Glossary

1098-T	This is an IRS tax form that schools must provide to their students that outlines each student’s payments, in order for a student to report this information on their own tax forms. In addition, schools must also report this information directly to the IRS.
90/10 Rule	The requirement that a proprietary school must derive at least 10% of its revenues for each fiscal year from sources other than the FSA programs or be subject to sanctions. https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/about/data-center/school/proprietary
AACS	American Association of Cosmetology School. AACS is a national, non-profit association open to all privately owned schools of cosmetology arts & sciences. Our membership [is] comprised of cosmetology, skin, nail, barbering and massage schools. http://beautyschools.org/aacs/about-aacs/
ABHES	Accrediting Bureau of Health Education Schools. Independent non-profit agency unrelated to any trade or membership organization. A nationally-recognized accrediting agency of institutions and programs predominantly in allied health education. https://www.abhes.org/
Accreditation	Accreditation is the recognition that an institution maintains standards requisite for its graduates to gain admission to other reputable institutions of higher learning or to achieve credentials for professional practice. The goal of accreditation is to ensure that education provided by institutions of higher education meets acceptable levels of quality. https://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/FAQAccr.aspx
ACCET	Accrediting Council for Continuing Education & Training. ACCET is a private, non-profit organization that has been monitoring and ensuring the quality of higher education since 1974. It has been recognized by the U.S. Department of Education as a National accrediting agency since 1978.
ACCSC	Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges. This is an organization whose scope includes the accreditation of postsecondary, non-degree-granting institutions and degree-granting institutions … that are predominantly organized to educate students for occupational, trade and technical careers … http://www.accsc.org/About-Us/Overview.aspx
Agencies	In OnlineSMART, Agencies refers to a Program Code that is applied to a ledger entry that represents a payment from an institution that provides a student with education expenses that does not fit under the category or loan, scholarship, or grant.
AGI	Adjusted Gross Income. This is number is calculated by subtracting certain deductions from an individual’s total gross income. In OnlineSMART this number is entered on (or imported to) the ISIR or PISIR tab.
Annual Award	In terms of Pell grants, the Annual Award is the maximum amount of aid that a student could receive for attending a full academic year, after taking in to account the Scheduled Award, enrollment status, EFC, and COA.
Antic. Grad Dt	Anticipated Grad Date, Anticipated Graduation Date. This is a calculation in OnlineSMART that estimates the graduation date of a student based on a student’s Start Date, Attendance, and Average Scheduled Hours.
ATB	Ability To Benefit test. The Ability-to-Benefit (ATB) testing requirement is for students who are seeking financial aid awards under the state's Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) for the first time in the 2006-2007 academic year, or thereafter, and do not have a high school diploma, or its equivalent (GED), from a United States high school.
Award Year	The period of time when a student is allowed to receive awarded funds for a year. The U.S. Department of Education considers the Award Year to be from July 1 to June 30 of the following year.
Cell Phone Carrier	This company provides cellular telephone service for the student. This information is critical for being able to utilize the Text Messaging system in OnlineSMART.
CIP	Classification of Instructional Programs is a taxonomy of academy disciplines at institutions of higher education.
Clock Hour	This mainly refers to the type of school, which evaluates students based on the number of hours they have attended towards a certain course or program.
COD	Common Origination and Disbursement. The Common Origination and Disbursement (COD) System is used to process records for the Campus-Based, Pell Grant, TEACH Grant and Direct Loan programs. https://ifap.ed.gov/ifap/processing/codSystem.jsp
COE	Council on Occupational Education. This is a national institutional accrediting agency for the accreditation of non-degree-granting and applied associate degree-granting postsecondary occupational education institutions. http://council.org/history-mission-core-values/
Contract Grad Date	Contract Graduation Date or CGD. This is the date that a student is estimated to finish their course if they attend at 100% of their schedule.
CPS	Central Processing System. The CPS manages the application and eligibility determination portion of the federal student aid process. It gathers information from applicants via the FAFSA®, applies computerized edits and calculations to determine the student’s eligibility, and communicates the results to the students, schools, state agencies, third-party servicers, and other federal computer systems.
