Official Data Dictionary

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Term	Definition
Academic Level	A categorization of post-secondary academic programs based on the award being sought. Bachelor's Degrees are at the Undergraduate level, Professional Doctorate Degrees at the Professional level, and Master's and Research Doctorate degrees at the Graduate level.
Academic Period	An eight-digit code that denotes a unique academic term. The first 4 digits designates the academic year (2017 = academic year 2016-17) and the last two digits designate the term (10 = fall term, 15 = winter term, 20 = spring term, 30 = summer term).
Academic Year	An academic year comprises 3 semesters. Academic year summations of data on enrollment, financial aid, and credit hours start with Fall term and include the following Spring and Summer terms (e.g., Fall 2016, Spring 2017 and Summer 2017). To comply with federal requirements, academic year summations of data on incoming students and degrees awarded begin with Summer term and include the following Fall and Spring terms (e.g., Summer 2016, Fall 2016 and Spring 2017).
Accelerated Bachelor's/Master's	Programs that allow approved students to complete both a Bachelor’s and a Master's degree more quickly by counting 9-12 hours of graduate course work toward both degrees.
Accrediting Agency	A private, non-profit organization that examines higher education institutions or programs for quality assurance and improvement.
ACHE	The Alabama Commission on Higher Education is the coordinating board for higher education in the State of Alabama. Currently, ACHE has statutory authority to approve new units of programs proposed by public institutions in Alabama.
ACT Composite Score	The American College Test (ACT) composite score is an average score based on the four ACT assessment tests (English, Math, Reading, and Science).
ACT Math	The ACT mathematics test score from the same test date as the highest ACT Composite score.
ACT Reading	The ACT reading test score from the same test date as the highest ACT Composite score.
ACT Science	The ACT science test score from the same test date as the highest ACT Composite score.
ACT Verbal	The ACT English test score from the same test date as the highest ACT Composite score.
ACT Writing	The optional ACT writing test score, not included in a student’s ACT Composite Score.
Address - Local	The local postal address and associated telephone number, as provided by the student.
Address - Mailing	The mailing postal address and associated telephone number, as provided by the student.
Address - Permanent	The permanent postal address and associated telephone number, as provided by the student.
Admission Decision	Decision made in reference to a submitted application.
Admit Status	A classification of categories into which applicants may seek to be admitted or have been admitted, to the institution. Applicants must satisfy differing criteria for admission based on the type of admission sought. The eleven Admit Status categories are Freshman, Early Admission, Dual Enrollment, Conditional/Special Admit, Transfer, Transient, Unclassified, International Accelerator, Auditor, First-Professional, or Graduate student.
Admit Term	The first Academic Term in which a student is enrolled for credit at the institution, regardless of Student Type or Career Level.
Admit Type	The Admit Status assigned to students as of their first enrollment at a Career Level.
Admitted	The status of an Applicant who has satisfied all requirements for admission to the institution and is eligible for enrollment.
Applicant	A person who has applied for admission to the institution and has met the Application Fee requirements.
Applied College	The College an applicant indicated as their choice for primary Academic Program upon application.
Applied Department	The Department an applicant indicated as their choice for primary Academic Program upon application.
Attempted Hours	The total number of credit hours for which a student has registered as of the 15th class day for the specified term.
Aid Package - Financial	Sum of financial awards offered to a student, including scholarships, grants, waivers, and loans.
Aid Year	Fall, Spring and Summer terms of the specified year (Aid Year 1819 is Fall 2018, Spring 2019, and Summer 2019).
Application Date	Date when first application material was entered in BANNER.
Application Fee	Charge for processing material for application for admission to the institution.
Application Fee Date	The date that a person's Application Fee (or waiver) is posted, enabling the individual to become an Applicant.
Application Number	Code used in conjunction with Academic Period to identify a specific application for an individual.
Application Status	The status of an application for admission.
Applied	A person who has submitted an application for admission and satisfied the Application Fee requirement.
