Online Learning Glossary — Every Term and Acronym You'll Encounter
Online education has its own vocabulary, and if you're new to it, the acronyms alone can be overwhelming. Here's a reference guide to the terms you'll see on this forum and throughout your research. Bookmark this — you'll come back to it.
Accreditation terms
Regional accreditation — the traditional gold-standard category of US institutional accreditation, awarded by bodies like HLC, SACSCOC, MSCHE, NWCCU, NECHE, and WSCUC. Now officially called "institutional accreditation" but still widely referred to as "regional." This is what you want your school to have.
National accreditation — a separate category historically associated with vocational, religious, and for-profit schools. Credits from nationally accredited schools often don't transfer to regionally accredited ones. Not inherently bad, but understand the limitations.
Programmatic accreditation — accreditation of a specific programme within a school (e.g., AACSB for business, ABET for engineering, CCNE for nursing) rather than the institution as a whole. Important in fields with professional licensing requirements.
CHEA — Council for Higher Education Accreditation. The body that recognises accrediting organisations in the US. If an accreditor isn't recognised by CHEA or the US Department of Education, it's not legitimate.
Diploma mill — a fraudulent institution that sells degrees with little or no genuine academic work required. Usually unaccredited or "accredited" by a fake accrediting body.
Degree and credit terms
Credit hour — the standard unit of academic measurement. One credit hour traditionally represents one hour of classroom instruction plus two hours of outside study per week over a semester. A typical bachelor's degree requires 120 credit hours.
Semester — a roughly fifteen-to-eighteen-week academic term. Most traditional schools use a two-semester system (autumn and spring) plus an optional summer term.
Quarter — a roughly ten-week academic term. Some schools use a quarter system with three main terms plus summer.
Term — a generic word for any academic period. Some online schools use non-standard term lengths (WGU uses six-month terms, some schools use eight-week terms).
GPA — Grade Point Average. Calculated on a 4.0 scale in the US. A is 4.0, B is 3.0, C is 2.0, D is 1.0, F is 0.0.
Prerequisite — a course you must complete before you're allowed to take a more advanced course. Often abbreviated "prereq."
Corequisite — a course that must be taken at the same time as another course.
Elective — a course you choose freely to fulfil credit requirements, as opposed to a required course in your major or general education.
General education (gen ed) — foundational courses required of all students regardless of major: English composition, mathematics, natural sciences, social sciences, humanities. Typically 30–45 credits of a bachelor's degree.
Major — your primary field of study. Also called "concentration" or "specialisation" at some schools.
Minor — a secondary field of study requiring fewer courses than a major. Not offered by all online programmes.
Capstone — a culminating project or course near the end of a degree programme, designed to demonstrate comprehensive learning. Common in online programmes as an alternative to a traditional thesis.
Online learning terms
Asynchronous — coursework you complete on your own schedule within deadlines, with no requirement to be online at specific times. Most online programmes are primarily asynchronous.
Synchronous — real-time instruction or interaction: live video lectures, virtual class meetings, or webinars that you must attend at scheduled times. Some programmes mix synchronous and asynchronous elements.
LMS (Learning Management System) — the platform where your courses live. Common ones include Canvas, Blackboard, Brightspace (D2L), and Moodle. This is where you access lectures, submit assignments, participate in discussions, and check grades.
Competency-based education (CBE) — a model where you advance by demonstrating mastery of specific skills or knowledge areas rather than by completing courses over a set time period. WGU is the most prominent CBE institution. You can accelerate through material you already know and spend more time on material that's new.
Self-paced — you control the speed at which you move through material, within broad deadlines (usually a term). Related to but not identical with CBE — some self-paced programmes are not competency-based.
Proctored exam — a test taken under supervision to verify your identity and prevent cheating. Online proctoring services (ProctorU, Proctorio, Honorlock, Respondus) monitor you through your webcam. Some programmes use in-person proctoring at testing centres instead.
Discussion board/forum — an online area within a course where students post responses to prompts and reply to classmates. Often graded as participation.
Hybrid/blended — a programme that mixes online and in-person components. Not the same as fully online.
OER (Open Educational Resources) — free educational materials (textbooks, videos, courseware) that anyone can use. Increasingly adopted by online programmes to reduce textbook costs.
Financial terms
FAFSA — Free Application for Federal Student Aid. The form you fill out to access federal financial aid in the US. Required annually.
SAI (Student Aid Index) — the number calculated from your FAFSA that determines your financial need. Replaced the older EFC (Expected Family Contribution) system.
