Military Education Terms - Military Degrees

Accreditation: The act of accrediting or the state of being accredited, especially the granting of approval to an institution of learning by an official review board after the school has met specific requirements. While the Department of Education does not accredit institutions of higher learning, it does recognize certain accrediting bodies as reliable authorities with respect to the institutions these bodies accredit.

American Council on Education (ACE): is the only higher education organization that represents presidents and chancellors of all types of U.S. accredited, degree-granting institutions: community colleges and four-year institutions, private and public universities, and nonprofit and for-profit colleges. This cross-sector membership enables ACE to serve as higher education's unifying voice.

Associate's degree: An award that normally requires at least 2 but less than 4 years of full-time-equivalent college work.

Bachelor's degree: A degree granted for the successful completion of a baccalaureate program of studies, usually requiring at least 4 years (or the equivalent) of full-time college-level study.

Certificate Program: A certificate program is a sequence, pattern, or group of academic credit courses that focus upon an area of specialized knowledge or information and have specifically defined outcomes.

Certification: refers to the confirmation of certain characteristics of a person. This confirmation is often, but not always, provided by some form of external review, education, or assessment. One of the most common types of certification is professional certification, where a person is certified as being able to competently complete a job or task, usually by the passing of an examination.

College: A postsecondary educational institution.

College Level Examination Program (CLEP): is a series of examinations that test an individual’s college level knowledge gained through course work, independent study, cultural pursuits, travel, special interests, military service schools, and professional development.

Common Access Card (CAC): a United States Department of Defense (DoD) smart card issued as standard identification for active-duty military personnel, reserve personnel, civilian employees, non-DoD other government employees and State Employees of the National Guard and eligible contractor personnel.

Council of College and Military Educators (CCME): is composed of military educators, civilian educators, post secondary educational institutions, and suppliers of quality education products and services. CCME's mission is to promote and provide educational programs and services and to facilitate communication between the membership and the DoD educational support network.

Defense Activities for Non-Traditional Education Support (DANTES): Support the off-duty, voluntary education programs of DoD and conduct special projects and developmental activities in support of the Department’s education-related functions.

Defense Finance & Accounting Service (DFAS) myPay: an automated system that helps active and retired servicemembers, DoD employees, and surviving spouses manage their accounts online. Users can access their leave and earnings or retiree account statements (RAS) as well as tax statements and forms.

Doctoral degree: An earned degree carrying the title of Doctor. The Doctor of Philosophy degree (Ph.D.) is the highest academic degree and requires mastery within a field of knowledge and demonstrated ability to perform scholarly research. Other doctoral degrees are awarded for fulfilling specialized requirements in professional fields, such as education (Ed.D.), musical arts (D.M.A.), business administration (D.B.A.), and engineering (D. Eng. or D.E.S.). Many doctoral degrees in both academic and professional fields require an earned master's degree as a prerequisite. First-professional degrees, such as M.D. and D.D.S., are not included under this heading. See also First-professional degree.

Doctoral institutions: Four-year post-secondary institutions that award at least a doctoral or first-professional degree in one or more programs.

Educational attainment: The highest level of schooling attended and completed. See also High school completion, Bachelor's degree, Master's degree, Doctoral degree, and First-professional degree.

Faculty: Persons identified by the institution as such and typically those whose initial assignments are made for the purpose of conducting instruction, research, or public service as a principal activity (or activities). They may hold academic rank titles of professor, associate professor, assistant professor, instructor, lecturer, or the equivalent of any of those academic ranks. Faculty may also include the chancellor/president, provost, vice provosts, deans, directors or the equivalent, as well as associate deans, assistant deans, and executive officers of academic departments (chairpersons, heads or the equivalent) if their principal activity is instruction combined with research and/or public service. The designation as "faculty" is separate from the activities to which they may be currently assigned. For example, a newly appointed president of an institution may also be appointed as a faculty member. Graduate, instruction, and research assistants are not included in this category.

Financial aid: Grants, loans, assistantships, scholarships, fellowships, tuition waivers, tuition discounts, veteran's benefits, employer aid (tuition reimbursement), and other monies (other than from relatives/friends) provided to students to help them meet expenses. This includes Title IV subsidized and unsubsidized loans made directly to students.

First-professional degree: An award that requires completion of a degree program that meets all of the following criteria: (1) completion of the academic requirements to begin practice in the profession; (2) at least 2 years of college work before entering the degree program; and (3) a total of at least 6 academic years of college work to complete the degree program, including previously required college work plus the work required in the professional program itself. First-professional degrees may be awarded in the following 10 fields: chiropractic (D.C. or D.C.M.), osteopathic medicine (D.O.), dentistry (D.D.S. or D.M.D.), pharmacy (Pharm.D.), law (L.L.B. or J.D.), podiatry (D.P.M., D.P., or Pod.D.), medicine (M.D.), theology (M.Div., M.H.L., B.D., or Ordination), optometry (O.D.), and veterinary medicine (D.V.M.).

Four-year postsecondary institution: A postsecondary education institution that can award a bachelor's degree or higher.

Full-time enrollment: The number of students enrolled in postsecondary education courses with a total credit load equal to at least 75 % of the normal full-time course load.

Full-time-equivalent (FTE) enrollment: For institutions of higher education, enrollment of full-time students, plus the full-time equivalent of part-time students as reported by institutions. In the absence of an equivalent reported by an institution, the FTE enrollment is estimated by adding one-third of part-time enrollment to full-time enrollment.

