GLOSSARY OF TERMS
- Academic and Technical Studies Scholarship Selection Committee (ATSSSC) is the committee which reviews and evaluates the OAS Scholarship applications of the pre-selected candidates presented by the National Commissions.
- Applicant is an individual who applies for an OAS scholarship
- Application, application form, OAS Scholarship Application Form refer to the form to be used by applicants in seeking an OAS Scholarship
- Awardee or OAS Scholarship Awardee is a Selected Candidate who has been awarded an OAS scholarship;
- Bachelor’s degree or First Degree refers to a post-secondary formal degree program which can run from 3 – 6 years resulting in a first degree
- Cap per scholarship – is the maximum total monetary amount set for any individual OAS scholarship that may be awarded by the OAS in any given academic year.
- Certificate, Professional Certificate, Specialized Professional Certificate – See “Minor Professions degree
- Class Rank – The position of a student in his or her graduating class, expressed as the placement of the student out of the total number of students in the graduating class.
- Consortium of Universities and other educational institutions – is a group of participating higher education institutions and other educational institutions which have signed agreements with the GS/;OAS for the mutual benefit of the universities and other educational institutions of the OAS.
- GMAT ( Graduate Management Admissions Test) - required for applicants to graduate business or management programs in the United States
- Grade Point Average (GPA) - The average grade earned by a student, figured by dividing the grade points earned by the number of credits. (See Maximum Grade Point Average)
- Grantee – same as “recipient”
- GRE (Graduate Record Exam) - commonly required of applicants to graduate schools in fields other than business, law, and medicine in the United States.
- Host country - refers to the country where the Recipient will pursue his/her studies, will conduct research and receive practical training, as applicable;
- Maximum Grade Point Average - is the highest grade point average that the host institution awards. For example, a student GPA might be 3.4 out of 4.0.
- National Liaison Office (ONE) - is the official channel determined by each Member State government for the processing of OAS Scholarships.
- National Commission – is the entity chosen by a member state government to review the completed application of OAS scholarship applicants who meet eligibility requirements and rank them in accordance with the criteria established in the Manual of Procedures.
- Native Languages - a person is defined as a native speaker of the first language he/she learns, although one may also be a native speaker of more than one language if all of the languages were learned without formal education, such as through cultural immersion before puberty
- OAS-Placed Scholarship - refers to an Academic or Technical Studies Scholarship where the OAS General Secretariat on its own or through an agent, negotiates placement of the OAS scholarship awardee at a university or other educational institution preferably within the OAS Consortium of Universities or other educational institutions
- OAS website - refers to the internet home page of the Department of Human Development, Education and Culture of the Organization of American States (http://www.educoas.org/portal/)
- Permanent Resident - Any person not a citizen of the United States who is residing in the US under legally recognized and lawfully recorded permanent residence as an immigrant or a person lawfully in the country as an immigrant but who is not yet a citizen.
- Pre-selected Candidate - is an applicant who has been selected for consideration by the National Commission and presented by the sponsoring Member State to be considered for an OAS scholarship.
- Recipient - is an awardee who has accepted the OAS scholarship awarded to him/her
- Scholarship – refers to a study grant
- Selected Candidate – is a candidate elected by the Academic and Technical Studies Scholarship Selection Committee or by the Ad-Hoc Professional Development Selection Committee, as the case may be
- Self-Placed Scholarship - refers to an OAS Academic Studies or Technical Studies Scholarship where the applicant applies directly for admission to a university or educational institution of his/her choice and applies separately for an OAS scholarship through the competent national institution in his/her sponsoring member country
- Special Caribbean Fellowships (SPECAF) – refers to scholarships granted to eligible persons for completion of the last two years of university study for a first or college degree
- Sponsoring country or sponsoring member state - refers to the OAS member state that endorses the pre-selected candidate
- TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) - language proficiency exam often required of applicants to U.S. universities
Questions may be sent to the Department of Human Development, Education and Culture - Academic Scholarships Unit Scholarships@oas.org.
Please indicate in your e-mail if your question relates to the graduate or the undergraduate scholarship program.