Athlete	A student who participates in an intercollegiate sport sanctioned by the NCAA or NCEA.
Attribute	A BANNER-specific code used to categorize a course or student.
Award Offer Amount	Total amount offered to a student by specific financial aid fund as part of the total financial aid package awarded a student. Fund refers to Financial Aid classification for specific types of monetary aid including scholarships, grants, waivers and loans.
Award Paid Amount	Total amount accepted and paid to a student by specific financial aid fund as part of the total financial aid package awarded a student. Fund refers to Financial Aid classification for specific types of monetary aid including scholarships, grants, waivers and loans.
Bachelor's Degree	An award that requiring the successful completion of a minimum of 120 semester credit-hours of college-level work and satisfaction of all other program requirements.
BANNER	The institution's enterprise-level information system, comprising the student information system, the financial information system, and the human resources information system. BANNER is the institution's system of record.
Banner ID	See Student ID.
Birth Date	Date of birth (calendar date).
Campus	Identifies the location where student enrollment and contact hours are generated. For the Auburn campus, the campus code is designated as "A".
Career Level	Refers to level of student, U = Undergraduate, P = Professional, G = Graduate. See also: Student Level1.
Census Date	Date within a term at which the "snapshot" of enrollment and student credit hours (SCH) is taken. For Fall and Spring Semester the date coincides with the last day to withdraw from a course with no grade assignment, the 15th class day. For Summer Semester the date is the 5th class day of the second mini-semester.
CIP Code	Classification of Instructional Program code. The Classification of Instructional Programs is a taxonomy established by the U.S. Department of Education to describe academic fields of study. CIP codes are assigned to courses, majors, and academic departments.
Citizenship Status	Categorization of a person's citizenship status (e.g. US Citizen, Non-US Citizen, or Permanent Resident).
Class Level	Refers to the classification of students by year of study completed. For undergraduate students, this classification is based on earned hours (including both hours transferred and hours earned at the institution). At the Undergraduate level, FR=Freshman, SO=Sophomore, JR=Junior, SR=Senior. Professional-level students have their own class levels based on their progress through the program curriculum, Pharmacy = P1, P2, P3, P4 and Veterinary Medicine = V1, V2, V3, V4. Graduate-level students are classified based on their program of study, MST=Master's degree student, PHD=Doctoral degree student.
Cohort	A specific group of students established for tracking purposes. Cohorts can be specific to a term or an academic year.
College/School	For enrollment reports, College refers to the unit offering the student's primary academic program. For course assignment and credit hour production summaries, College is the home unit of the instructor of record. See also: Department.
Common Data Set	An annual, voluntary summary of key information about a college or university commonly requested by college guidebooks and rating agencies or used by prospective undergraduate students. The Common Data Set (CDS) was developed as an efficient way to provide students and their families with a source of timely, accurate, and comparable information.
Concentration	An approved set of courses WITHIN A MAJOR that define a specialty area or specific field of study.
Confidential Indicator	Indicator denoting whether the student has instructed the institution not to release their directory information.
Conditional Admit	Students who do not meet full admission requirements can be conditionally admitted under special admission criteria. Students conditionally admitted are included in Freshman Cohort and student Retention Rate calculations.
Converted Test	See Highest Test Score.
Cost of Attendance	An estimate of the total cost of attending the institution full-time for one year, used in calculating financial aid. Includes tuition and fees; books and supplies; room and board; transportation and personal expenses.
County of Origin	For US Citizens or Resident Aliens, refers to the county (correlated to the state) in which they resided prior to enrollment at the institution.
Country of Citizenship	Refers to the country in which a person was born, or is naturalized, or acknowledges citizenship.
Country of Origin	Refers to the country in which a person resided prior to enrollment at the institution. For applicants this is derived from the maximum application number for that term that is less than or equal to the matriculation term.
