Office of Policy Analysis & Research
Student Statistics Definitions
- AGE
- The age of a student as of September 1 of the fall term.
- ASSOCIATE DEGREE
- The award designating the completion of an academic program requiring two years of full-time preparation. Associate degrees are awarded by all of the freshman/sophomore UW Colleges and several of the UW comprehensive institutions.
- BACHELOR'S DEGREE
- The award designating the completion of an academic program requiring four, but not more than five, years of full-time preparation.
- CLASSIFICATION
- A student's current class level based on the completion of institutionally defined credits and/or other school/college requirements.
- COMPREHENSIVE UNIVERSITY
- The eleven UW System campuses that are primarily designated as bachelor’s and master’s degree granting institutions.
- CONTINUING STUDENT
- A student continuing from the previous semester at the same institution at the same program (undergraduate/graduate) level.
- CREDITS CARRIED
- The number of credits for which a student is registered as of the 10th day of the semester.
- DEGREES CONFERRED
- The number of degrees awarded during a fiscal year (July 1-June 30).
- DOCTORAL DEGREE
- A Ph.D. or equivalent award designating the completion of advanced graduate study beyond that required of a master’s degree.
- DOCTORAL UNIVERSITY
- The designation for UW System campuses that confer a significant number of Doctoral degrees in addition to bachelor’s and master’s degrees.
- ENTRANCE STATUS
- A category reflecting a student's enrollment status (continuing, new, re-entry, transfer) at the beginning of a term relative to his/her status during the preceding term.
- FULL TIME EQUIVALENT (FTE)
- An enrollment calculation representing one student enrollment at full credit load. FTE calculation is based on the number of credits carried divided by 15, 12 or 7 depending on the student’s program (undergraduate, graduate, PhD, professional) level.
- FULL-TIME/PART-TIME STATUS
- An enrollment category based on a student's credit load. Full-time undergraduates have 12 or more credits. Full-time master’s, education specialist, clinical doctorate, and graduate specials have 8 or more credits at UW-Madison and UW-Milwaukee, and 9 or more credits at all other campuses.
- GENDER
- A designation of the sex of the student - male or female.
- GEOGRAPHIC ORIGIN (STATE)
- The state in which the student resided at the time of application. Students not from one of the 50 United States are grouped into 3 additional categories - International, U.S. Territories, and U.S. Citizens Abroad.
- GRADUATE/PROFESSIONAL
- A student seeking a graduate degree (Master’s, Education Specialist, Clinical Doctorate, or Ph.D.) or a special (non-degree seeking) student who is assessed graduate fees. A professional student is a UW-Madison student who is seeking a degree in law, medicine, pharmacy, or veterinary medicine.
- GRADUATE/PROFESSIONAL DEGREE
- See Master’s Degree and Professional Degree.
- HEADCOUNT
- The number of students attending a specific UW System institution or UW College. Students attending more than one UW institution or UW College are counted once at each institution or College that they are attending.
- INSTITUTION
- One of the UW comprehensive or doctoral campuses or the UW Colleges as a collective group.
- LEVEL
- A term describing a combination of classification and entrance status. Student levels include new freshmen, other undergraduates, graduate, and professional.
- MASTER'S DEGREE
- The award designating the completion of an academic program requiring at least one but not more than two years of full-time preparation beyond the bachelor's degree.
- NEW FRESHMAN / NEW STUDENT
- A degree-seeking undergraduate who enrolling for the first time in a UW System institution and is not transferring credits from any other institution. All new degree-seeking undergraduate students, whether or not they are freshmen by classification/credits, are categorized as new freshmen. On reports including both classification and entrance status, the sum of new freshmen, new sophomores, new juniors, and new seniors will equal the new freshman total on other reports.
- PROFESSIONAL DEGREE
- The award designating the completion of an academic program required for professional practice that includes at least two years of college-level work prior to entering the program.
- RACE/ETHNICITY
- A student's self-reported race/ethnicity at the time of registration. International students are classified as a group regardless of race/ethnicity.
- RECIPROCITY
- A student who is authorized for a tuition rate based on a reciprocity agreement. Most of these students participate through the reciprocity agreement with Minnesota; a few students participate through an agreement with Michigan.
- RE-ENTRY STUDENT
- A student who was enrolled at a particular institution, left for one or more terms, and then re-enrolled at the original institution.
- RE-ENTRY/TRANSFER STUDENT
- A student who had previously attended an institution, left for one or more semesters, and is returning to the same institution with transferable credits.
- RESIDENT STATUS
- A student's resident status for fee purposes (determined by the Registrar at each institution). A student is designated as a Wisconsin resident, a Minnesota or Michigan reciprocity student, or a non-resident. Students participating in tuition discount programs such as Return to Wisconsin, UW-Platteville’s Tri-State program, and the Midwest Student Exchange Program are included in the non-resident category.
- STATE-SUPPORTED COURSES
- State-supported courses are primarily those courses funded through State General Purpose Revenue (GPR) funds. Students enrolled in remedial courses are also included in state-supported headcounts but not in the state-supported FTE enrollments. Current practice excludes students enrolled in CAPP (College Advanced Placement Program) courses from state-supported headcounts and FTE enrollments. Current practice also excludes Wisconsin residents who are auditing courses either under the "Senior Audit" or OASDI (old age survivors and disability insurance benefits) programs.
- TRANSFER INSTITUTION
- The last institution attended by a transfer or re-entry/transfer student.
- TRANSFER STUDENT
- A transfer student is a student who previously earned credits at another institution.
- UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT
- A student who is enrolled in an associate or bachelor’s degree program or enrolled as a special (non-degree seeking) student assessed undergraduate fees.
- UW COLLEGES
- A designation for the thirteen UW System freshman/sophomore campuses and UW Colleges Online that grant Associate degrees and/or prepare students to transfer to four-year institutions.
- WISCONSIN COUNTY OF ORIGIN
- The county in which students from Wisconsin resided at the time of application.
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