Utah.gov

Career Glossary of Terms

ACT Scores

Subject-specific sub scores and one composite score on a comprehensive achievement test for college-bound high school students, administered by the American College Testing Program. Most Utah students take the ACT rather than the SAT.

Adult Education

Programs that help to prepare people eighteen years of age and older for post-secondary education, successful careers, and productive lives.

Advanced Placement (AP)

College-level courses provided at the secondary level through which students may receive college credit by examination.

Apprenticeship

A program that offers students the combination of paid, on-the-job training and related classroom training in a specified career. These programs are registered with the United States Department of Labor and are designed to culminate in certified journeyman-level skills attainment and nationally recognized credentials. Apprenticeships are sponsored by an employer, who is responsible for providing journeyman-level mentorship and supervision to the apprentice and sees that all required coursework is completed.

Associate's Degree

An award that requires the completion of at least two academic years of college-level work or the equivalent in an academic or occupationally specific field of study, and which meets institutional standards for otherwise satisfying the requirements for this degree level.

Bachelor's (Baccalaureate) Degree

An award that normally requires at least four years of full-time equivalent college-level work.

Career and Technical Education (CTE)

A vast number of classes and programs that teach the high demand skills needed to get a job, to cross-train for different positions, or retrain for a new career. CTE is designed to prepare high school students to transition successfully to postsecondary education, and to help workers acquire job skills in new fields or refresh skills in an existing career path. Formerly called Vocational Education.

CLEP

College-Level Examination Program. Program of exams in undergraduate college courses that provide students of any age with the opportunity to demonstrate college-level achievement.

College Work Study (CWS)

Jobs provided for graduate and undergraduate needy students. Employers pay a portion of the students' wages while the CWS fund pays the remainder.

Colleges and Universities in Utah

The ten colleges/universities which are part of the Utah System of Higher Education: University of Utah, Utah State University, Weber State University, Southern Utah University, Snow College, Dixie State College of Utah, College of Eastern Utah, Utah Valley State College, Salt Lake Community College, and the Utah College of Applied Technology.

Concurrent Enrollment

College-level courses available to high school students for both high school and college credit. Applied technology, introductory general education, and introductory level major courses are offered. Concurrent enrollment classes are taught either at the high school or at a college site. Teachers may be regular college faculty members or high school teachers who have been approved for adjunct faculty status at a higher education institution.

Deferred Admission Option

An option for admitted students to postpone enrollment, usually for a period of one academic term or one year.

Distance Learning

An option for earning course credit at off-campus locations via cable television, the Internet, satellite classes, videotapes, correspondence courses, or other means.

Early Admission

A situation where students who have not completed high school are admitted and enroll full-time in college, usually after completion of their junior year.

Electronic High School

Refers to classes that are offered to students via the Internet. The Utah State Office of Education sponsors and supports this program.

Financial Aid and Assistance

Money provided to students and families of students to help pay for education expenses. Major forms of financial aid include gift aid (grants and scholarships) and self help aid (loans and work study).

Full-Time Student

For Utah System of Higher Education records, a full-time student is one taking a 15 undergraduate credit hour load. For most scholarship and financial aid programs, including federal loans, a student is considered to be full-time with a load of 12 credits.

GED

General Educational Development. A certificate that an adult can receive through testing in lieu of a high school diploma. The GED test consists of the following five subtests: Social Studies, Language Arts/Writing (2 parts), Language Arts/Reading, Science, and Mathematics (2 parts).

Industry

A collection of employers grouped according to product, service or process.

Internship

Experiences where students work for an employer for a specified period of time to learn about a particular industry or occupation. Internship programs extend formal classroom learning into the community. Internships are linked to a related internship class, paid or unpaid (usually unpaid), time limited, connected to career goals, and offer opportunities to explore career options in a particular field of work.

Job Openings

Includes job openings resulting from the growth of the occupation and the replacement of workers who leave the occupation.

Job Shadowing

A work site experience during which a person spends time, typically three to six hours, one-on-one with an employee observing daily activities and asking questions about the job and industry. Job shadowing is a career awareness and exploration activity that allows a person to gather information on a wide variety of career possibilities. Such exploration activities can assist in making good career decisions and in focusing studies once a career interest is identified.

Labor Market Information

Data about workers, jobs, industries, and employers including employment, demographic and economic data.

Master's Degree

An award that requires the successful completion of a program of study of at least the full-time equivalent of one but not more than two academic years of work beyond the bachelor's degree.

New Century Scholarship

A state scholarship awarded to Utah high school seniors who have completed their requirements for an Associate's Degree by September 1 of the year in which they graduate from high school. The scholarship provides 75% of tuition (60 credit hours) at any four-year state-operated institution offering baccalaureate programs. This program may also be used at BYU and Westminster, where eligible students will receive 75% of the average tuition costs of the state schools.

