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)
prepares students with skills and knowledge needed for work
What is an associate's degree?
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 trade or technical school?
Professors and teaching assistants schedule time outside of class to meet with students.
What are office hours?
Joining sports teams, clubs, and organizations helps to build an important document you need for anything after high school
What is resume?
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?
You find these college degree programs at community colleges and technical schools
What are associate degrees?
The number of colleges and universities in the state of Alabama.
What is 61?
It typically takes three to seven 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 that you can start taking dual enrollment courses
What is your sophomore 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?
Parents and students often make the mistake of focusing on a degree rather than this. A degree is not necessarily a ticket to it.
What is a career?
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?