Pell Grant — federal grant money for undergraduate students with financial need. Does not need to be repaid.
Direct Subsidised Loan — a federal loan where the government pays the interest while you're enrolled at least half-time.
Direct Unsubsidised Loan — a federal loan where interest accrues from the day the loan is disbursed, regardless of enrolment status.
PLUS Loan — a federal loan for graduate students or parents of undergraduate students. Higher borrowing limits but higher interest rates.
Title IV — the section of the Higher Education Act that governs federal student aid programmes. When someone asks "is this school Title IV eligible?" they're asking whether its students can receive federal financial aid.
COA (Cost of Attendance) — the total estimated cost of attending a school for one year, including tuition, fees, books, housing, food, and personal expenses. Used to calculate financial aid eligibility.
Net price — what you actually pay after grants and scholarships are subtracted from COA. This is the number that matters when comparing schools.
Credit-by-exam and alternative credit terms
CLEP — College-Level Examination Program. Exams that earn you college credit for roughly ninety-five dollars each if you pass.
DSST — similar to CLEP but with different subject coverage. Formerly called DANTES.
ACE (American Council on Education) — an organisation that evaluates non-college learning experiences (corporate training, military courses, MOOCs, alternative providers) and recommends college credit equivalencies. If a course is "ACE-recommended," schools that accept ACE credit should recognise it.
PLA (Prior Learning Assessment) — a process where schools evaluate your work experience, professional training, or self-directed learning and award credit based on demonstrated competence.
Transfer credit — credit earned at one institution and accepted by another toward a different degree programme.
Articulation agreement — a formal agreement between two schools that specifies exactly which credits transfer and how they map to the receiving school's requirements. Having an articulation agreement between your current school and your target school makes transfer much smoother.
Common school abbreviations you'll see on this forum
WGU — Western Governors University. SNHU — Southern New Hampshire University. ASU — Arizona State University. UMGC — University of Maryland Global Campus. PSWC — Penn State World Campus. OSU Ecampus — Oregon State University Ecampus. PG — Purdue Global. TESU — Thomas Edison State University. UF — University of Florida. Liberty — Liberty University.
If you encounter a term on this forum or elsewhere that isn't listed here, post below and we'll add it. This is a living document and we'll update it as needed.
Online education has its own vocabulary, and if you're new to it, the acronyms alone can be overwhelming. Here's a reference guide to the terms you'll see on this forum and throughout your research. Bookmark this — you'll come back to it.
Accreditation terms
Regional accreditation — the traditional gold-standard category of US institutional accreditation, awarded by bodies like HLC, SACSCOC, MSCHE, NWCCU, NECHE, and WSCUC. Now officially called "institutional accreditation" but still widely referred to as "regional." This is what you want your school to have.
National accreditation — a separate category historically associated with vocational, religious, and for-profit schools. Credits from nationally accredited schools often don't transfer to regionally accredited ones. Not inherently bad, but understand the limitations.
Programmatic accreditation — accreditation of a specific programme within a school (e.g., AACSB for business, ABET for engineering, CCNE for nursing) rather than the institution as a whole. Important in fields with professional licensing requirements.
CHEA — Council for Higher Education Accreditation. The body that recognises accrediting organisations in the US. If an accreditor isn't recognised by CHEA or the US Department of Education, it's not legitimate.
Diploma mill — a fraudulent institution that sells degrees with little or no genuine academic work required. Usually unaccredited or "accredited" by a fake accrediting body.
Degree and credit terms
Credit hour — the standard unit of academic measurement. One credit hour traditionally represents one hour of classroom instruction plus two hours of outside study per week over a semester. A typical bachelor's degree requires 120 credit hours.
Semester — a roughly fifteen-to-eighteen-week academic term. Most traditional schools use a two-semester system (autumn and spring) plus an optional summer term.
Quarter — a roughly ten-week academic term. Some schools use a quarter system with three main terms plus summer.
Term — a generic word for any academic period. Some online schools use non-standard term lengths (WGU uses six-month terms, some schools use eight-week terms).
GPA — Grade Point Average. Calculated on a 4.0 scale in the US. A is 4.0, B is 3.0, C is 2.0, D is 1.0, F is 0.0.
Prerequisite — a course you must complete before you're allowed to take a more advanced course. Often abbreviated "prereq."
Corequisite — a course that must be taken at the same time as another course.
Elective — a course you choose freely to fulfil credit requirements, as opposed to a required course in your major or general education.