Credit Hour	A unit of academic work that includes no less than one 50 minute period of classroom or direct faculty instruction and completion of assignments that typically require 2 to 2.5 hours of out-of-class student work each week for approximately fifteen weeks for one semester (or the equivalent amount of work over a different period of time). Generally is applied toward the total number of credit hours needed for completing a degree or certificate.
Deceased Status	Date entered in BANNER to denote that an individual is deceased.
Decision Status	See Latest Decision Code.
Degree	Awarded at the successful completion of a course of study; generally referring to Bachelor, Masters, Professional, and Doctorate levels.
Degree Rate	See Graduation Rate.
Degree-Seeking Student	A student who is enrolled in a degree-granting program.
Department	Department refers to the unit offering the student's primary academic program. For course assignment and credit hour production summary, Department is the home unit of the instructor of record. Departments are organized into a College/School.
Dependency Status	As determined on the FAFSA, a dependent student receives financial support from a parent/guardian; an independent student relies solely upon their own finances (and, if married, the spouse's).
Deposit	The amount an admitted student pays to confirm their intention of enrolling at the institution.
Distance Learning	An option for earning credit at off-campus locations by internet, video, satellite courses, or other means.
Doctoral Degree	The highest award a student can earn for Graduate level study. IPEDS separates doctoral degrees into three categories: Research/Scholarship, Professional Practice, and Other. Among doctoral degrees offered at the institution, the Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) and Doctor of Science (ScD) are categorized as Research/Scholarship, and the Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) and Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) as Professional Practice.
Double Major	A student seeking two majors under the same degree program. One degree is awarded, and the second major is noted on the transcript.
Dual Degree	Also Double Degree. Two degrees awarded to the same student at the same student level. A dual degree requires completion all major requirements for both degrees. Two separate degrees are awarded to the student.
Dual Enrollment	A program that allows high school students to enroll in college-level courses. Students earn credit toward a postsecondary degree or certificate while enrolled in high school.
Enrolled	A student is considered enrolled when the student is in a credit-bearing course required as part of any of the institution's curricula.
Ethnicity	See also Race/Ethnicity. Ethnicity is the first part of the two-part classification process mandated by the U.S. Department of Education for collecting information related to an individual's ethnic and racial identity. The Ethnicity code characterizes an individual as either Hispanic or Latino or Not Hispanic or Latino. An individual must be asked—and the institution must report—both Ethnicity and Race.
Expected Family Contribution	A measure of a family's financial strength which is calculated from information supplied on the Free Application for Student Financial Aid (FAFSA) according to a formula established by the U.S. Department of Education. A family's taxed and untaxed income, assets, and benefits are all considered in the formula.
First Generation	A student whose parent(s)/guardian(s) did not earn a Bachelor's Degree.
FAFSA	Free Application for Federal Student Aid.
Financial Need	Result of Cost of Attendance minus Expected Family Contribution, as calculated from a student’s FAFSA.
First Time Freshman	An individual who is enrolled for credit at a post-secondary school after graduating from high school or earning a GED.
Freshman	A type of Class Level denoting undergraduate students who have earned fewer than 30 credit hours.
Freshman Cohort	First-time students beginning college in Fall Semester of a given year, or who began the Summer Semester immediately preceding and are also enrolled for Fall Semester at the same institution. The Freshman Cohort of 2018 includes students beginning college in Summer or Fall of 2018.
FTE – Full-Time Equivalent	A measurement of students, employees, or faculty, based on summing the Headcount of full-time persons with a percent of full-time for those who are part-time. When calculating the full-time component of FTE, a full-time person counts as 1, even on overload. The part-time component of FTE can be calculated in two ways: Method A) by using a percentage of full-time as based on load, or Method B) by using 1/3 of the Headcount of part-time students/employees. When calculating FTE enrollment by Method A, the full-time load for undergraduate students is assumed to be 12, while the full-time load for graduate and professional students is assumed to be 9. An undergraduate student taking 6 hours would thus be calculated as 6/15 (0.4) of an FTE enrollment, while a graduate or professional student taking 6 hours would be calculated as 6/10 (0.6) of an FTE enrollment. For part-time employees, the FTE percentage is calculated by dividing the number of hours of employment by full-time. See also: Headcount.
