Understanding Registration Terminology at EFSC

Before you register for courses at Eastern Florida State College, you should be familiar with some of the terminology that you will encounter throughout the registration process. Check the glossary below for definitions you will need to understand in order to register successfully. The alphabetical quick links can speed up your search for a term.

A | B | C | D | E | F | H | L | M | O | P | S | T | W

Academic year: The school year that begins with fall classes. The academic year at most U.S. colleges and universities starts in August or September.

Accreditation: Certification by an official review board that confirms specific requirements have been met. Eastern Florida State College is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) to award baccalaureate and associate degrees, as well as specialized certificate programs.

Advisor: School official who can help choose your classes and make sure you are taking the right courses to graduate. EFSC advisors see students by appointment or on a walk in basis.

Application/Acceptance/Admission: Application is the process by which a prospective student submits the required forms and credentials to his/her chosen institution. Application criteria may include one or more of the following: previous academic records, test scores, proof of high school graduation and other information provided by the applicant. You must be an active, admitted student to register for classes.

Associate in Arts Degree: Associate in Arts degrees are conferred upon students who successfully complete programs designed for transfer to a senior college. The Associate Degree requires completion of a minimum of 60 credit hours with a cumulative GPA of 2.0 (a "C" average).

Associate in Science Degree: Two-year technical A.S. degree that contains within it 15-18 credit hours of transferable general education.

Audit: A student who does not want to receive credit in a course may audit the course. Fees for the course are the same as students earning credit. Student must meet the prerequisites for the course, and must apply to audit by the date published in the academic calendar. A student who audits a course may not ask or petition the institution at a later date to obtain college credit for the audited course. An audited class will appear permanently on the transcript with a grade of “AU.”

Bachelor of Applied Science (BAS): A four-year degree designed to accommodate the unique demands for entry and advancement within specific workforce sectors.

Billing Hours: The credit value used in fee calculation.

Bookstore: All EFSC campuses have bookstores. It will generally stock all the books and other materials required in all the courses offered at the institution as well as providing basic sundries and clothing items.

Catalog: College catalogs provide all types of information parents and students need to know about a school. It lists, for example: the institution's history and philosophy, policies and procedures, its accreditation status, courses of study, degrees and certificates offered, physical facilities, admission and enrollment procedures, financial aid, student life activities, etc.

College Credit Certificate: Short-term career education program which is part of an AS or AAS degree.

Course Reference Number (CRN): Course reference number is the unique 5-digit number that identifies a course. You will need the course CRN to register online.

Credit Hours: Courses taken in college are measured in terms of credit hours. To earn one credit hour, a student must attend a class for one classroom hour (usually 50 minutes) per week for the whole semester (usually 16 weeks). Classes are offered in 1 - 5 credit hour increments, and sometimes larger amounts.

Drop and Add: Students may drop courses from their class schedules and/or add other courses through the date published in the academic calendar.

Enrollment: Once a student registers for classes, he or she is considered enrolled.

Full-time/Part-time credit load: For academic purposes, 12 credit hours are considered a full-time load and 6 credit hours are considered a half-time load. To complete a degree program within two years, you should average 15 credit hours per semester. The college limits semester enrollment to 18 credits or less. To enroll in 19 credits or more, you must get permission from an advisor.

Fees: Fees are additional charges not included in the tuition. Fees may be charged to cover the cost of materials and equipment needed in certain courses.

Family Educational Act and Privacy Act (FERPA): The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) is a federal law that affords parents the right to have access to their children’s education records, the right to seek to have the records amended, and the right to have some control over the disclosure of personally identifiable information from the education records. However, when a student turns 18 years old, or enters a postsecondary institution at any age, the rights under FERPA transfer from the parents to the student (“eligible student”). The FERPA statute is found at 20 U.S.C. § 1232g and the FERPA regulations are found at 34 CFR Part 99. EFSC will not release educational record information to anyone other than the student without the student’s written authorization.

Final Exams (Finals): These exams are usually given during the last week of classes each semester. The type of final administered in a course is left to the discretion of the instructor. Final exams are given on specified dates that may be different than the regular class time, and are usually listed in each semester’s class schedule.

Financial Aid: Aid is made available from grants, scholarships, loans, and part-time employment from federal, state, institutional, and private sources. Awards from these programs may be combined in an "award package" to meet the cost of education. The types and amounts of aid awarded are determined by financial need, available funds, student classification, academic performance and sometimes the timeliness of application. The first step is to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) because it is filed with the US Department of Education, and then submit all required documents to the EFSC financial aid office by the published deadlines.

First-Time-in-College: A student attending college for the first time with no credit toward a degree or formal award from any other institution who is enrolled in a course in an instructional area that leads to a degree or certificate.

FloridaShines.org: Florida's student hub of innovative educational services makes it easy for students to learn about degrees, register for an online course, get an unofficial transcript or check out a book from any of Florida’s 40 state college or university libraries.

Hybrid Class: A course that meets both on campus and online. Typically, your hybrid course will meet 50 percent of the time in the classroom and 50 percent online. For example, 50 percent of the "meeting hours"* of a hybrid will meet in class on one of the days of a Tuesday/Thursday or Monday/Wednesday weekly class schedule.

