IR Data Glossary

Academic Standing - A student's status based on an evaluation of both cumulative and CSUN GPA.  Categories of academic standing include:  Good Standing, Academic Notice, and Disqualified Status.  Academic Standing determines a student's eligibility to proceed in their academic plan or to qualify for graduation.  For more details, see (http://catalog.csun.edu/policies/academic-standing-for-undergraduates-good-standing-probation-and-disqualified-status/).

Academic Year - The period beginning with the fall semester and ending with the following spring semester; does not include the summer term.  See also:  College Year

Better Served Racial/Ethnic Groups - A term used to refer to students from racial and ethnic groups that have been traditionally better served in higher education; specifically, this includes students who identify as White and Asian American.  The CSU Chancellor's Office and federal government reports usually use the term "non-underrepresented minority" (non-URM). See also: Traditionally Underserved Racial/Ethnic Groups

Census Date - The end of the fourth week following the first date of instruction for the term/semester; in other words, the 20th day of instruction, not including weekend days and holidays.  This is the date on which all reports included in the CSU Enrollment Reporting System (ERS) must be based (unless there are specific exceptions).

College Year - The period beginning with the first summer term and ending with the spring semester; in other words, the academic year plus the preceding summer term(s). See also: Academic Year

Continuation Rate - The percentage of a student cohort (defined by common entry term) still enrolled at the university in a specified term after matriculation; one-year continuation rate is the most reported. See also: Persistence Rate, Retention Rate

DFU Rate- The percentage of students in a particular course(s) who received a grade below C-, including grades of D+, D, D-, F, IC, NC, and WU.

Ethnic/Racial Groups - These categories represent students' self report of their racial/ethnic self identification from their CSU application.  Students with F and J visas are categorized separately as International Students. See also: Traditionally Underserved Racial/Ethnic Groups, Better Served Racial/Ethnic Groups

First-Generation Student - A first-generation college student is defined as a student whose parent(s)/legal guardian(s) have not completed a bachelor's degree at a four-year college or university. A student response of "no answer/not available/unknown" for parental education is considered a first-generation student at CSUN Institutional Research.

First-Time Freshman (FTF) - Typically, a newly admitted undergraduate student without any earned college credit.  In some cases, the admitted student may have earned college credit, but not later than the end of the summer immediately following high school graduation, or equivalent college credit through CLEP, AP, or military coursework.

First-Time Transfers (FTT) - Typically, a newly admitted undergraduate student with earned college credit after high school graduation but who has not earned a baccalaureate degree.

Freshman Athlete - Includes first-time freshmen (FTF) who were members of a CSUN NCAA athletics team upon matriculation at CSUN. Students remain in this grouping even if they discontinue participation in CSUN Athletics in subsequent terms.

Freshman Connection - Includes first-time freshmen (FTF) who participated in the Freshman Connection program, see (Academic First Year Experiences) in their first term.

Freshman EOP - Includes first-time freshmen (FTF) who were admitted into the Educational Opportunity Program, see (EOP; http://www.csun.edu/csun-eop).  Students remain in this grouping even if they discontinue participation.

Freshman Housing - Includes first-time freshmen (FTF) who lived in on-campus housing in their first term.

Full-Time Enrollment - Category of student attendance status. For financial aid purposes, a minimum of 12 units for undergraduates and postbaccalaureate students not enrolled in graduate programs and 8 units for graduate students is considered full time. For enrollment purposes (e.g., FTES), full-time is defined as 15 units for undergraduates and 12 units for graduate students. See also: Part-Time Enrollment, Full-Time Equivalent Students (FTES)

Full-Time Equivalent Faculty (FTEF) - A measure of faculty workload.  For tenured/tenure-track faculty, the equivalent of 12 weighted teaching units (WTU; includes reassigned time) corresponds to 1.0 FTEF.  For lecturers, the equivalent of 15 WTU corresponds to 1.0 FTEF.

