Appendix A - Definitions

First Time in College (FTIC): A student attending any institution for the first time at the undergraduate level. Includes students enrolled in the fall term who attended college for the first time in the prior summer term. Also includes students who entered with advanced standing (college credits earned before graduation from high school).

IPEDS (Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System): IPEDS is the basic reporting series used by the Department of Education to collect higher education data.

Race/Ethnic Identification: The concept of race as used by the Equal Employment Commission does not denote clear-cut scientific definitions of anthropological origins. For the purposes of reporting, an employee or student may be included in the group to which he or she appears to belong, identifies with, or is regarded in the community as belonging.

American Indian or Alaska Native: A person having origins in any of the original peoples of North and South America (including Central America) who maintains cultural identification through tribal affiliation or community attachment.

Asian: A person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian Subcontinent, including, for example, Cambodia, China, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippine Islands, Thailand, and Vietnam.

Black or African American: A person having origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa.

Hispanic/Latino: A person of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin, regardless of race.

Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander: A person having origins in any of the original peoples of Hawaii, Guam, Samoa, or other Pacific Islands.

White: A person having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa.

Two or More Races: A person who does not self-identify as Hispanic/Latino and who reported two or more of the race categories listed above.

Nonresident alien: A person who is not a citizen or national of the United States and who is in this country on a visa or temporary basis and does not have the right to remain indefinitely.

Race and ethnicity unknown: The category used to report students or employees whose race and ethnicity are not known.