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Recitation
A small-group session where students discuss material covered in large lectures.

Regional Accreditation
Accreditation granted to an entire academic institution by the accrediting commission responsible for institutions in the particular geographic area. There are six regional accrediting commissions in the United States. Regional accreditation is also referred to as institutional accreditation.

Registrar
The officer responsible for registering students and maintaining their educational records.

Registration
The formal process of enrolling students in courses.

Remedial Education
Instruction designed to bring students up to required basic skills or knowledge levels to allow them to attend programs that they would otherwise have been unable to follow. These courses are also known as developmental courses.

Required Fees
Fixed sum charged to students for items not covered by tuition, and required of such a large proportion of all students that the student who does not pay is an exception.

Research Assistant (RA)
A graduate student who is employed part-time to assist with faculty research.

Residence
The State of Texas requires new students to sign an affidavit certifying their legal residence at the time of enrollment. Students must prove to the satisfaction of the Admissions and Records Office that they are entitled to be classified as a resident of Texas.

Residence Requirement
An institution's requirement that a student take a set number of credits at that institution in order to receive its degree. Austin Community College requires a student to complete 25 percent of the semester credit hours used in the degree plan in residence at ACC.

Resident
A person who resides in the state in which a college is located. Such persons are eligible for in-state or resident charges at publicly supported colleges and universities in that state.

Resident (Student Level)
A student who is receiving advanced training in a medical specialty after graduation from medical school and licensing to practice medicine.

Rolling Admission
A program adopted by many colleges through which admission applications are evaluated upon receipt and applicants are notified of the decision as soon as the application is processed.

Room Charges
The charges for an academic year for rooming accommodations of a typical student sharing a room with one other student.

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SACS
Acronym for the Southern Association of Schools and Colleges.

SAT
A standardized admissions examination (formerly known as the Scholastic Aptitude Test or the Scholastic Achievement Test) of mathematical and language arts skills. The test is taken by high school students to demonstrate their knowledge and potential for success in university level study. The test is usually required for admission to public university undergraduate programs.

Scholarship
A scholarship is financial aid that usually is awarded for merit or academic achievement. A scholarship is considered gift aid and does not have to be paid back.

Scholarship Loan
A scholarship loan is money that generally is awarded on the basis of academic merit or achievement, and that must be repaid in cash or by some type of service after graduation. Repayment provisions vary by program.

Semester
Refers to two 16-week sessions that make up the academic year.

Seminar
A small class of generally advanced students that meets with a professor to discuss specialized topics.

Senior
Refers to students who have completed 90 or more semester hours or 135 or more quarter credit hours.

Sophomore
A student level sophomore refers to students who have completed 30 to fewer than 60 semester hours or 45 to fewer than 90 quarter credit hours.

Southern Association of Colleges and Schools
The Southern Association of Schools and Colleges (SACS) is one of six regional associations that accredit public and private schools, colleges, and universities in the United States.

Specialized Accreditation
Applied to evaluation of programs, departments, or schools that usually are parts of a total collegiate or other postsecondary institution. The unit accredited may be as large as a college or school within a university or as a small as a curriculum within a discipline. Most of the specialized accrediting agencies review units within a postsecondary institution that is accredited by one of the regional accrediting commissions. However, certain of the specialized accrediting agencies do accredit professional schools and other specialized or vocational or other postsecondary institutions that are free-standing in their operations. Thus a "specialized" or "programmatic" accreting agency may also function as an "institutional" accrediting agency, which accredits educational programs within non-educational settings, such as hospitals.

Stafford Loans (Formerly Guaranteed Student Loans)
Provides guaranteed loans for educational expenses from eligible lenders to vocational, undergraduate, graduate, and first-professional students at eligible postsecondary institutions.

Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) System
Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) System is a code designed to classify and identify all occupations in which work is performed for pay or profit, reflecting the current occupational structure in the United States.

Summer Session
Formal course offerings provided during the summer.

Syllabus
An outline and description of a course stating: (1) topics to be covered; (2) course requirements; (3) required and recommended readings; (4) grading policies; and (5) a schedule of examinations.

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