Credit Balance	Any amount on a student’s ledger that is owed back to the student. In terms of federal aid, [a] credit balance that occurs whenever the amount of Title IV, HEA program funds credited to a student's ledger account for a payment period exceeds the amount assessed the student for allowable charges associated with that payment period. https://ifap.ed.gov/fsahandbook/attachments/1718FSAHbkVol4Ch2.pdf
Credit Hour	This mainly refers to the type of school, which evaluates students based on the number of credits they have accumulated for their course or program.
Destination Point ID	The ISIR is transmitted to the Destination Point (TG Number/Mailbox) of the main campus for the selected Federal School Code. https://ifap.ed.gov/isirguide/attachments/1819ISIRGuide.pdf The TG# for your Destination Point is the EDE destination assigned by SAIG in the format TGXXXXX, where the X is alpha/numeric. https://fafsa.ed.gov/help/faahelp2e.htm
Determined (Drop and Reenroll History)	Withdrawal vs Determination Dates A student's withdrawal date is used to determine the percentage of the payment period or period of enrollment completed and, therefore, the amount of aid a student has earned. The date of the institution's determination the student withdrew captures the point in time when a school could reasonably be expected to be aware a student withdrew. The determination date is used in many circumstances, such as R2T4. When a student begins the formal withdrawal process, the withdrawal date and the date of determination are the same. However, the date of determination may be later than the withdrawal date, such as in the case of an unofficial withdrawal. In that case, the school may not know that the student has ceased attendance until late in the period. The withdrawal date for a school not required to take attendance would be the midpoint or the last date of an academically related activity, which could be before or after the date of determination. https://faaaccess.ed.gov/r2t4/help/r2t4-faq00.htm#difference
Direct Loan G-Code	Your Direct Loan school code that is a six digit code beginning with G.
Disbursement	This mainly refers to Federal Aid that has been credited to a student’s account.
DUNS Number	Data Universal Numbering System. The D&B D-U-N-S® Number is a unique nine-digit identifier for businesses. It is used to establish a business credit file, which is often referenced by lenders and potential business partners to help predict the reliability and/or financial stability of the company in question. https://www.dnb.com/duns-number.html
EDconnect	EDconnect is a Windows-based software that assists users with sending, receiving, and managing their Federal student aid information electronically. Users collect data on their personal computer (PC) or computer system and transmit the collected data in batches over the Student Aid Internet Gateway (SAIG). The appropriate Title IV Application System receives the data, processes the data, performs any required database cross-referencing, and returns the processed data to the user’s SAIG mailbox. The entire processing cycle for routine application data within the SAIG system is typically 72 hours (three working days).
EDExpress	The EDExpress software is a PC application that processes, packages and manages Title IV student financial aid records. The U.S. Department of Education (ED) provides EDExpress to postsecondary educational institutions that participate in its Electronic Data Exchange (EDE) process.
EFC	Expected Family Contribution. The Expected Family Contribution (EFC) is a measure of your family’s financial strength and is calculated according to a formula established by law. https://fafsa.ed.gov/help/fftoc01g.htm
Enrollment	In OnlineSMART this refers to a date field on the Academics tab of a prospect or student profile labeled Enrollment. While the profile is still a prospect, this field can be edited to any date the user requires. Once the profile is enrolled to a student, the field is grayed out and can no longer be edited. SMART recommends entering the date that a prospect signs your agreement or contract to attend your school.
FA	Financial Aid. Financial Aid is any grant, scholarship, loan, or paid employment offered to help a student meet his/her educational expenses. Such aid is usually provided by various sources, such as federal and state agencies, colleges, high schools, foundations, and corporations.
FAA	Financial Aid Administrator. Financial aid administrators help students achieve their educational potential by helping award and disburse monetary resources. https://www.nasfaa.org/What_Do_Financial_Aid_Administrators_Do
FAA Access to CPS Online	A website that financial aid administrators use to enter application data, view ISIR information, and make corrections. It is located at https://faaaccess.ed.gov/FOTWWebApp/faa/faa.jsp
FAFSA	Free Application for Federal Student Aid. The student aid application provided for under section 483 of the HEA, which is used to determine an applicant's eligibility for the federal student aid programs. https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/fafsa
FCWSP	Federal College Work Study Program, Federal Work-Study (FWS) Program. This is a Title IV program for providing part-time employment to assist with educational expenses.
