Office of Institutional Research and Reporting George Mason University

Terms and Definitions


A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z


C

Class Level/Student Level
Undergraduate Degree-Seeking

Graduate Degree-Seeking

Non-degree Seeking

E

Extended Studies
The enrollment program that serves non-degree-seeking students.

F

First-Time Freshman
Admissions
Student Enrollment

Full-Time Student
An undergraduate student enrolled for 12 or more credit hours in a term, a graduate student enrolled for 9 or more credit hours in a term, or a law student classified as a day student in a term.

G

Guest Matriculant
A student taking course work at George Mason and applying the credit toward a degree at another institution.

H

Headcount Student
The number of students enrolled for more than zero credit hours in courses offered for degree or certificate credit, including students who are not admitted to a degree program(extended studies). When student headcount is reported by academic division/department, the headcount is attributed to the department that administers the student's primary program of study.

L

Lower Division-Baccalaureate
Courses
Students

P

Part-Time Student
An undergraduate enrolled for fewer than 12 credit hours in a term, a graduate student enrolled for fewer than 9 credit hours in a term, or a law student classified as an evening student in a term.

R

Resident Alien
A person who is not a citizen or national of the United State, and who has been lawfully admitted for permancent residence ( and who holds alien registration cards form I-551/155).

S

Student FTE (Full Time Equivalent)
A statistics derived from the student credit hour productivity of the institution. In non-summer terms, the number of FTE students is obtained by dividing the total number of undergraduate , first professional(law), and graduate credit hours per term by 15, 15 and 12 respectively. The number of FTE students in summer, and annualized regular sessions(Fall and Spring semesters) is obtained by dividing the total number of undergraduate, first professional, and graduate credit hours per session by 30, 30 and 24 respectively. This definition should be distinguished from the definition of a full-time student.

U

Upper Division-Baccalaureate
Courses
Students