Admission and Aid Terms

Common terms in the admission and financial aid process

Common Application: Common App for short, a secure online portal where you can apply to nearly 900 four-year colleges in the United States and around the world. Linfield is one of them.

Cost of attendance (COA): The average costs – both direct and indirect – for educational expenses during an academic year. Tuition and fees are examples of direct costs while books and supplies are examples of indirect costs.

Entrance counseling: A mandatory information session, which takes place before you receive your first federal student loan. Entrance counseling explains your responsibilities and rights as a student borrower.

Exchange student: A student who lives outside of their country who is staying on campus for a semester or a full academic year.

Federal student loan: Money that is borrowed from the federal government and must be repaid with interest. Repayment begins soon after a student is no longer enrolled in at least six credits.

FAFSA®: Free Application for Federal Student Aid. Completing this form allows a student to apply for financial aid at any institution of higher education.

Grant: Need-based financial aid that does not have to be repaid. These funds can come from many sources – the federal government, the State of Oregon and/or the university.

International student: A student from one country who attends university in another country with the intention to earn a degree.

Matriculation: The official word for entering a college.

Matriculation fee: Upon deciding to enroll in a college, this fee secures your spot.

Master Promissory Note (MPN): A binding legal document that you must sign when you get a federal student loan. It lists the terms and conditions under which you agree to repay the loan and explains your rights and responsibilities as a borrower.

Prerequisites: Courses and/or credits that are required before enrolling in a particular program or class.

Scholarship: Financial aid that does not have to be repaid. Scholarships can be awarded based on merit and others may be offered based on financial need.

Student employment: Students may be awarded Federal-Work Study or Campus Employment funds. These funds do not impact student bills as they are paid to the student if they work on campus. Accepting this offer on your financial aid package does not obligate you to work on campus, it only provides you the opportunity to work if/when you find employment.

Transfer student: A student who, after graduating high school attends one college and then moves to a different college. Transfer students may move between two-year (or community) colleges, between four-year colleges/universities, from a two-year to a four-year college, or from a four-year to a two-year college.

Verification: A process where Linfield University is required, per federal law, to verify the accuracy of information on a student’s Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®). Students who receive a verification worksheet in their award folder must complete it and return to Linfield’s Office of Financial Aid.