Plain words for the terms you will meet

An AI model that is given a task, tools and limits, and works through the task step by step instead of answering one question.

Also called agent, agentic AI

Source Anthropic, building effective agents

AI

The trained software behind an AI tool. It produces text, code or an answer from the input it is given. An agent is a model plus a task, tools and limits.

Also called model, large language model, LLM

AI

A student information system for colleges, sold earlier under the names CampusVue and CampusNexus Student. Ellucian has owned the product since the end of 2025.

Also called Anthology Student, CampusNexus Student

Source Ellucian, welcome page for Anthology customers

Student systems

A set of rules that lets one piece of software ask another to read or change information, instead of a person using the screen. Integrations between systems usually go through an API.

Also called API, APIs, web service

Source MDN Web Docs, API

Integration and data

The 12-month period federal aid is awarded for, running from July 1 to June 30 of the next year. It differs from the calendar year and from many schools' own academic years.

Also called aid year, financial aid year

Source Federal Student Aid, financial aid dictionary

Federal financial aid

The name Campus Management Corp. gave its student and CRM software in 2014. CampusNexus Student is the same product line that is now called Anthology Student.

Also called CampusNexus Student

Source Campus Management Corp. press release, 2014

Student systems

The older name of the Campus Management Corp. student information system, in use before CampusNexus arrived in 2014. The same product line is now called Anthology Student.

Also called CampusVue Student

Source Campus Management Corp. press release, 2014

Student systems

The date a school takes its official count of who is enrolled in a term. Each school sets its own, so ask which date applies. Reports and some aid decisions use that count.

Also called census day, official enrollment date, official reporting date

Student systems

The Department of Education's system where schools send Pell Grant, TEACH Grant and Direct Loan awards and the disbursements made against them.

Also called COD, COD System

Source Federal Student Aid Partners, COD System

Federal financial aid

A school's estimate of the total cost for a student to attend for a year or other period, including tuition, fees, books, supplies, food and housing. It is not the amount of the bill.

Also called COA, student budget

Source Federal Student Aid, financial aid dictionary

Federal financial aid

Software that tracks contact with prospective students, such as inquiries, calls, emails and application status, so admissions staff can follow up. Some student systems include one; others connect to a separate product.

Also called CRM, recruiting system, constituent relationship management

Student systems

The moment a school stops using the old system and starts using the new one, or switches a changed process live. Teams usually plan it for a quiet period and rehearse it beforehand.

Also called go-live, go live, switchover

Integration and data

Moving data from one system to another, such as from an old student system to a new one. A careful migration is rehearsed on a copy, checked record by record and can be run again safely.

Also called migration, data conversion, conversion

Integration and data

Federal student loans made directly by the U.S. Department of Education to eligible students and parents. The types are Direct Subsidized, Direct Unsubsidized, Direct PLUS and Direct Consolidation Loans.

Also called Direct Loan Program, federal student loans, Stafford loans

Source Federal Student Aid, financial aid dictionary

Federal financial aid

The point at which aid is actually paid out: when the school credits the student's account or pays the student or parent directly. Federal rules limit how early it can happen.

Also called disburse, payout, payment of aid

Source 34 CFR 668.164, disbursing funds

Federal financial aid

A run that reports what would change and changes nothing, so people can review it first. Also called a check-only run.

Also called check-only run, check-only, what-if run

Source Microsoft Learn, the PowerShell WhatIf switch

Integration and data

A software company for colleges and universities. It sells its own student system, Ellucian Student, and has owned Anthology Student since it bought that business from Anthology at the end of 2025.

Source Ellucian, press release on completing the Anthology acquisition

Student systems

Where a student stands with the school for a term, such as full-time, half-time, less than half-time or not enrolled. Aid amounts, loan repayment and reports to the government depend on it.

Also called full-time, part-time, half-time, enrolled

Source 34 CFR 668.2, definitions (enrolled, full-time student, half-time student)

Student systems

A design where one system announces that something happened, such as a record being saved, and other systems react right away. The alternative is checking on a timer.

Also called event-driven architecture, events, near-live

Source Microsoft Learn, event-driven architecture style

Integration and data

A record, kept for each item a process touched, of what it was before, what it became and when. It lets staff and auditors check the work later, instead of relying on a summary that says it succeeded.

Also called audit trail, before-and-after record, receipts

Integration and data

The three steps of moving data in bulk: extract it from a source, transform it to fit the target by cleaning and reshaping it, then load it into the destination.

Also called ETL, data pipeline

Source Microsoft Learn, extract, transform and load

Integration and data

The federal law that protects the privacy of student education records. Once a student enters college, at any age, the rights to see the records and to control most disclosures belong to the student.

