Common College Vocabulary
The cost of attending classes at a college or university.
What is tuition?
This is the form you must complete before you receive any type of financial aid.
What is the FAFSA? (Free Application for Federal Student Aid)
A program that provides jobs for students with financial needs at their college/university
What is Federal Work-Study?
The state of Alabama's first public university.
What is the University of Alabama?
A school that prepares you for a specialized career or trade.
What is a technology “tech” school?
Professors and teaching assistants schedule time outside of class to meet with students.
What are office hours?
Sports teams, clubs, and organizations that require a student’s participation outside of class time
*Colleges will ask about these on your application*
What are extracurricular activities?
Money for college that is awarded to students who make good grades or meet other specialized criteria.
What is a scholarship?
Six NASA astronauts graduated from this university.
What is Auburn University?
A school that is less expensive than a four-year school; usually takes about two years to complete a degree here.
What is a community college?
You can decide to do this any time before finals, but you will not get a refund for the class.
What is withdrawing?
A course you are required to take before another course. It may be a developmental course or a credit course.
What is a prerequisite?
While in college, your FAFSA must be filed this many times.
What is every school year?
The number of colleges and universities in the state of Alabama.
What is 61?
It typically takes four to five years to earn this type of degree.
What is a bachelor's degree?
A specific area that a student specializes in. This will be typically between 1/3 and 1/2 of the courses you take.
What is a major?
A specific time during high school would be most beneficial to tour college campuses.
What is your junior year/ summer before senior year?
A type of financial aid that does NOT have to be paid back unless you drop below 12 hours.
What is a Pell Grant?
This school is the only historically black college or university in the nation to host an accredited forestry degree program.
What is the Alabama A&M University?
Not supported by state funds, these schools are typically more expensive.
What are private schools?
You must take 12 credit hours (4 classes) to be considered this each semester.
What is a full-time student?
This multiple-choice assessment is used to measure a high school student's readiness for college and provide colleges with one common data point that can be used to compare all applicants.
What is the ACT?
The date that the FAFSA becomes available.
When is October 1st?
Alabama's oldest public 4-year university.
What is the University of North Alabama?
This program combines paid on-the-job training with classroom instruction to prepare workers for highly-skilled careers.
What is an apprenticeship?