Full-Time Student	Undergraduate students who are attempting 12 or more credit hours in a semester; professional or graduate students who are attempting 9 or more credit hours in a semester.
Gender	Male or Female; cannot be null.
Geographic Residency	Indicator of whether a student's State of Origin is Alabama, regardless of their Tuition Residency.
GMAT Test Score	Graduate Management Admissions Test score.
GMAT Mathematics	Graduate Management Mathematics subscore.
GMAT Verbal	Graduate Management Verbal subscore.
GPA	Grade Point Average. A calculated field that takes Grade Points earned (as based on grade A, B, C, D, F) and divides by GPA Hours. Auburn’s Grade Adjustment Policy currently allows undergraduate students to exclude up to three course grades of D or F (including FA) from the computation of their cumulative GPA. Credits accepted in transfer from another institution are excluded from the calculation of GPA. See also: Ungapped GPA.
GPA Hours/Hours Earned In	The hours that count in the calculation of a GPA. The sum of GPA Hours is the denominator in the calculation of the cumulative GPA.
Grade Points	The points assigned to the grade multiplied by the number of credit hours for the course. The sum of Grade Points is the numerator in the calculation of the GPA.
Graduate	An Academic Level categorizing post-baccalaureate degree programs.
Graduate Certificate	A certificate awarded to students who successfully complete a defined and approved set of 9-21 hours of graduate-level course work. Graduate certificates are considered to be educational programs by Auburn’s regional accrediting body but are not reported to the Alabama Commission on Higher Education or to the U.S. Department of Education.
Graduation Date	Date a degree is officially conferred to a graduating student. Usually it is the last day of the semester. Degrees are conferred three times a year: at the end of Fall, Spring, and Summer Semester.
Graduation Rate	Percent of the Full-Time Freshman Cohort who are awarded a Bachelor's or Professional Doctorate degree by the end of the Summer Semester of their fourth Academic Year or sixth Academic Year of study ("4-year Graduation Rate" and "6-year Graduate Rate”, respectively).
Graduation Term	The semester in which the student's degree is earned.
GRE Composite Score	Graduate Record Examination Test score.
GRE Quantitative	Graduate Record Examination quantitative subscore from same test date as the highest GRE Composite score.
GRE Verbal	Graduate Record Examination verbal subscore from same test date as the highest GRE Composite score.
Greek	Indicates whether a student is associated with an organization overseen by the Office of Greek Life.
Headcount	A count of persons irrespective of full- or part-time status. See also: FTE.
High School	The institution conferring the secondary school degree, as shown on the student’s final transcript. Required information for persons applying as a First-Time Freshman.
High School GPA	Grade Point Average a student earned in high school.
High School Graduation Date	The date on which a student graduated from high school or received a GED.
High School Rank	The standing of the student in relation to their graduating high school class.
Highest Test Score	Highest ACT Composite score or SAT Total score, as based on the concordance table from the College Board.
Hold	A method for preventing student activity (e.g., registration or transcript printing) until the student has taken a required action.
Honors	An attribute indicating the student is in the Honors College (Term specific).
Housing	Indicates whether a student has been assigned on-campus housing (Code = "Y"). Populated for fall terms only.
International Student	See Nonresident Alien.
In-State Student	A student who is a legal resident of the state in which they attend school.
IPEDS	The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, the post-secondary data collection program of the National Center for Education Statistics, a part of the United States Department of Education. Institutions receiving federal student financial assistance authorized by Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (20 U.S.C. 1094(a)(17)) must annually complete the IPEDS data collection process.
Joint Enrollment	High school students concurrently enrolled in college courses and receive only college credit for the course.
Junior	A type of Class Level denoting undergraduate students who have earned 60 or more credit hours and fewer than 90 credit hours.