Full-Time Equivalent Student (FTES) - A measure of student enrollment primarily used for state budgeting. For this calculation, full-time enrollment is defined as 15 units for undergraduates and postbaccalaureate students not enrolled in graduate degree programs and 12 units for graduate students. In other words, FTES is calculated as total enrolled semester units divided by 15 for undergraduates and postbaccalaureates not enrolled in graduate degree programs and divided by 12 for graduate students. See also: Headcount

Grade Point Average (GPA) -An academic performance measure that is calculated by dividing the total number of grade points earned by the total number of units attempted in courses in which letter grades are assigned (for how to convert letter grades to grade points, see (https://catalog.csun.edu/policies/grading-symbols/).  Types of GPAs include:  Term GPA, CSUN GPA, Transfer GPA, High School GPA, and Cumulative GPA.

Graduation Rate - The percentage of a student cohort (defined by common entry term) who have earned a degree in a specified period of time.  Rate is typically calculated for Fall entry cohorts, for which the summer following the academic year in question is included in the specified time period.  For federal reporting (IPEDS) and Graduation Initiative 2025, we typically focus on the graduation rates of first-time freshmen who were enrolled full-time (i.e., minimum of 12 units for undergraduates) in their first semester.  For first-time transfer students, Graduation Initiative 2025 focuses on the graduation rates of those who transferred from California Community Colleges. See also: Time to Degree

Headcount - The number of students enrolled in a given term at a specified date (usually Census). See also: Full-Time Equivalent Students

Institution of Origin - For first-time freshmen, the institution of origin is the high school from which they graduated.  For first-time transfer students, this usually refers to the college or university from which they earned the majority of their transferable units.

International Students - A student with a F or J visa.

IPEDS Ethnicity - CSUN Counts dashboards now offer 2 options for breakdowns of student data by race/ethnicity: IPEDS ethnicity and preferred ethnicity. The IPEDS race/ethnicity breakdown was previously the only option CSUN Counts offered. CSUN (through the California State University system) reports race and ethnicity, in accordance with federal guidelines, to the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS). IPEDS reporting relies on the Office of Management and Budget classification system. Under this classification system, a student who designates their ethnicity as “Hispanic or Latino” is classified as such, no matter their response to the remaining questions. If a student indicates that they are not Hispanic/Latino, their responses to a second question about race identity is used. Note that the option to identify as “Southwest Asian/North African” was added to the CSU application form in Fall 2022, under the questions pertaining to IPEDS ethnicity. However, this is not yet an option under the Preferred Ethnicity question.

Lecturer - Instructional faculty who have non-tenure-track, term appointments. See also: Tenured/Tenure-Track Faculty

Major - The area of study in which the student's degree will be granted.

Option - An emphasis of study within a major/degree program; note that options within majors are not separate degrees.

Part-Time Enrollment - Category of student attendance status.  For financial aid purposes, fewer than 12 units for undergraduates and postbaccalaureate students not enrolled in graduate degree programs and fewer than 8 units for graduate students is considered part time. See also: Full-Time Enrollment

Pell Grant - Federal financial aid program for undergraduates, see (https://studentaid.gov/sa/types/grants-scholarships/pell); eligibility for this grant is used as a proxy to identify students who come from low-income backgrounds.

Persistence Rate - The percentage of a student cohort (defined by common entry term) still enrolled at or graduated from any 4-year institution in a specified term after matriculation. In contrast with retention rates, persistence rates take into account continuation or graduation from any 4-year institution whereas retention rates only take into account continuation or graduation from the university where the cohort initially matriculated (CSUN in this case). One-year persistence rate is the most reported. See also: Continuation Rate, Retention Rate

Preferred Ethnicity - CSUN Counts dashboards now offer 2 options for breakdowns of student data by race/ethnicity: IPEDS ethnicity and preferred ethnicity. CSUN Counts dashboards now include the option to break down race/ethnicity by the race/ethnicity chosen by the student to be their preferred ethnicity. In addition to the race/ethnicity questions required by IPEDS, Cal State Apply includes a third race/ethnicity question: “California State University often needs to report ONLY ONE summary race/ethnicity description for a person. Please select your reporting preferences.” The “preferred ethnicity” breakdown in the CSUN Counts dashboards refers to students’ responses to this question. Note that the option to identify as “Southwest Asian/North African” was added to the CSU application form in Fall 2022, under the questions pertaining to IPEDS ethnicity. However, this is not yet an option under the Preferred Ethnicity question.