FDLPS	Federal Direct Loan Program Subsidized, Federal Direct Stafford/Ford Loan Program. One of the components of the Direct Loan Program. It provides loans to undergraduate, graduate, and professional students attending schools that participate in the Direct Loan Program. The Department subsidizes the interest while the borrower is in an in school, grace, or deferment period. Loans made under this program are referred to as Direct Subsidized Loans. https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/types/loans/subsidized-unsubsidized
FDLPU	Federal Direct Loan Program Unsubsidized, Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford/Ford Loan Program. One of the components of the Direct Loan Program. It provides loans to undergraduate, graduate, and professional students attending schools that participate in the Direct Loan Program. The borrower is responsible for the interest that accrues during any period. Loans made under this program are referred to as Direct Unsubsidized Loans. https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/types/loans/subsidized-unsubsidized
FFELS	Federal Family Education Loan Subsidized Programs. This is a former Title IV loan program.
FFELU	Federal Family Education Loan Unsubsidized Programs. This is a former Title IV loan program.
First Contact	This field in OnlineSMART is located on a profile’s Academic tab. While the profile is still a prospect, this field can be edited to any date the user requires. Once the profile is enrolled to a student, the field is grayed out and can no longer be edited. SMART recommends using the date that the school first communicates with, or responds to, the prospective student.
FISAP	Fiscal Operation Report and Application to Participate. This is a form and instructions for applying for funding for an upcoming award year and to report expenditures for the previous award year.
Fiscal Year	An accounting year that ends on a date other than December 31. For example, a school district might have a fiscal year of July 1, 2017 through June 30, 2018. https://ifap.ed.gov/ifap/helpGlossary.jsp?value=F
FSEOG	Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant. FSEOG is a grant for undergraduate students with exceptional financial need. https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/types/grants-scholarships/fseog
FTI	FISAP Total Income. This represents the family's total income for the independent student and spouse, or for the dependent student and parents. For a dependent student, the FTI amount is the sum of the STI (student's total income) plus the TI (parents' total income). For an independent student, the TI (total income) and the FTI amounts will be the same. The FTI value will also appear on SARs and ISIRs for students who qualify for the automatic zero EFC. https://ifap.ed.gov/sarmaterials/doc0027_bodyoftext.htm
FTE of students	If a school has a mix of full and part time students, the Full Time Equivalent is the calculation of how many full time students all of the scheduled hours would equate to. The full-time equivalent (FTE) of students is a single value providing a meaningful combination of full-time and part-time students. IPEDS data products currently have two calculations of FTE students, one using fall student headcounts and the other using 12-month instructional activity. https://surveys.nces.ed.gov/ipeds/VisGlossaryAll.aspx
Gainful Employment	This refers to requirements and regulations from the U.S. Department of Education regarding data on the employment placement of a school’s students.
GPA	Grade Percent Average. In OnlineSMART, this refers to a student’s average percent performance based on the grade weighting of Tests grades (Theory, quizzes, homework, etc.), Major grades (Mid-terms, Final, etc.), and Lab grades (practical, services, etc.)
Grants	This is an amount of money given to a student for educational expenses, usually based on a student’s need.
Guarantors	Guarantee agencies. These third-party institutions or organizations insure a loan against default.
Host Computer	The host computer is the main computer that SMARTTime is installed on and the location where the SQL database is housed. All workstations will have a remote connection into this computer to read and write data. You can determine if a computer is the host by the connection string on the General tab of SMARTTime; see below. Host - The start of the connection string for the Host PC will include "local" in it: Data Source=(local)\SQLEXPRESS...
IFP	Institutional Finance Plan. In OnlineSMART, this ledger program code refers to a payment made directly by a student towards their contracted amount with the school.
In Default	In OnlineSMART, this refers to when a student has a contract balance on their ledger and has failed to make payments.