Latest Decision Code	The most recent admission-related decision for an application.
Latest Decision Date	Date of most recent application decision recorded in BANNER.
Learning Community	A group of linked courses designed so students and professors experience a coherent and enriched learning environment. Unique Learning Community codes have been established and are assigned as a student Attribute.
Legacy	A student whose parent or sibling graduated from Auburn prior to their own enrollment.
Major	The academic area of focus of the student. The major is reported using the appropriate code from the Academic Program Inventory of the Alabama Higher Education Commission. The Academic Program Inventory major code is based upon the six-digit Classification of Instruction Programs (CIP Codes), developed and published by the National Center for Educational Statistics.
Master's Degree	An award that requires the successful completion of a program of study of at least 30 semester credit hours beyond the Bachelor's Degree.
Matriculation Term	The first Academic Term in which a student enrolls at an Academic Level (UG, PR, GR).
Minor	Secondary discipline or field in which a student is permitted to focus.
Need-based Aid	Financial Aid award, including scholarships, grants, waivers and loans, for which a student must demonstrate financial need to qualify.
Non-Degree Seeking Graduate	A student taking graduate course(s) without a declared major.
Non-Degree Seeking Undergraduate	A student taking undergraduate course(s) without a declared major.
Nonresident Alien	A person who is not a citizen or national of the United States and who is in this country on a visa or temporary basis and does not have the right to remain indefinitely.
Online Program	A Program for which a degree is earned through Distance Learning.
Part of Term	Subset of a term (i.e. FM=First 5-week classes, SM=2nd 5-week classes).
Part-Time Student	Undergraduate student who is attempting fewer than 12 credit hours in a semester; professional or graduate student who is attempting fewer than 9 credit hours in a semester.
Pell Eligible	Designates students who qualify to receive a Pell Grant as part of their financial aid package. Aid Year specific.
Persistence Rage	See Retention Rate.
PIDM	Unique student identifier known as the Person Unique ID. Not the same as BANNER Student ID or Tax ID/SSN.
Plan of Study	Course-taking sequence outlined by graduate programs.
Post-Master's Certificate Program	A prescribed set of courses leading to a certificate, taken by a student beyond the Master's Degree level.
Preferred First Name	Also Preferred Name. The first name the student provided as their preference for being addressed, if different from their first name. The Preferred Name is built from Preferred First Name when it exists.
Previous Institution	For students at the undergraduate level, this is the most recently attended post-secondary institution; for professional and graduate-level students this is the Bachelor's Degree granting institution.
Professional	Also First-Professional, also Professional Doctorate. An Academic Level categorizing degree programs which prepare students for practice in a specific health-related profession, which also require at least 2 years of post-secondary work prior to entry and which require a minimum of 6 years of post-secondary work in total for completion.
Program	An approved course of study leading to a degree (Bachelor's, Professional, Master's, Doctorate) or certificate, or resulting in credits that can be applied to one of these awards. Coding syntax used to identify Programs in BANNER typically include three code-based elements denoting the college, the degree, and major designation. Example: EN_BAE_AERO is a degree in from the College of Engineering (EN) designated as a Bachelor's of Aerospace Engineering (BAE), in Aerospace engineering (AERO).
Race	See also Race/Ethnicity. Race is the second part of the two-part process mandated by the U.S. Department of Education for collecting information related to an individual's ethnic and racial identity. An individual may selected one or more of the following races: American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, Black or African American, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, White. An individual must be asked—and an institution must report—both Ethnicity and Race.
Race/Ethnicity	A classification mandated by the U.S. Department of Education for collecting and reporting information related to an individual's racial and ethnic identity. Individuals must be asked first about their Ethnicity and then about their Race. An institution must report Race/Ethnicity according to the guidelines set forth by the U.S. Department of Education and the National Center for Education Statistics.