Program - Field of study leading to a degree, includes majors, minors, and certificate (CSUN Catalog of Programs)

Retention Rate - The percentage of a student cohort (defined by common entry term) still enrolled at or graduated from the university in a specified term after matriculation; in essence, this is the opposite of attrition.  Retention rates take into account graduation from the university: Retention Rate = Continuation Rate + Graduation Rate. In contrast with persistence rates, retention rates only take into account continuation or graduation from the university where the cohort initially matriculated (CSUN in this case) whereas persistence rates take into account continuation or graduation from any 4-year institution.  One-year retention rate is the most reported. See also: Continuation Rate, Graduation Rate, Persistence Rate

Returning Student - A student returning to the university to the same degree level after having become inactive and reapplying to the university. Domestic students must reapply after three consecutive semesters of non-enrollment, or if they were previously disqualified when last enrolled. Even after readmission, the returning student is still grouped with their original entry cohort. Details about how to reapply are available on the Admissions and Financial Aid website, see (https://www.csun.edu/admissions-financial-aid/how-to-apply/returning-admissions).

Self-Supported Programs - Instructional programs that do not receive state funding and instead collect non-state student fees to fund operation.  At CSUN, these programs are run out of the Tseng College of Extended Learning.

State-Supported Programs - Instructional programs that are partially subsidized by state funding for operation; this covers the vast majority of academic programming at CSUN.

Student Faculty Ratio (SFR) - The ratio of full-time equivalent students to full-time equivalent faculty; this can be calculated for various levels, from the university, to colleges, to departments.

Student Level - Determined by the number of earned credit hours, this measure is an indicator of progress toward the degree.  Levels for undergraduates include freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior; for corresponding units, see (http://catalog.csun.edu/policies/class-levels-class-standing/).  Postbaccalaureate students include those who have earned a baccalaureate degree and are not enrolled in a graduate degree program (i.e., second baccalaureate students, students pursuing a credential or certificate).  Graduate students include those students who hold a baccalaureate degree and are enrolled in a graduate degree program.

Summer Bridge - Transitional programs offered by the CSUN EOP program the summer before students' matriculation at the university, see (https://www.csun.edu/csun-eop/programs-services/eop-transitional-programs).  See also:  Freshman EOP

Tenured/Tenured-Track Faculty - Faculty who have earned tenure or who have been hired with probationary status on the tenure track; ranks include Assistant, Associate, and Full Professor. See also: Lecturer

Tier - CSUN is currently impacted to both first-time freshmen and first-time transfer applicants; this means that admissions criteria differ for students from the local area vs. other California resident applicants.  The local area is referred to as Tier 1 and the rest of California as Tier 2.  For more information about impaction and tier boundaries, see (https://www.csun.edu/admissions-financial-aid/how-to-apply/impaction).

Time to Degree (TTD) - The number of semesters or years from first matriculation for the degree in question to degree completion.  This includes all Fall and Spring semesters, whether or not the student was enrolled during those terms.  Summer degrees are included with previous Spring semester. See also: Graduation Rate

Traditionally Underserved Racial/Ethnic Groups - A term used to refer to students from racial and ethnic groups that have been traditionally underserved in higher education; specifically, this includes students who identify as African American/Black, Latinx, American Indian, and Pacific Islander.  The CSU Chancellor's Office and federal government reports usually use the term "underrepresented minority" (URM; this sometimes does not include Pacific Islander students). See also: Better Served Racial/Ethnic Groups

University 100 - Short for University 100, the Freshman Seminar at CSUN, see (https://www.csun.edu/student-success/u100).