Initial Contact	This field in OnlineSMART is located on a profile’s Academic tab. It is automatically populated with the date that the profile was created. While the profile is still a prospect, this field can be edited to any date the user requires. Once the profile is enrolled to a student, the field is grayed out and can no longer be edited. If you wish to change this field, SMART recommends using the date that the prospect first communicates with your school.
Inst Scholarship	Institutional Scholarship. This is a ledger program code in OnlineSMART that indicates a scholarship awarded by your school.
IoIFP	Interest on Institutional Finance Plan. IoIFP is a program code for a ledger entry in OnlineSMART. If your school charges a student’s interest amount up front, then you can use this program code when entering that amount on to a student’s ledger.
IPEDS	Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System. The system that schools, that accept Title IV funds, are required to use to report their data to the U.S. Department of Education.
IRA	Individual Retirement Account, Individual Retirement Arrangement. In OnlineSMART, IRA Payments and IRA Distributions can be entered on a profile’s ISIR and/or PISIR tab. If ISIRs are imported, then this will be filled automatically.
ISIR (PISIR - Parent ISIR)	Institutional Student Information Record. ISIRs contain processed student information reported on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), as well as key processing results and National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) financial aid history information. ISIRs are sent electronically to schools by the Central Processing System (CPS). https://ifap.ed.gov/ifap/byAwardYear.jsp?type=isirguide The student starts the process by submitting a FAFSA. The information is processed through the CPS, and the results are returned to the student and institution.
Lenders	These third-party institutions or organizations loan students money for educational expenses.
LG Grant	Local Government Grant. This is an amount of money given to a student by a local government, such as a county or city, for educational expenses, usually based on need.
LG Scholarship	Local Government Scholarship. This is an amount of money given to a student by a local government, such as a county or city, for educational expenses, usually based on merit.
Max Time Frame	Maximum Time Frame or MTF. This is the amount of time it would take a student to complete a course if they only attended at the Minimum Attendance Percentage. This also commonly refers to the actual date that the Max Time Frame would fall on. For example, if a course is 900 hours and a student is scheduled for 9 hours a day, then they would finish the course in 100 scheduled days. However, if your Minimum Attendance Percentage is 67%, and your student only attends at the minimum amount, which would be about 6 hours a day, then the student would reach 900 hours in about 150 scheduled days. This would be the Max Time Frame. You would schedule a student for this period and the final scheduled date would be referred to as the Max Time Frame. You can use our Estimated Contract Calculator to find the Max Time Frame, or you can calculate this date manually. The U.S. Department of Education’s standard for maximum time frame is 150% of a school’s normal, published program length. If a student exceeds this 150% time frame, they are no longer eligible to receive federal aid.
Median	The middle value in a range of values. The median is required to be found in certain circumstances, such as when reporting Program Disclosure information for Gainful Employment.
Minimum Attendance %	In OnlineSMART, this percentage is the minimum amount a time a student can attend and still be considered to be within the school’s Satisfactory Academic Progress standards.
Minimum GPA Value	In OnlineSMART, this percentage is the minimum average grade percent that a student can achieve and still be considered to be within the school’s Satisfactory Academic Progress standards.
NACCAS	National Accrediting Commission of Career Arts and Sciences. NACCAS is recognized by the U.S. Department of Education as a national agency for the institutional accreditation of postsecondary schools and departments of cosmetology arts and sciences, including specialized schools. http://naccas.org/naccas/what-is-naccas
Need Based	This refers to any type of aid that is based on the financial need of the recipient.
Normal Time	This is used in the Gainful Employment Disclosure and IPEDS and is referred to as Normal Time to Completion. This is defined as the amount of time it would take a student to complete a course according to your school’s catalog or publications.
NSLDS	National Student Loan Data System. The National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) is the U.S. Department of Education's central database for student aid. https://fp.ed.gov/nslds.html
OIG	"We are the Office of Inspector General (OIG) – an independent entity within the U.S. Department of Education (ED) responsible for identifying fraud, waste, abuse, and criminal activity involving ED funds, programs, and operations. We conduct independent audits and other reviews and criminal and civil investigations. We recommend actions to address systemic weaknesses and improve ED programs and operations. We also recommend changes needed in Federal laws and regulations." https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/oig/index.html
OPE ID	Office of Postsecondary Education Identification number. The Office of Postsecondary Education Identification (OPE ID) number is assigned by the U.S. Department of Education to identify schools that have Program Participation Agreements (PPA) so that its students are eligible to participate in Federal Student Financial Assistance programs under Title IV regulations. The first 6-digits of the OPE ID number relate to the education institution, and are followed by a 2-digit suffix used to identify branches, additional locations, and other entities that are part of the eligible educational institution. https://www.dodmou.com/Home/EnterOpeidBeforeCreateUserAccount
Payer Name Control	The Payer Name Control field will be the first four letters of the name your business files under.
