Chapter 9: From Here to Your Career

Tuition

a sum of money charged for teaching or instruction by a school, college, or university.

scholarship

financial aid money you do not have to repay, usually awarded on achievement

need-based

financial aid that depends solely on your family's income

Journey-level Worker/Trade Professional

What is journey-level experience? Journey-level experience applies to a person who has completed an apprenticeship program or is an experienced worker, not a trainee, and is fully qualified and able to perform a specific trade without supervision.

Undergraduate

a student at a college or university who has not yet earned a bachelor's or equivalent degree.

ACT

American College Testing

Bachelor's Degree

A bachelor's degree is a four-year undergraduate degree. Historically, the term "college degree" meant a bachelor's or traditional four-year degree. It typically takes four years of full-time study to complete your bachelor's degree—encompassing 120 semester credits or around 40 college courses.

Community or Technical College

A community college, sometimes referred to as a junior college or technical college, is a tax-payer supported two-year institution of higher education. ... These schools offer a level of accessibility—in terms of time, finances, and geography—that cannot be found at most liberal arts colleges and private universities.

Certificate

A document evidencing ownership or debt a stock certificate.

Gap year

A gap year, also known as a sabbatical year, is typically a year-long break before or after college/university during which students engage in various educational and developmental activities, such as travel or some type of regular work.

Master's Degrees

A master's degree is an academic qualification granted at the postgraduate level to individuals who have successfully undergone study demonstrating a high level of expertise in a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

Admission/Application/Acceptance

A process of waiting to be allowed.

Private vocational colleges

A secondary or elementary school run and supported by private individuals or a corporation rather than by a government or public agency.

Transcript

A transcript is documentation of a student's permanent academic. record, which usually means all courses taken, all grades received, all honors. received, and degrees conferred to a student. Also Known As: school transcript, academic transcript, college transcript, academic record.

Advanced Placement

Advanced Placement (AP) is a program in the United States and Canada created by the College Board which offers college-level curricula and examinations to high school students. American colleges and universities may grant placement and course credit to students who obtain high scores on the examinations.

Apprenticeship

An apprenticeship is a system for training a new generation of practitioners of a trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study (classroom work and reading). Apprenticeships can also enable practitioners to gain a license to practice in a regulated profession.

Articulation Agreements

An articulation agreement is an official guarantee that classes completed at one school will be accepted when a student transfers to another school. ... Articulation agreements are essentially a partnership between two institutions to recognize credits toward a degree. Read: A Guide to Different Types of College Degrees.

Associate's Degree

An associate's degree is an academic program taken at the undergraduate level (the first stage after secondary school). It aims to give students the basic technical and academic knowledge and transferable skills they need to go on to employment or further study in their chosen field.

Extra-Curricular Activities

An extracurricular activity (ECA) or extra academic activity (EAA) is an activity, performed by students, that falls outside the realm of the normal curriculum of school, college or university education.

Co-op programs

Co-op, short for cooperative education, is a program that balances classroom theory with periods of practical, hands-on experience prior to graduation. Through the co-op program, students are able to alternate academic study with full-time employment, gaining practical experience in their field of study.

College prep courses

College Prep classes are classes taught at an advanced level, to prepare you for the kind of coursework you'll encounter in college. These could include Honors, Advanced Placement, and International Baccalaureate classes, and North Carolina has unique opportunities through Career and College Promise options.

Cost of Attendance

Cost of attendance (COA) is the average annual cost to attend a particular college or university. It includes tuition and fees, room and board, books, supplies, and other expenses.

Duel enrollment

Dual Credit. Simply put, dual enrollment refers to students taking courses concurrently at two separate institutions, while dual credit refers to students completing a single course to earn academic credits that are recognized by two or more institutions.

Dual credit

Dual credit as a system in which an eligible high school student enrolls in college course(s) and receives credit for the course(s) from both the college and high school. ... Dual credit courses include both academic and technical courses.

Financial Aid

Financial aid is money to help pay for college or career school. Grants, work-study, loans, and scholarships help make college or career school affordable.

Lifelong Learning

Lifelong learning is a form of self-initiated education that is focused on personal development. While there is no standardized definition of lifelong learning, it has generally been taken to refer to the learning that occurs outside of a formal educational institute, such as a school, university or corporate training.

Merit-based Financial Aid

Merit aid is financial aid given to students based on their academic accomplishments, musical, artistic, or athletic talent, or other special abilities. Merit aid is independent of a student's financial need, but can be supplemented by student loans and other scholarships.

PSAT

National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test

Need-based Financial Aid

Need-based aid is financial aid that you can receive if you have financial need and meet other eligibility criteria. You can't receive more need-based aid than the amount of your financial need.

Occupational Education

Occupational education refers to a total program of education oriented to the world of work. ... This education may be in job skills and knowledge for a cluster occupational area. It should go without saying that expert counseling and advisement are necessary during the total educational process.

Open Admissions Policy

Open admissions, or open enrollment, is a type of unselective and noncompetitive college admissions process in the United States in which the only criterion for entrance is a high school diploma or a certificate of attendance or General Educational Development (GED) certificate.

Doctoral Degree

Ph. D. is an abbreviation for "Doctor of Philosophy," commonly called a doctoral degree. It is typically the highest academic degree awarded and requires at least four years of study and extensive original research.

Post-secondary education

Postsecondary Education, also known as tertiary education, is the education level that follows the successful completion of secondary education, often referred to as high school. Postsecondary education includes universities and colleges, as well as trade and vocational schools.

Proprietary or for-profit schools

Proprietary colleges are for-profit colleges and universities. They are operated by their owners or investors, rather than a not-for-profit institution, religious organization, or government. ... The increased reliance on federal student aid funds by these "for-profit" schools is of growing concern.

SAT

Scholastic Aptitude Test

Tech Prep

Tech Prep is a planned sequence of study in a technical field that begins as early as 9th grade and extends through at least two years of postsecondary education or an apprenticeship program. ... These agreements stipulate that certain technical/Tech Prep courses taken during high school will translate into college credit.

Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is used by the federal government to determine a family's eligibility for grants, work-study, and loans to pay for college.

FAFSA

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid - forms required for education/training financial aid

Public/Private Colleges

The defining difference between public and private institutions is how they are funded. Public schools are funded mainly by state governments, while private colleges are supported primarily by their own endowment funds and students' tuition fees.

Enlist

To join.

Transfer of Credits

Transfer credits are courses you've completed at one school that can used to meet the requirements of a degree or diploma at a different college or university.

Fees

a payment made to a professional person or to a professional or public body in exchange for advice or services.

early decision

an early college application method that is binding

early action

an early college application method that is not binding

career preparation provider

any program, school, or business that offers education/training

campus culture

characteristics that give each training program its unique personality

Common Application

college submission web site used by hundreds of colleges

accreditation

measurement process to ensure schools have basic quality

grant

money provided by government, schools, or private donors that you do not need to repay

student loan

money that a student borrows and must repay

co-signer

person responsible for paying back a loan if you do not

work-study program

provides money, paying students for qualified campus jobs

Work study

relating to a college program that enables students to work part-time while attending school.

SAR

the FAFSA process - Student Aid Report

EFC

the amount FAFSA says you and your family should contribute towards your education/training - Expected Family Contribution