Useful definitions:
Private Institution: An educational institution controlled by a private individual(s) or by a nongovernmental agency, usually supported
primarily by other than public funds, and operated by other than publicly elected or appointed officials.
Public Institution: An educational institution whose programs and activities are operated by publicly elected or appointed school officials,
and which is supported primarily by public funds.
Community College: Public two-year institution supported by the local community. Community colleges offer two types of curricula: transfer
(which consists of the first two years of work for the bachelor's degree) and terminal (vocational training for employment in a wide variety
of semi-professional and technical areas).
Associate degree: An award that normally requires at least two but less than four years of full-time equivalent college work.
Bachelor's degree: An award (baccalaureate or equivalent degree, as determined by the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education)
that normally requires at least four years but not more than five years of full-time equivalent college-level work. This includes ALL bachelor’s
degrees conferred in a five-year cooperative (work-study plan) program. (A cooperative plan provides for alternate class attendance and employment
in business, industry, or government; thus, it allows students to combine actual work experience with their college studies.) Also, it includes
bachelor’s degrees in which the normal four years of work are completed in three years.
Master’s degree: An award that requires the successful completion of a program of study of at least the full-time equivalent of
one but not more than two academic years of work beyond the bachelor’s degree.
Doctoral degree: The highest award a student can earn for graduate study. The doctoral degree classification includes such degrees as
Doctor of Education, Doctor of Juridical Science, Doctor of Public Health, and the Doctor of Philosophy degree in any field such as agronomy,
food technology, education, engineering, public administration, ophthalmology, or radiology. For the Doctor of Public Health degree, the prior
degree is generally earned in the closely related field of medicine or in sanitary engineering.
Core curriculum: A specified number of courses or credits in the humanities, social sciences, life sciences, and/or physical sciences
required of all students, regardless of major, to ensure a basic set of learning experiences.
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