Key Terms to Create Your Future

• Academic adviser—A Mount Mary faculty or staff member who helps students with course selections, major requirements, declaring a major and to make sure you are aware of every opportunity available to you.
• Associate degree—A two-year degree from a community college, technical school or vocational program.
• Credit hours—The amount of classwork taken per semester.
• FAFSA—The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) that needs to be prepared annually by current and prospective students seeking additional financial aid.
• Financial aid—Grants, loans, scholarships and work study provided to students to help make a college education affordable.
• Grants—Money offered by Mount Mary, the state, the federal government or other organizations to help meet a student’s need—reward, merit or both—that does not need to be repaid.
• Graduate student—An individual who has completed a bachelor’s or four-year degree and is continuing toward a master’s or doctoral degree.
• Liberal arts—A selection of courses in the arts and humanities, social sciences, mathematics and sciences.
• Loans—Financial assistance that must be repaid over time once you graduate.
• Major—A collection of courses that give a student the core knowledge of a field of study, preparing you for a career in that topic or further education in graduate school.
• Minor—A secondary field of study or specialization.
• MyMountMary—An internal website for Mount Mary students, faculty, staff and alumnae. Prospective students can apply for admission or request more information, current students can register for courses and check grades, faculty can coordinate committee communication and alumnae can view giving history.
• Rolling admission—Mount Mary has a rolling admission process for undergraduate programs, which means there is no deadline for filing an application.
• Scholarship—A financial aid award from Mount Mary or another organization that doesn’t need to be repaid. It can be given for academic achievement, outstanding individual talents or other qualifications such as student need.
• Transfer student—A student who comes to Mount Mary from another college or university.
• Undergraduate student—A college student who has not received a bachelor’s or four-year degree.
• Work study—Part-time employment for undergraduate and graduate students to help with college expenses and is part of the financial aid package.