a series of interrelated surveys to collect institution-level data in such areas as enrollment, program completions, faculty and staff, and financing.

A system of parameters or ways of quantitative and periodic assessment of a process that is to be measured, along with the procedures to carry out such measurement and the procedures for the interpretation of the assessment in the light of previous or comparable assessments.

Metrics are usually specialized by the subject area, in which case they are valid only within a certain domain and cannot be directly benchmarked or interpreted outside it."

A state agency that is charged by state law to represent the broad public interest in higher education. The following link leads outside of this site to the MHEC website.

An undergraduate student newly enrolled at CCBC who was previously enrolled in a postsecondary degree program at another institution. Fall enrollment counts of new transfers include students newly admitted and enrolled in the previous summer.

A person who is not a citizen or permanent resident 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.

A specific measurable step in the plan to accomplish a goal.

The desired results of instruction expressed as intended cognitive affective gains from the instructional experience. Outcomes may be expressed at the course, program or division level. A specific type of performance that students are expected to demonstrate at the end of instruction.

Undergraduate students enrolled for 1-14 credit hours.

(Higher Education Act of 1965, Title IV, Part A, Subpart I, as amended.) Provides grant assistance to eligible undergraduate postsecondary students with demonstrated financial need to help meet education expenses.

A program through which high school students (juniors and seniors) may enroll in college courses while still enrolled in high school. Students are required to meet criteria set by the high school to participate.

(Higher Education Act of 1965, Title IV, Part E, as amended, Public Laws 89-329, 92-318, et al; 20 USC 1087aa-1087hh.). Formerly known as National Direct Student Loans NDSL, the Perkins Loan program provides low interest loans to eligible postsecondary students (undergraduate, graduate, or professional students) with demonstrated financial need to help meet educational expenses.

An in-depth review and analysis of specific degreed programs which occurs on a rotating basis of 3-5 years or more.

Assessment of a "degreed" program.

These rates are calculated using cohort survival analysis. The cohort is typically defined as the first-time full-time freshmen entering in the fall semester. The term "first-time" means that the student was not previously enrolled in a postsecondary institution, and the term "full-time" means that the student enrolled for a minimum of 15 units in the entering semester.

The percent of students remaining within an institution once matriculating through the institution.

Students returning to CCBC after an absence of at least 1 semester.

The assessment of a school within CCBC.

A software program used for statistical analysis.

(Higher Education Act of 1965, Title IV-B, as amended, Public Law 89-329; 20 USC 1071.) Provides guaranteed loans for educational expenses from eligible lenders to vocational, undergraduate, graduate, and first-professional students at eligible postsecondary institutions.

The sum of students enrolled with each student counted only once during the reporting period.