Career education/career field of study/career teaching field refers to an undergraduate major or to instruction in one of these 13 career/technical fields: agriculture and natural resources; business management; business support; communications and design; computer and information sciences; education; consumer (or personal) services (e.g., cosmetology, culinary arts); engineering, architecture, and science technologies; health sciences; manufacturing, construction, repair, and transportation; marketing; protective services (e.g., fire protection, corrections); and public, legal, and social services. In some cases, categories were combined into larger groupings (e.g., business management, business services, and marketing combined into “business and marketing”). See the postsecondary taxonomy for further detail and a crosswalk to the Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP).
Control and type/level of institution refers to an institution's operational organization and the level of instruction it provides. An institution’s control is determined based on whether the institution is operated by publicly elected or appointed officials and derives its primary support from public funds (public institution) or by privately elected or appointed officials and derives its major source of funds from private sources (private institution). A second distinction, between private for-profit (or proprietary) and private not-for-profit institutions, is also included in these tables. Type/level of institution refers to the highest level of credential (postsecondary certificate or degree) awarded by the institution—4-year or higher (4-year), 2-year or higher but less than 4-year (2-year), and less-than-2-year. The various types of for-profit institutions (4-year, 2-year, and less-than-2-year) are combined into one category in these tables. Faculty data include only 4-year and 2-year public and private not-for-profit institutions, as less-than-2-year institutions and for-profit institutions were not included in the National Survey of Postsecondary Faculty.
Credential refers to the following undergraduate certificates and degrees awarded by postsecondary institutions:
Credential goal refers to the level of credential a student intends to obtain—certificate, associate’s degree, or bachelor’s degree (see credential).
Credential-seeking undergraduate is a student who is enrolled in a program to earn a postsecondary certificate, associate’s degree, or bachelor’s degree (see credential).
Curriculum area divides students’ major field of study and faculty members’ teaching field into the following three broad areas: Career education (see career field of study), academic education (fine and performing arts, interdisciplinary studies, humanities, letters/English, mathematics, science, and social sciences), and undeclared (student field of study not yet decided upon) or unknown (teaching field missing or unspecified). Faculty who teach courses in both career and academic fields are classified here into career education. See the postsecondary taxonomy for further detail and links to the Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP).
Expected Family Contribution (EFC) is the amount of financial support for the student’s undergraduate education that is expected to be provided by the student’s family, or directly by the student if the student is financially independent. This amount is used to determine financial need and is based upon dependency status, family income and assets, family size, and the number of children enrolled in postsecondary education.
Family income is determined based on the parents’ income if the student is dependent and on the student’s income if the student is independent. Family income is divided into quartiles: lowest quartile (all incomes at or below the 25th percentile), second quartile (all incomes between the 26th and 49th percentile), third quartile (all incomes between the 50th and 74th percentile), and highest quartile (all incomes at or above the 75th percentile).
Grant amount refers to the total amount of all grants and scholarships received by the student during the academic year. This is equal to the sum of all federal grants, state grants, institutional grants, and other grants. Other grants include employer tuition reimbursements and grants from private sources.
Level of offering refers to the level of undergraduate credential awarded by an institution (see credential). Some tables present statistics on all levels of undergraduate credentials that an institution awards (i.e., all offerings levels), while other tables present only the highest level of undergraduate credential awarded (i.e., the highest level of offerings).
Loan amount refers to the total amount of all loans received by the student during the academic year. This is equal to the sum of all federal loans to students, state loans, institutional loans, and other commercial or alternative loans. This variable does not include Parent Loans for Undergraduate Students (PLUS).
Parent’s highest level of education is defined based on the highest level of education completed by either of the student’s parents. If one parent’s education level was unknown, the highest level from the known parent was used. Receipt of a General Educational Development (GED) certificate is included in the “high school diploma or equivalent” category.
Student aid refers to the sum of all financial aid received by the student from all sources (federal, state, institutional and all other) and types (loan, grant, work-study and all other).
Subbaccalaureate refers to postsecondary programs and credentials that are below the bachelor's degree level; see credential.
Teaching faculty are postsecondary faculty with instructional duties who taught at least one class during the academic year of the survey.
Title IV postsecondary institutions meet the criteria for participating in the federal student financial aid program, as specified in Title IV of the Higher Education Act. A Title IV eligible postsecondary institution must be one of the following: (1) an institution of higher education (with public or private, non-profit control), (2) a proprietary institution (with private for-profit control), or (3) a postsecondary vocational institution (with public or private, non-profit control). In addition, it must meet the criteria in the Higher Education Act for acceptable legal authorization, acceptable accreditation and admission standards, eligible academic program(s), administrative capability, and financial responsibility.
Tuition and fees is the institution-reported tuition and fees, adjusted for attendance status if necessary. If tuition was not reported by the institution, tuition was taken from the most recent Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) report and adjusted for attendance status.
Work-study amount refers to the total amount of all work-study awards received by the student during the academic year. This is equal to the sum of all federal work-study, state work-study, and institutional work-study awards.