PELL	Federal Pell Grant. The Federal Pell Grant Program provides need-based grants to low-income undergraduate and certain post baccalaureate students to promote access to postsecondary education. … Grant amounts are dependent on: the student's expected family contribution (EFC); the cost of attendance (as determined by the institution); the student's enrollment status (full-time or part-time); and whether the student attends for a full academic year or less. https://www2.ed.gov/programs/fpg/index.html
Pell ID	Federal Pell Grant Identification number. This is a school’s identifying number for receiving Federal Pell Grants. This number is mainly used for importing ISIR files.
PERKINS	The Federal Perkins Loan Program provides money for college or career school for students with financial need. … Loans made through the Federal Perkins Loan Program, often called Perkins Loans, are low-interest federal student loans for undergraduate and graduate students with exceptional financial need. https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/types/loans/perkins
Permit #	Permit Number. The Permit # (Permit Number) is a unique identifier for each profile that is created in OnlineSMART.
PL	Private Loan. This is a ledger program code in OnlineSMART that refers to any type of loan given to a student by a private institution.
PLUS	PLUS Loans, (FKA Parent Loan for Undergraduate Students). PLUS loans are federal loans that graduate or professional students and parents of dependent undergraduate students can use to help pay for college or career school. PLUS loans can help pay for education expenses not covered by other financial aid. https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/types/loans/plus
PLUSD	Direct PLUS Loans.
Primary Time Clock	This is the main time clock that you will use to enroll students in; it shares fingerprint and password configuration information with all other time clocks in the network. (If you do not know which is your school’s primary clock you can press the Menu button on the clock, select Setup and press OK, then select Communication and press OK, look for the Device ID number in this list. If the device ID number is 1, this is the primary clock.) NOTE: Students must only be enrolled into the Primary Clock.
Professional Judgement (PJ, P1, P2)	Professional Judgment refers to the authority of a school's financial aid administrator to make adjustments to the data elements on the FAFSA and to override a student's dependency status. The school does not have the authority to change the need analysis formula itself or to make direct adjustments to the Expected Family Contribution (EFC). Instead, the school may adjust the inputs to the formula. The changes to the inputs are dictated by the impact of the special circumstances on the family's income and assets. The standard formula is then applied to the new data elements, yielding a new EFC figure. http://www.finaid.org/educators/pj/
Program Disclosure	This refers to requirements and regulations from the U.S. Department of Education regarding reporting and disclosure to potential students of a school’s Gainful Employment data.
R2T4	Return to Title IV. This refers to the calculation of the amount of a federal grant or loan that is required to be returned to the federal government, due to a student that has received federal aid, but then has withdrawn from the program they received the funds for.
S Grant	State Grant. This is an amount of money given to a student by a state government for educational expenses, usually based on need.
S Scholarship	State Scholarship. This is an amount of money given to a student by a state government for educational expenses, usually based on merit.
SAIG	Student Aid Internet Gateway. The Student Aid Internet Gateway (SAIG) is the tool that allows Federal Student Aid trading partners to securely exchange batch data with Federal Student Aid Application Systems. https://fsawebenroll.ed.gov/PMEnroll/index.jsp
SAP	Satisfactory Academic Progress. SAP is the indicator for whether your student is progressing according to your school’s Minimum GPA Percent as well as your school’s Minimum Attendance Percent. If a student is not achieving either of those minimums then they will not be achieving your school’s SAP standard.