Also called FERPA, student privacy law, education records

Source U.S. Department of Education, Student Privacy Policy Office

Federal financial aid

A web-based tool in the Anthology Student family for designing and publishing forms for applicants, students and staff, and for running the workflow behind each form.

Also called Forms Builder

Source Anthology help center, Forms Builder

Student systems

The form a student completes to apply for federal student aid. The federal government sends the results to the schools the student lists, and those schools use them to decide aid.

Also called FAFSA, financial aid application

Source Federal Student Aid, FAFSA

Federal financial aid

A Federal Trade Commission rule that requires financial institutions to keep a written information security program. Colleges that take part in federal student aid must follow it for the customer information they hold, such as student and parent financial records.

Also called GLBA, Safeguards Rule, FTC Safeguards Rule

Source Federal Student Aid Handbook, record keeping, privacy and electronic processes

Federal financial aid

A rule built into the tooling that limits what an AI agent can do and is enforced automatically, for example by stopping a write command aimed at a live system before it runs. It does not rely on good behavior.

Also called hook, safety rule, enforced limit

AI

A standard questionnaire that technology vendors complete to document their security, privacy and accessibility practices, so a college can review one set of answers. EDUCAUSE publishes it.

Also called HECVAT, vendor security questionnaire

Source EDUCAUSE, HECVAT

Federal financial aid

Safe to run again. Running the process a second time changes nothing that is already right, so a run that stopped halfway can simply be started over.

Also called idempotency, re-runnable, safe to run twice

Source Microsoft Learn, designing Azure Functions for identical input

Integration and data

The electronic record the federal government sends a school after a student submits a FAFSA. It shows what the student reported, the Student Aid Index and the results of federal eligibility checks.

Also called ISIR, FAFSA output record

Source Federal Student Aid Handbook, chapter 1, from FAFSA to ISIR

Federal financial aid

The website where a course happens. Students find assignments, readings, discussions and grades there, and instructors run the course. It is a different system from the student information system, which keeps the official record.

Also called LMS, learning platform, course platform

Student systems

Software that sits between two systems and moves data from one to the other, translating formats and handling failures along the way. An integration service is a common example.

Also called integration layer, integration service

Integration and data

A standard for building REST APIs, with agreed ways to ask for data: filter it, sort it and pick the fields you want. Because the rules are shared, different tools can talk to the same service.

Also called OData, Open Data Protocol

Source Microsoft Learn, OData overview

Integration and data

Federal grant money for undergraduates from low-income households. Unlike a loan, it usually does not need to be repaid. The amount depends on factors such as the Student Aid Index and enrollment.

Also called Federal Pell Grant, Pell

Source Federal Student Aid, financial aid dictionary

Federal financial aid

The secure website where students, and often faculty and applicants, sign in to see their own information and do things like register, check grades, pay a bill or submit a form. It sits in front of the student system.

Also called student portal, self-service, web portal

Student systems

Microsoft's business analytics tool for turning data into dashboards and reports that people can explore and share. It reads from databases and files and can refresh on a schedule.

Also called PowerBI, dashboard, business intelligence

Source Microsoft Learn, what is Power BI

Integration and data

The course of study a student is enrolled in, such as a degree, diploma or certificate. Federal rules define an educational program as an organized course of study that leads to a credential.

Also called degree program, program of study, educational program

Source 34 CFR 600.2, definition of educational program

Student systems

A cap on how many requests a system accepts in a given time, so no single user or program overloads it. A program that goes over gets an error, often 429, and has to slow down and try again.

Also called throttling, 429, too many requests

Source MDN Web Docs, 429 Too Many Requests

Integration and data

A tool that can look at information, such as a record or a report, but cannot change it. Giving an agent only read tools on a live system keeps a person in charge of every change.

Also called read-only tool

AI

A sign-in that can look at data but cannot change it. Giving an automated tool or an AI agent only read-only credentials limits the damage a mistake can do on a live system.

Also called read-only access, read-only login, read-only account

Integration and data

The office, and the person who leads it, responsible for students' academic records: registration, grades, transcripts, enrollment verification and graduation checks.

Also called registrar's office, records office

Student systems

A common style for web APIs. A program asks for a resource at a web address using standard requests, such as GET to read and POST to create, and gets an answer back, usually as JSON.

Also called REST, REST API, RESTful

Source MDN Web Docs, REST

Integration and data

How long an AI provider keeps what you send it, such as prompts, files and results, and who can read it. Ask for the period in writing before any student data goes near an AI service.

