Page 78 - 2020 Statistical Abstract

Degree/Certificate-Seeking Students – Students enrolled in courses for credit who are recognized by the institution as seeking a degree or other

formal award. At the undergraduate level, this classification is intended to include students enrolled in vocational or occupational programs.

Diploma – A formal document certifying the successful completion of a prescribed program of study.

Doctor's Degree - Professional Practice – A doctor's degree that is conferred upon completion of a program providing the knowledge and skills
for the recognition, credential, or license required for professional practice. The degree is awarded after a period of study such that the total

time to the degree, including both pre-professional and professional preparation, equals at least six full-time equivalent academic years.
Some of these degrees were formerly classified as “first-professional” and may include: Chiropractic (D.C. or D.C.M.); Dentistry (D.D.S. or

D.M.D.); Law (L.L.B. or J.D.); Medicine (M.D.); Optometry (O.D.); Osteopathic Medicine (D.O); Pharmacy (Pharm.D.); Podiatry (D.P.M.,
Pod.D., D.P.); or, Veterinary Medicine (D.V.M.), and others, as designated by the awarding institution.

Doctor's Degree - Research/Scholarship – A Ph.D. or other doctor's degree that requires advanced work beyond the master’s level, including the
preparation and defense of a dissertation based on original research, or the planning and execution of an original project demonstrating

substantial artistic or scholarly achievement. Some examples of this type of degree may include Education Doctorate (Ed.D.), Doctor of
Musical Arts (D.M.A.), Doctor of Business Administration (D.B.A.), Doctor of Science (D.Sc.), Doctor of Arts (D.A.), or Doctor of Management
(D.M.), and others, as designated by the awarding institution.

Fiscal Year (FY) – The fiscal year as measured by the CHE aligns with the State of South Carolina’s fiscal year which starts on July 1 and runs to
st
th
June 30 of the following year. Degrees awarded during the 2018-19 fiscal year include any completions reported to the CHE for August
2018 to June 2019; this corresponds to the following academic semesters: Summer II 2018, Fall 2018, Spring 2019, Summer I 2019.

Gender – The CHE collects gender information on all enrolled students and faculty following the federal Integrated Postsecondary Education Data
System (IPEDS) policy which currently does not distinguish between sex and gender and requires institutions to report gender as either
female or male. Institutions are allowed to determine the method for reporting individuals as male or female when gender is unknown or self-

report as neither female nor male.

Hispanic/Latino – A person of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Central or South American, or other Spanish culture of origin, regardless of race.
This category is mutually exclusive with the race categories. CHE methodology does not permit the reporting of these students under
additional race categories.

69