*"Meeting Hours" refers to the in-class meeting time that roughly corresponds to course credits.
Example: A 3 credit course = 3 contact hours of class time, required per week. A "regular" class will meet in the classroom Tuesday/Thursday, 8:00 a.m. – 9:15 a.m., but a "hybrid" class will meet in the classroom Tuesday, 8:00 a.m. – 9:15 a.m. and there will be online assignments in which students will work with other students in place of meeting on Thursday. These assignments are class, not homework. You will also have homework.

Late Fee: A non-refundable late registration fee will be assessed to all students registering in a term after the first published fee due date. Students will be assessed a one-time, per semester, $50.00 late registration fee for initial registration or adding courses during this time.

Limited Access Program: A Florida College System program or university upper-division program in which student enrollment is limited due to space, equipment, faculty limitations or other limitations.

Major: A major is a student’s chosen field of study. It usually requires the successful completion of a specified number of credit hours.

MyEFSC: The myEFSC Student Service Portal provides Eastern Florida State College students, faculty and staff with a personalized portal to information and applications from one centralized login location. This is accessed from the home page of the website: click on EFSC Logins, then myEFSC.

MyGPS: This is EFSC’s comprehensive academic advising, transfer articulation and degree audit system that helps students track their degree progress and graduate on time. Access through the myEFSC portal.

Online classes: Courses students take by computer instead of in a traditional classroom.

Orientation: Orientation is a required program for new students that serves as a formal introduction to all that EFSC has to offer. Orientation leaders provide information on academics, opportunities for involvement, campus resources and answer questions.

Parking Permits (Decals): All vehicles operated by students in connection with attendance at Eastern Florida State College MUST display a valid and current parking permit. Student permits expire each June 30 and a new one must be purchased effective July 1. Parking permits give the registered holders the privilege of parking on campus but do not guarantee the holder a desired parking space. The inability to find a desired parking space is not considered a valid excuse for violation of any parking regulation. Parking permits are to be displayed and affixed to the left (driver’s side) rear bumper OR the outside, left (driver’s side) rear window of the vehicle. PARKING PERMITS ARE NON-REFUNDABLE AND NON-TRANSFERABLE from one vehicle to another.

Part of Term: A Part of Term course is offered for part of a full term and has different add/drop dates. Course requirements are the same. Examples of a part of term are minimester A, summer B, 12 week session 1, etc. Parts of term can be viewed on the College's Academic Calendar.

Password: This is the password used to authenticate a user logging in to EFSC online systems. When you are accepted to EFSC and receive your acceptance email/letter, your password is set to your birthdate followed by "-Efsc", initially, for example MMDDYY-Efsc. When you first log in you will be forced to change your password. Passwords must be a minimum of 8 characters in length and composed of letters, numbers and special characters.  You will need your Password and Student ID number to access online resources.

Postsecondary Adult Vocational Program (PSAV): Job preparatory programs, excluding Continuing Workforce Education, through which a student receives a vocational certificate upon completion of instruction. Courses in these programs are taught in “clock hours.”

Prerequisite: Sometimes courses require students to have a certain level of knowledge before registering. For example, you must take ENC 1101 Composition 1 before you can register for ENC 1102 Composition 2. Thus, ENC 1101 is the prerequisite for ENC 1102.

Scholarship: A form of financial aid that you do not have to repay.

Sections: The same course, ACG 2021 for instance, may be listed several times and identified as ACG 2021 01C, ACG 2021 70C, and so forth. Each “section” covers the same material in general but the instructors, times and even the textbook can be different. For this reason it is recommended that students must register in one section and stay in that section for the duration of the course.

Semester: Type of academic term. EFSC has a fall semester and a spring semester (each about 16 weeks long), along with a summer term.

Student ID Card: All students should get a student ID card when they first register at the college. It includes a photograph of the student, a student number (ID number), the student’s name and the name of the college. The card is often required for admittance to functions sponsored by the college or for identification when requesting your records, or for other purposes such as receiving student discounts.

Student Identification Number: EFSC uses a nine-digit identification number to identify your permanent records, such as the transcript, registration, grade reports, enrollment certifications, student accounts, etc. This is known as the student ID number. The number begins with the letter “B” followed by 8 numbers. The college does not disclose the student's ID number to individuals or agencies. Students must use their student ID and Password to access EFSC online resources.

Syllabus: An outline of the important information about a course. Written by the professor or instructor, it usually includes important dates, assignments, expectations and policies specific to that course.

Term: The length of time that you take a college class. This is used interchangeably with Semester.

Textbooks: Books required of students enrolled in college classes. Professors notify students which books they must purchase (and sometimes additional, optional textbooks) at the beginning of each semester/class. Students can purchase new or used textbooks, or rent textbooks.

Transcript: The transcript is a permanent academic record of a student at college. It may show courses taken, grades received, academic status and honors received. Transcripts are not released by the college if the student owes any money to the college.

Transfer of Credits: Some students attend more than one institution during their college career. When they move or transfer from one college to another, they also transfer accumulated credit hours from the former institution to the new one. The new institution determines which courses will apply toward graduation requirements. Students will receive an email once their transfer work has been evaluated, and should check myGPS to see credit awarded.

Tuition: Tuition is the amount paid for each credit hour of enrollment. Tuition does not include the cost of books or fees. Tuition charges vary and are dependent on such factors as resident/out-of-state status or level of classes enrolled in (for example college credit, clock hour, developmental, or BAS.)

Withdrawal: Students may withdraw from courses during a semester, but there are established procedures and deadlines for doing so. The college catalog and/or College website specifies the procedures. Written approval from a college official may be needed, and some fees must be paid.