Also called data retention, how long data is kept

AI

The calculation a school makes when a student who received federal aid withdraws. It works out how much of the aid the student earned and how much must go back to the government.

Also called R2T4, return to Title IV, withdrawal calculation

Source 34 CFR 668.22, treatment of Title IV funds when a student withdraws

Federal financial aid

A stamp stored with a record that changes each time the record is saved. With optimistic concurrency, you send back the stamp you read, and the save is refused if someone else changed the record in the meantime.

Also called row version, optimistic concurrency, version stamp, concurrency token

Source Microsoft Learn, handling concurrency conflicts

Integration and data

A separate area for trying things out, kept apart from live data. A vendor may offer one with made-up records so an integration can be built before it connects to a real school's system.

Also called sandbox environment, test sandbox

Integration and data

A school's policy for deciding whether a student is progressing toward a degree or certificate well enough to keep receiving federal aid. It looks at grades, the pace of credits completed and a maximum time frame.

Also called SAP, academic progress

Source 34 CFR 668.34, satisfactory academic progress

Federal financial aid

A task that runs by itself at set times, such as every night at 2 a.m. It is simple, but it can run late, overlap with itself or miss a change that happens between runs.

Also called batch job, nightly job, cron job, timer

Source Microsoft Learn, timer trigger for Azure Functions

Integration and data

A Microsoft tool that comes with SQL Server for building bulk data movement and transformation jobs, such as loading files into a database. It is often used for migrations and nightly loads.

Also called SSIS, Integration Services

Source Microsoft Learn, SQL Server Integration Services

Integration and data

Microsoft's report server for SQL Server. Developers design paginated reports, such as rosters and statements, and staff run them on demand or on a schedule.

Also called SSRS, Reporting Services, paginated report

Source Microsoft Learn, what is SQL Server Reporting Services

Integration and data

A number the government calculates from a student's FAFSA to help schools decide how much need-based aid to offer. It is not an amount the family must pay. It replaced the Expected Family Contribution for the 2024-25 award year.

Also called SAI, EFC, expected family contribution

Source Federal Student Aid, financial aid dictionary

Federal financial aid

The main system of record at a college. It holds students' enrollment, courses, grades and programs, and in many schools aid and billing too. Other systems, such as the learning platform, read from it.

Also called SIS, student records system, student system

Student systems

A block of time in which classes run, such as a semester, a quarter or a session. Registration, billing and grades attach to a term, and so do many aid calculations.

Also called semester, quarter, academic term, session

Student systems

A separate copy of a system used to try changes before they reach the live one. It should resemble production closely enough that a test result means something.

Also called test system, test copy, staging, UAT, non-production

Integration and data

A cloud-based student information system from Thesis, designed for small colleges and universities in the United States and Canada.

Source Thesis, Elements product page

Student systems

Title IV of the Higher Education Act is the law behind federal student aid, including Pell Grants and Direct Loans. A school that takes part must follow federal rules for how it awards, pays and reports that aid.

Also called Title IV HEA programs, federal financial aid, federal student aid

Source 34 CFR 668.1, the Title IV programs

Federal financial aid

A function an AI agent is allowed to call to do something beyond writing text, such as searching documents, running a query or reading a record. The tools an agent is given set what it can do.

Also called tool use, function calling

Source Claude Platform Docs, tool use

AI

The material a model learned from. When a provider trains on your data, what you send it can shape future versions of the model. For student records, ask for terms that bar that.

Also called training on your data, model training

AI

The official record of a student's courses, grades and credits at a school. Schools send it to other schools and employers, usually when the student asks. It comes from the student information system.

Also called academic transcript, official transcript

Student systems

A check a school makes that the information on a student's FAFSA is accurate, usually by collecting documents. The government selects which applications to verify, and a school may verify others.

Also called FAFSA verification, verification of FAFSA information

Source Federal Student Aid Handbook, verification, updates and corrections

Federal financial aid

A second AI agent whose only job is to check the first agent's work against the source systems, record by record, and write down what it finds. It is separate from the agent that did the work.

Also called verifier, second agent, independent check

AI

A message one system sends to a web address you provide when something happens, such as a form being submitted. The receiving system does not have to keep asking whether anything changed.

Also called web hook, callback, HTTP callback

Source Microsoft Learn, webhook event delivery

Integration and data

A tool in the Anthology Student family for building automated workflows. A workflow is a set of steps that starts when something happens in the system, such as a saved record, or on a schedule.

Also called Anthology Student Workflow Composer, workflows

Source Anthology help center, Workflow Composer

Student systems