Non-traditional Occupation

Occupations for which individuals from one gender comprise less than 25 percent of those employed in such occupation or field of work.

O*NET

U.S. Department of Labor occupational database that provides detailed job descriptions and where occupations are sorted by titles and industries.

Pell Grant

Need based grants for undergraduate students ranging from $200 to $3750 annually. This is the largest federal student aid program.

Perkins Loan

Low interest loans for needy students, administered at campus level.

PLUS

Parent Loans for Undergraduate Students, under which parents may borrow costs of attendance on behalf of students.

Post-secondary Education

Education beyond high school generally thought of in terms of college or university attendance, but can include any training beyond high school such as certificate or licensure programs, or apprenticeships.

Proprietary Schools (Private Institutions)

Any private institution, including business, modeling, paramedical, tax preparation, trade and technical school, which offers post-secondary education for the attainment of educational, professional or career objectives.

Public Institutions and Schools

Institutions whose programs and activities are operated by publicly elected or appointed school officials, and which are supported primarily by public funds.

SAT Scores

Verbal and mathematics sub scores and a composite score on the Scholastic Aptitude Test, a pre-college achievement test prepared by Educational Testing Service for the College Board. Primarily used for admission to East Coast colleges.

Secondary Education

Education beyond the elementary grades, provided by a middle, junior or high school.

Semesters

The academic year consists of two semesters with about 16 weeks for each semester of instruction. There may be an additional summer session.

SEOG

Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant Program. Grant Program for students with exceptional need up to $4,000 per year available, depending upon need.

SEOP

Student Education and Occupation Plan. A Utah specific format for individualized student planning that focuses on recognizing student accomplishments and strengths and student and parent/or guardian planning, monitoring, and managing education and career development in grades 7-12.

Skill

An expertise that is developed through training or practice and refers to the ability of people to use knowledge effectively and readily in performance and to transform knowledge into action.

Stafford Loan

Most common Federal Family Education Loan type, which uses a subsidized interest rate where interest is covered by the Federal government during grace periods and deferments.

T. H. Bell Teaching Loan Forgiveness Program

A state-supported loan forgiveness program that encourages students to pursue teaching as a career. Students receive state funding to assist with their educational expenses while in college. Students can repay these funds either in cash or by teaching for a period in Utah's schools. Formerly called the Utah Career Teaching Scholarship.

Transferable Skill

The mastery of a skill that can be used in a variety of occupations.

UCOPE

Utah Centennial Opportunity Program for Education. State need-based grant and work study program administered by UHEAA.

UCRN

Utah Career Resource Network. Offers products and services that are designed to give students, parents, teachers, and counselors the highest quality career information.

UECLP

Utah Engineering and Computer Service Loan Forgiveness Program. A loan forgiveness program to recruit and train engineering, computer science, and related technology students to assist in providing for and advancing the intellectual and economic welfare of the state.

UEN

The Utah Education Network.  It is the umbrella organization, operating under the direction of the State Board of Regents, for delivery of instruction via technology. Its components are: 1) KUED-TV (Channel 7), a public television station; 2) KULC (Channel 9), an open-broadcast public television station dedicated for delivery of instruction; 3) EDNET, interactive live audio and video teleconferencing system; 4) UEN Satellite System; and 5) Utahlink, the data connection for Utah public and higher education.

UESP

Utah Educational Savings Plan Trust.  A state-supported college savings program administered by UHEAA. UESP encourages parents, grandparents and others to save on behalf of their future college students. State and federal tax benefits are available by saving through UESP.

UHEAA

Utah Higher Education Assistance Authority.  Subsidiary agency of the State Board of Regents; administers all student aid programs under delegation from the Board.

Unemployment Rate

An estimate of people age 16 and over who are not employed and who made a specific effort to find work in the last four weeks and were available for work. It includes new entrants to the labor force, re-entrants, those who lost their jobs and who left their jobs. Conceptually many more people than just those on "unemployment insurance". Usually expressed as a monthly figure, or an annual average of monthly estimates.

USHE

Utah System of Higher Education

Utah Department of Workforce Services (DWS)

State government agency that connects job seekers to employers and compiles all economic data for the state of Utah.

Vocational Education

Education designed to develop occupational skills.  Now called Career and Technical Education.

Work-based Learning

Refers to education experiences that occur in cooperation with business/industry and other community partners. Work-based learning is defined as a coherent sequence of career awareness, exploration, job training and experience activities that are coordinated with school-based learning activities. There are work-based learning activities appropriate for every grade level.Typically students complete written assignments before, during and after work-based learning experiences to help them understand and reflect on what they see, hear and learn from the community partner.

WUE

Western Undergraduate Exchange, a program offered through Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education.