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Planning, Research, and Policy Analysis

Glossary of Terms

A

  • Academic Career

    Identifies whether a student is pursuing undergraduate or graduate level course-work.

  • Admitted Students

    Applicants that have been granted an official offer to enroll in the institution.

  • Applied Students

    Students who have fulfilled the institution’s requirements to be considered for admission (including payment or waving of the application fee) and who have been notified of one of the following actions: admission, non-admission, waiting list, or application withdrawn.

  • Appropriation per Student FTE

    Fiscal year revenues received from the state divided by the full-time equivalent student headcount.

C

  • College

    The academic college in which a student has declared their primary plan. Office the Provost includes: interdisciplinary studies, university studies, undeclared, and non-degree-seeking students.

D

  • Degree Level

    The academic level at which a degree was earned. These include: Bachelor’s degrees, Master’s degrees, Certificates, and Doctoral degrees.

  • Degree Earned

    Formal degrees or certificates awarded during the summer, fall, or spring terms of a fiscal year.

E

  • Enrolled Students

    Students who registered and were in attendance as of the 10th day of the term.

F

  • Fall Cohort

    The total number of first-time-in-college students newly enrolled as a part of a fall cohort.

  • First Generation

    Students who come from families where neither parent has completed a four-year college degree.

  • Fiscal Year

    The time period representing July 1st through June 30th of the following year.

  • Full-Time Equivalency (FTE)

    A calculation used to measure the total number of enrolled students, if all undergraduate and graduate students were hypothetically enrolled full-time.

G

  • Gender

    Identifies whether a student is counted as male or female for IPEDS reporting.

  • Graduated

    First-time-in-college students who were newly enrolled as a part of a fall cohort and subsequently graduated within a four or six year time period.

  • Graduation Rate

    The number of students who graduated within a fall cohort divided by the total number of students in a fall cohort.

I

  • Illinois Public Universities Median

    The middle score among all Illinois public universities, representing the middle-ranked institution on the measured value.

N

  • New Student Enrollment

    Summarizes all newly enrolled students at the institution as of the 10th day of the fall term.

  • New Student Type

    New Student types are based on cohorts of newly enrolled students at the university. First-time-in-college students are first-time, first-year students who have not previously attended a post-secondary institution. Additionally, students enrolled in the fall term who entered for the first time during the immediately preceding summer term and students who entered with advanced standing (I.e. College credits earned before graduation from high school) are also considered first-time-in-college students.

    Transfer students are newly enrolled, first-time students who have previously attended a post-secondary institution at the same academic level. This also includes transfer students enrolled in the fall term who first entered during the immediately preceding summer term.

    Non-degree-seeking students do not specifically belong to a new student cohort, but are newly enrolled as of the corresponding fall term.

P

  • Pell Eligible

    Students who applied for federal financial aid and were offered a Pell grant during the corresponding academic year.

R

  • Race/Ethnicity

    Self-reported as American Indian or Alaskan Native, Black or African American, Asian, Hispanic, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, White, Two or More Races (Excluding Hispanic), Unspecified, or Non-Resident Alien. These are the same categories used for IPEDS reporting. Underrepresented groups include: American Indian or Alaskan Native, Black or African American, Asian, Hispanic, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, and Two or More Races (Excluding Hispanic).

  • Retained

    First-time-in-college students who were newly enrolled as a part of a fall cohort and were subsequently enrolled one-year later during the 10th day of their second fall term.

  • Retention Rate

    The number of students retained in a fall cohort divided by the total number of students in a fall cohort.

S

  • Show Rate

    The number of students who enrolled divided by the number of students who were admitted.

T

  • Total Student Enrollment

    Summarizes all enrolled students at the institution as of the 10th day of the fall term, regardless of whether the student is new to the institution.

Y

  • Yield Rate

    The number of students who were admitted divided by the number of students who applied.