GED certificate: This term normally refers to the tests of General Educational Development (GED), which provide an opportunity to earn a high school credential. The GED program, sponsored by the American Council on Education, enables individuals to demonstrate that they have acquired a level of learning comparable to that of high school graduates. See also High school equivalency certificate.

GED recipient: A person who has obtained certification of high school equivalency through the tests of General Educational Development (GED) sponsored by the American Council on Education. The student must meet state requirements and pass the approved exam, which is intended to provide an appraisal of the person's achievement or performance in the broad subject matter areas usually required for high school graduation.

Graduate: An individual who has received formal recognition for the successful completion of a prescribed program of studies.

High school diploma: A formal document regulated by the state certifying the successful completion of a prescribed secondary school program of studies. In some states or communities, high school diplomas are differentiated by type, such as an academic diploma, a general diploma, or a vocational diploma.

High school equivalency certificate: A formal document certifying that an individual has met the state requirements for high school graduation equivalency by obtaining satisfactory scores on an approved examination and meeting other performance requirements (if any) set by a state education agency or other appropriate body. One particular version of this certificate is the General Educational Development (GED) test. The GED test is a comprehensive test used primarily to appraise the educational development of students who have not completed their formal high school education and who may earn a high school equivalency certificate by achieving satisfactory scores. GEDs are awarded by the states or other agencies, and the test is developed and distributed by the GED Testing Service of the American Council on Education.

Master's degree: A degree awarded for successful completion of a program generally requiring 1 or 2 years of full-time college-level study beyond the bachelor's degree. One type of master's degree, which includes the Master of Arts degree, or M.A., and the Master of Science degree, or M.S., is awarded in the liberal arts and sciences for advanced scholarship in a subject field or discipline and for demonstrated ability to perform scholarly research. A second type of master's degree is awarded for the completion of a professionally oriented program—for example, an M.Ed. in education, an M.B.A. in business administration, an M.F.A. in fine arts, an M.M. in music, an M.S.W. in social work, or an M.P.A. in public administration. A third type of master's degree is awarded in professional fields for study beyond the first-professional degree—for example, the Master of Laws (LL.M.) and Master of Science (M.S.) in various medical specializations.

Montgomery GI Bill (MGIB): provides up to 36 months of education benefits. This benefit may be used for degree and certificate programs, flight training, apprenticeship/on-the-job training and correspondence courses. Remedial, deficiency, and refresher courses may be approved under certain circumstances. Generally, benefits are payable for 10 years following your release from active duty. This program is also commonly known as Chapter 30.

National Accreditation: Institutions accredited by an agency the U.S. Department of Education deems to be a reliable authority as to the quality of education or training provided by an institution of higher education. The federal government makes no distinction between accreditation bodies, giving all equal standing.

Part-time enrollment: The number of students enrolled in postsecondary education courses with a total credit load of less than 75 % of the normal full-time credit load.

Post-9/11 GI Bill: provides financial support for education and housing to individuals with at least 90 days of aggregate service on or after September 11, 2001, or individuals discharged with a service-connected disability after 30 days. You must have received an honorable discharge to be eligible for the Post-9/11 GI Bill.

Post-baccalaureate student: A student with a bachelor's degree who is enrolled in graduate-level or first-professional courses.

Postsecondary education: The provision of formal instructional programs with a curriculum designed primarily for students who are beyond the compulsory age for high school. This includes programs with an academic, vocational, and continuing professional education purpose and excludes vocational and adult basic education programs.

Postsecondary education institution: An institution for which the sole purpose or one of the primary missions is the provision of postsecondary education.

Regional Accreditation: The process by which one of several accrediting bodies, each serving one of six defined geographic areas of the country, accredits schools, colleges, and universities. Each regional accreditor encompasses the vast majority of public and nonprofit private educational institutions in the region it serves.

Servicemembers Opportunity Consortium (SOC): was created in 1972 to provide educational opportunities to servicemembers who, because they frequently moved from place to place, had trouble completing college degrees. SOC functions in cooperation with 15 higher education associations, the Department of Defense, and Active and Reserve Components of the Military Services to expand and improve voluntary postsecondary education opportunities for servicemembers worldwide.

Title IV institution: An institution that has a written agreement with the Secretary of Education that allows the institution to participate in any of the Title IV federal student financial assistance programs (other than the State Student Incentive Grant [SSIG] and the National Early Intervention Scholarship and Partnership [NEISP] programs).

Tuition: The amount of money charged to students for instructional services. Tuition may be charged per term, per course, or per credit.

Tuition Assistance: A grant of money for eligible members of the armed forces to pay up to 100% of education tuition. Each service has its own rules for eligibility, application, and payment.

Two-year postsecondary institution: A postsecondary education institution that does not confer bachelor's degrees, but does provide 2-year programs that result in a certificate or an associate's degree, or 2-year programs that fulfill part of the requirements for a bachelor's degree or higher at a 4-year institution.

Undergraduate student: Student enrolled in a 4- or 5-year bachelor's degree program, an associate's degree program, or a vocational or technical program below the baccalaureate.

University: A postsecondary institution that consists of a liberal arts college, a diverse graduate program, and usually two or more professional schools or faculties, and that is empowered to confer degrees in various fields of study.

Verification of Military Experience & Training (VMET): The Verification of Military Experience and Training (VMET) web site is sponsored by the Department of Defense to provide eligible service members n occupational and training history document on demand. The VMET data is a portion of a member's career history which comes from a large database built over the years - with data received from the four service's official personnel and training systems.

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