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IFAP
FSA Information for Financial Aid Professionals
U.S. Department of Education

Citations: (R)652.6
AsOfDate: 12/31/95

What definitions apply to this program?

The following definitions apply to terms used in this

part:

(a) Definitions in the Act. The following terms are

defined in sections 603(b)(5) and 602(d) of the Act:

Congressional district.
National Science Scholar (Scholar).

(b) Definitions in EDGAR. The following terms used in

this part are defined in 34 CFR 77.1:

Applicant.
Application.
Award.
Department.
Fiscal Year.
Private.
Secondary school.
Secretary.
State.

(c) Other definitions that apply to this part. The following

additional definitions apply to this part:

Academic year means--

(1) A period of time in which a full-time student is

expected to complete the equivalent of at least two semesters,
two trimesters, or three quarters, at an institution that measures
academic progress in credit hours and uses a semester,
trimester, or quarter system; or

(2) A period of time in which a full-time student is

expected to complete at least 24 semester hours or 36 quarter
hours at an institution that measures academic progress in credit
hours but does not use a semester, trimester, or quarter system.

Act means the Excellence in Mathematics, Science and

Engineering Education Act of 1990.

Award year means the period of time from July 1 of one

year through June 30 of the following year.

Computer sciences means the branch of knowledge or

study of computers. The term encompasses, but is not limited to,
such fields of knowledge or study as computer hardware,
computer software, computer engineering, information systems,
and robotics.

Director means the Director of the National Science

Foundation.

Engineering means the science by which the properties

of matter and the sources of energy in nature are made useful to
humanity in structures, machines and products as in the
construction of engines, bridges, buildings, mines, and chemical
plants. The term encompasses, but is not limited to, such fields
of knowledge or study as aeronautical engineering, chemical
engineering, civil engineering, electrical engineering, industrial
engineering, materials engineering, and mechanical engineering.

Full-time student means a student enrolled in an

institution of higher education, other than a correspondence
school, who is carrying a full-time academic workload as
determined by the institution under standards applicable to all
students enrolled in that student's educational program.

Institution of higher education (institution) means an

institution of higher education as defined in 34 CFR 600.4
(institutional eligibility regulations).

Life sciences means the branch of knowledge or study

of living things. The term encompasses, but is not limited to, such
fields of knowledge or study as biology, biochemistry, biophysics,
microbiology, genetics, physiology, botany, zoology, ecology, and
behavioral biology. This term does not encompass social
psychology or the health professions.

Mathematics means the branch of knowledge or study

of numbers and the systematic treatment of magnitude,
relationships between figures and forms, and relations between
quantities expressed symbolically. The term encompasses, but is
not limited to, such fields of knowledge or study as statistics,
applied mathematics, and operations research.

Physical sciences means the branch of knowledge or

study of the material universe. The term encompasses, but is not
limited to, such fields of knowledge or study as astronomy,
atmospheric sciences, chemistry, earth sciences, ocean sciences,
and physics.

Scholarship means an award made to an individual in

an award year under this part for one academic year.

Scholarship disciplines means the physical, life, and

computer sciences, mathematics, and engineering.

(Authority: 20 U.S.C 5381 to 5386)