General education (gen ed) — foundational courses required of all students regardless of major: English composition, mathematics, natural sciences, social sciences, humanities. Typically 30–45 credits of a bachelor's degree.
Major — your primary field of study. Also called "concentration" or "specialisation" at some schools.
Minor — a secondary field of study requiring fewer courses than a major. Not offered by all online programmes.
Capstone — a culminating project or course near the end of a degree programme, designed to demonstrate comprehensive learning. Common in online programmes as an alternative to a traditional thesis.
Online learning terms
Asynchronous — coursework you complete on your own schedule within deadlines, with no requirement to be online at specific times. Most online programmes are primarily asynchronous.
Synchronous — real-time instruction or interaction: live video lectures, virtual class meetings, or webinars that you must attend at scheduled times. Some programmes mix synchronous and asynchronous elements.
LMS (Learning Management System) — the platform where your courses live. Common ones include Canvas, Blackboard, Brightspace (D2L), and Moodle. This is where you access lectures, submit assignments, participate in discussions, and check grades.
Competency-based education (CBE) — a model where you advance by demonstrating mastery of specific skills or knowledge areas rather than by completing courses over a set time period. WGU is the most prominent CBE institution. You can accelerate through material you already know and spend more time on material that's new.
Self-paced — you control the speed at which you move through material, within broad deadlines (usually a term). Related to but not identical with CBE — some self-paced programmes are not competency-based.
Proctored exam — a test taken under supervision to verify your identity and prevent cheating. Online proctoring services (ProctorU, Proctorio, Honorlock, Respondus) monitor you through your webcam. Some programmes use in-person proctoring at testing centres instead.
Discussion board/forum — an online area within a course where students post responses to prompts and reply to classmates. Often graded as participation.
Hybrid/blended — a programme that mixes online and in-person components. Not the same as fully online.
OER (Open Educational Resources) — free educational materials (textbooks, videos, courseware) that anyone can use. Increasingly adopted by online programmes to reduce textbook costs.
Financial terms
FAFSA — Free Application for Federal Student Aid. The form you fill out to access federal financial aid in the US. Required annually.
SAI (Student Aid Index) — the number calculated from your FAFSA that determines your financial need. Replaced the older EFC (Expected Family Contribution) system.
Pell Grant — federal grant money for undergraduate students with financial need. Does not need to be repaid.
Direct Subsidised Loan — a federal loan where the government pays the interest while you're enrolled at least half-time.
Direct Unsubsidised Loan — a federal loan where interest accrues from the day the loan is disbursed, regardless of enrolment status.
PLUS Loan — a federal loan for graduate students or parents of undergraduate students. Higher borrowing limits but higher interest rates.
Title IV — the section of the Higher Education Act that governs federal student aid programmes. When someone asks "is this school Title IV eligible?" they're asking whether its students can receive federal financial aid.
COA (Cost of Attendance) — the total estimated cost of attending a school for one year, including tuition, fees, books, housing, food, and personal expenses. Used to calculate financial aid eligibility.
Net price — what you actually pay after grants and scholarships are subtracted from COA. This is the number that matters when comparing schools.
Credit-by-exam and alternative credit terms
CLEP — College-Level Examination Program. Exams that earn you college credit for roughly ninety-five dollars each if you pass.
DSST — similar to CLEP but with different subject coverage. Formerly called DANTES.
ACE (American Council on Education) — an organisation that evaluates non-college learning experiences (corporate training, military courses, MOOCs, alternative providers) and recommends college credit equivalencies. If a course is "ACE-recommended," schools that accept ACE credit should recognise it.
PLA (Prior Learning Assessment) — a process where schools evaluate your work experience, professional training, or self-directed learning and award credit based on demonstrated competence.
Transfer credit — credit earned at one institution and accepted by another toward a different degree programme.
Articulation agreement — a formal agreement between two schools that specifies exactly which credits transfer and how they map to the receiving school's requirements. Having an articulation agreement between your current school and your target school makes transfer much smoother.
Common school abbreviations you'll see on this forum
WGU — Western Governors University. SNHU — Southern New Hampshire University. ASU — Arizona State University. UMGC — University of Maryland Global Campus. PSWC — Penn State World Campus. OSU Ecampus — Oregon State University Ecampus. PG — Purdue Global. TESU — Thomas Edison State University. UF — University of Florida. Liberty — Liberty University.
If you encounter a term on this forum or elsewhere that isn't listed here, post below and we'll add it. This is a living document and we'll update it as needed.