Glossary

AASCU

American Association of State Colleges and Universities (www.aascu.org)

AAU

Association of American Universities (www.aau.edu)

Admit

Students who applied for admission and were found admissible to the institution.

Aggregate Report (high school)

The report comprises more than 30 color graphs and charts summarizing college access, retention, and completion rates for the past eight graduating classes in your district and schools. You will receive separate reports for your entire school district and each of your high schools.

AIR

Association of Institutional Research (www.airweb.org)

AASA

American Association for School Administrators. The National Student Clearinghouse works with AASA to help StudentTracker meet the needs of school administrators and researchers. (http://www.aasa.org/)

A·P·L·U

Association of Public & Land-grant Universities (www.aplu.org)

Cohort

A group of students, typically freshmen, who begin their education at a similar time (e.g., Fall 2001 Freshman Cohort).

Concurrent Enrollment

This event occurs when a student takes courses at two institutions at the same time.

Detail Report

This is a unit level report that shows each student’s individual enrollment history. For help reading the detail report, please see the Detail Report Guide you received during implementation of the service.

Diploma File (high school)

High schools transmit a list of their alumni to the Clearinghouse using a Diploma File. This file is typically created in Microsoft Excel and must be formatted according to Clearinghouse specifications. You can learn how to format your Diploma File by reading the Creating StudentTracker for High Schools Files in Excel document received during implementation of the service.

Enroll

Students who were admitted to an institution and subsequently enrolled (note that some institutions have an open admission policy).

FERPA Block (high school)

A FERPA block is a privacy hold that has been placed on a high school student’s record by a parent. You will be asked to indicate if students have a FERPA block when you create your Diploma File.

First Generation Students

Operational research definitions vary between students who are the first in a family to attend colleges to students whose parents did not graduate from college.

FTP Account

The Clearinghouse takes data security very seriously. To exchange student data in a secure way, your school or district will be issued a username and password to log on to the secure FTP server. Schools can upload their files as well as download their Aggregate Reports and Detail Report by logging on to the FTP website. You will receive a link to a Secure FTP help resource during implementation of the service.

Graduation Rate

The percentage of a cohort that successfully graduated within a specific time interval. Commonly, the graduation rate reported is 150% of degree time, or six years for a four-year degree and three years for a two-year degree.

IPEDS (Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System)

The core postsecondary education data collection program for the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). IPEDS is a system of data collected from all primary providers of postsecondary education, including enrollments, program completions, graduation rates, faculty, staff, finances, institutional prices, and student financial aid. (http://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/).

Request File (high school)

High schools can request enrollment information about former students who did not graduate from high school using a Request File. The format for this type of file is a little different than the format for a Diploma File. You can request this file layout from a StudentTracker Coordinator.

Retention

Often reported as the percentage of students enrolled at Time B from a population of students enrolled at Time A. For example, fall to spring retention refers to the percentage of students who were enrolled in the fall who did not graduate and returned in the spring.

Secondary School

A secondary school is characterized by having a 12th grade graduating class.

StudentTracker Coordinator

Once we have received your StudentTracker Agreement, a Coordinator will contact you with the information you’ll need to begin using the service. If at any point you have questions about using StudentTracker, you can contact a Coordinator by calling (703)742-4211 or emailing StudentTracker@studentclearinghouse.org.

Time to Degree

The time it takes for a student to graduate from an institution.

Transfer

A student who enrolls at one institution and subsequently enrolls at another.

Transfer Track

The former name of StudentTracker.

VSA

Voluntary System of Accountability. A program supported by AASCU and A·P·L·U whereby institutions agree to report identically formatted reports using the same measurements, which are published online for public use. (www.voluntarysystem.org)

Withdrawn (W)

A student once enrolled at an institution who is no longer enrolled. Students can withdraw from an institution mid-term or simply not enroll for the subsequent term.