Readmit	Readmitted students have a prior enrollment history at the institution but have not been enrolled recently enough to qualify as "continuing" students; they must apply for readmission to the institution. Students re-enter in the same status as when last enrolled at the institution.
Registration Status	Indicates whether a student is registered for a course, has attempted to register for a course, has previously registered but is not currently registered for a course, or has withdrawn from a course.
Residency/Resident	Indicator of the tuition rate assessed for the semester. Students designated as In-State students are considered Residents.Students designated as Out-Of-State students categorized as Non-Resident. Students who would ordinarily be assessed the Out-of-State tuition rate but are instead assessed the In-State rate due to contractual obligations (Common Market, etc.) may be categorized as Resident OR Non-Resident depending on context.
Retention Rate	Percent of the Full-Time Freshman Cohort who are enrolled as of the Census Date for the subsequent Fall Semester.
Returning/Continuing	Continuing students are those who enroll after a hiatus of no more than three semesters (excluding summer terms) since their most recent previous term of enrollment.
SAT Combined	Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) is a test designed to test students' skills of mathematical and verbal reasoning; the combined score is the sum of a student’s mathematics and verbal/critical reasoning scores.
SAT Mathematics	The SAT mathematics test score from the same test date as the highest SAT Total score.
SAT Verbal - Critical Reading	The SAT verbal subtest score from the same test date as the highest SAT Total score.
SAT Writing	The SAT Writing score is an optional component of the SAT; the SAT Writing score recorded is the one from the same test date as the highest SAT combined score.
Satisfactory Academic Progress - Financial Aid	US Department of Education requirement to monitor the academic progress of students who receive financial aid from federal sources. The progress is measured qualitatively by GPA and quantitatively by attempted vs. earned hours. Requirements are established by the school.
SCH	Student Credit Hours. See also: Credit Hours.
Senior	A type of Class Level denoting undergraduate students who have earned 90 or more credit hours.
Sophomore	A type of Class Level denoting undergraduate students who have earned 30 or more credit hours and fewer than 60 credit hours.
State of Origin	For US Citizens or Resident Aliens, refers to the state in which they resided prior to acceptance to the institution.
Stop-Out Rate	The percentage of students who did not persist to a given Fall Term. Related: Persistence Rate.
Student ID	Unique ID comprising 9 digits, beginning with 902 or 903. Also called BANNER ID.
Student Level	Academic Level based on the primary curriculum in which the student is enrolled. Acceptable types: UG = Undergraduate, U2 = Second Bachelor Degree, U3 = Third Bachelor Degree, PR = Professional, GR = Graduate.
Student Level1	Single-character adaptation of Student Level. Acceptable types: U = Undergraduate, P = Professional, G = Graduate.
Student Population	Refers to the student type in effect for a given term (term specific).
Suffix Name	Free form field used to denote suffix abbreviations (Sr, Jr, I, II, III, etc).
Tax ID/SSN	Social Security Number.
Term	Under the Semester Calendar there are 3 unique terms: Fall, Spring, and Summer. Previously, under the Quarter Calendar, there were 4 unique terms: Fall, Winter, Spring, Summer.
TOEFL	The standardized test designed to determine an applicant's ability to benefit from instruction in English.
Transfer Hours	Refers to the total number of credit hours a student transfers to the institution, typically from undergraduate institutions.
Transfer Student	A student who last attended another institution at the post-secondary level.
Transient Student	A student who is regularly enrolled at another institution, but who is taking a course(s) at the reporting institution which they intend to transfer to their regular institution.
Tuition Residency	See Residency/Resident.
Tuition Waiver	A reduction in, or elimination of, the tuition or fee charges that are to be paid by the student.
Undergraduate GPA	For Graduate Level students, the cumulative Grade Point Average earned at the completion of the Bachelor's Degree.
Unmet Need - Financial	See Financial Need.
Veteran Status	Indicates whether a student is a Veteran or the Dependent of a Veteran.
Visa	Designates visa categories as outlined by the U.S. Department of State.