This section is dedicated to providing you with definitions of the common terms you may hear when you start looking into or become enrolled in a degree program.
- Accreditation: A voluntary process in which an online degree program undergoes an evaluation by an accrediting agency to determine that it meets certain standards of quality and integrity. There are two types of accreditation, institutional and specialized.
- Accrediting Agency: An organization or institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education with the authority to evaluate a school or program to ensure that it meets certain standards of quality and integrity.
- Adjunct Professors: Part-time, non-tenured faculty members are the most common instructors in online classes. While some adjunct professors are trying to get tenure, most have full-time jobs outside of academia with expertise in a certain field.
- Adult Learners: Also known as nontraditional students, adult learners are individuals who are returning to school after a period of time off and who are entirely responsible for their own finances and educational goals.
- Annual Catalog: A booklet that contains all of the courses offered by an institution. Usually includes brief descriptions and times, and may include instructors and class locations in order to help students create a schedule each semester. Catalogs are usually updated once a year.
- Blog: A website that is created and maintained by an individual or organization who regularly posts commentary, news or other information related to a particular topic. Blogs may contain text, videos, images or links to other websites, and visitors can post additional comments. Professors may use a blog to provide information and to foster class discussion in online degree programs.
- Chat Room: An online discussion forum that allows for real-time, text conversations between users, such as students and instructors.
- Diploma Mills: An learning institution that offers fake degrees to students for a flat fee, requiring little to no actual course work.
- Discussion Forum: An online message board used in online classes to foster discussion on a particular topic. Students can post a response and comment on other students’ posts.
- Employer Reimbursement: You may be able to have your employer pay for your tuition if your degree will help to advance your skills and training. Students must typically make a commitment to stay at their company for at least a year to receive a tuition reimbursement.
- Financial Aid: Students who are unable to pay for their education on their own can receive financial aid. Options include scholarships, grants, loans and employer reimbursement.
- Grants: Financial aid offered by the government that does not have to be paid back. Students in greater financial need are more likely to qualify and certain stipulations may apply, like maintaining a minimum GPA.
- Instant Messaging (IM): A real-time online conversation between two people using text.
- Institutional Accreditation: Applies to a school or institution as a whole that has been evaluated by a regional accrediting agency to determine that it meets certain standards of quality and integrity.
- Internship: A temporary work position that allows students to gain hands-on career experience in a particular field. Online degrees in the medical field typically require students to complete an internship as part of their coursework.
- Loans: Financial aid that is “borrowed” paid back at a later time, with or without interest. Students can apply for a loan from the government or from a private bank.
- Online Degree Programs: A form of postsecondary education in which students complete their coursework entirely via the Internet, with little or no face-to-face, in-person contact with professors and classmates.
- Prerequisites: Requirements that must be met in order to begin taking classes. Prerequisites vary from school to school and may include the completion of other degrees, classes or internships.
- Rolling Admissions: A policy used by colleges to have a large time frame to accept applications for new students. Some institutions may have a six-month window to accept applications for admissions for a particular semester, while others may be continuous and have no specific end date.
- Scholarships: Financial aid awarded to students by an institution or organization for their academic, athletic, artistic, philanthropic or other achievements. They do not have to be paid back.
- Specialized Accreditation: Applies to a specific program or department within a larger institution that has been evaluated by an accrediting agency with expertise in that field to determine its quality and effectiveness.
- Video Conferencing: Uses audio and video technology to allow two or more people at different locations to interact. Distance learning instructors can use video conferencing to hold meetings and share documents and other information with students.