SAR	Student Aid Report. A report provided to an applicant by the Department showing the applicant's FAFSA information and the amount of his or her EFC. SARs are the paper or electronic (eSAR) output documents that are sent to students or printed from the FAFSA on the Web and FAA Access to CPS Online Web sites. SARs and ISIRs contain the same processed student information in different formats. https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/fafsa/next-steps/student-aid-report
Scheduled Award	In terms of Pell grants, Scheduled Award is the maximum amount of aid that a full time student could receive for attending a full academic year, as determined by ED each year.
Scholarship	This is an amount of money given to a student for educational expenses, usually based on a student’s merit.
SEOG MATCH	Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant Matching Grant. This ledger program code represents an amount of money awarded to a student, in the form of a grant that is usually based on a percentage of aid that the student has already been awarded.
Secondary Time Clock	This is any additional time clock at the school; secondary clocks depend on the primary time clock for student clock ID configuration information. (If you do not know if a time clock is a secondary clock you can press the Menu button on the clock, select Setup and press OK, then select Communication and press OK, look for the Device ID number in this list. If the device ID number is anything other than 1, this is a secondary clock.) NOTE: Students CANNOT be enrolled on a clock other than the Primary Clock.
SFA Compliance Audit	Student Financial Assistance (Title IV) Compliance Audit - "Federal regulations require non-Federal entities, such as State and local governments, institutions of higher education, and nonprofit organizations, that expend $750,000 or more in Federal awards during the entity’s fiscal year to obtain an audit, referred to as a single audit. Additionally, certain for-profit entities that participate in or administer the Student Financial Assistance (Title IV) programs are required to undergo annual audits performed by independent public accountants in accordance with audit guides issued by the OIG. These audits assure the Federal Government that recipients of Federal funds comply with laws, regulations, and other requirements that are material to Federal awards." https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/oig/nonfed/index.html
Sync	Short for synchronize; this is the process of matching data between devices or software through a networked connection. In SMARTTime, this process links SMARTTime with OnlineSMART.Net to share student information, like enrolled status and attendance records. Additionally, this process links the time clock to the software to share attendance records and clock ID configuration.
TCC	Transmitter Control Code; Provided by the IRS for 1098-T electronic submissions.
TDLR	Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation.
TG#	The TG# for your Destination Point is the EDE destination assigned by SAIG in the format TGXXXXX, where the X is alpha/numeric. https://fafsa.ed.gov/help/faahelp2e.htm
TIN Number	Tax Identification Number, Federal Taxpayer Identification Number. In OnlineSMART, this is your school’s federal taxpayer identification number that must be obtained from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
Title IV	Title IV refers to a section in the Higher Education Act allowing for the federal government to provide financial aid for educational expenses. There are three types of aid: Loans, Grants, and Work-Study. In OnlineSMART, Title IV refers to the actual financial aid received by the student, as well as the program and system for providing this aid.
VEB	Veterans Educational Benefits. In OnlineSMART, VEB is a ledger program code that refers to any transaction dealing with the Veterans Administration (VA). It can be used for any of the benefits that are outlined in the Higher Education Act, and for newer sources of veteran aid, such as Post 9/11 aid.
Verification	The process under which an applicant's FAFSA information is selected by the Department or a school and determined to be accurate (true and complete within certain parameters) or inaccurate. https://ifap.ed.gov/ifap/helpGlossary.jsp?value=V
Workstation	Workstations are additional computers in the school’s network that SMARTTime is installed on; they read SMARTTime’s SQL database through a remote connection to the host. Operating SMARTime through a Workstation is like running a separate instance of the program. In other words, whenever changes or edits are made on a Workstation, they will not be reflected on any other computer that has SMARTTime open. Much like a shared Excel sheet, one would need to close and reopen SMARTTime to see the changes. Unless the Auto Retrieve function is being used, SMARTTime should remain closed when not in use. IMPORTANT: Only one person from your school should be working in SMARTTime at any given time. Failure to follow this practice this may result in lost edits and/or changes made. You can determine if a computer is a workstation by the connection string on the General tab of SMARTTime; see below. Workstation - The connection string will have the hostname (determined by running cmd > hostname on the Host) in this location: Data Source=HOSTNAME\SQLEXPRESS...

glossary

Creation date: 3/6/2018 11:49 AM Updated: 1/13/2020 2:52 PM