Appendix

Appendix A: Peer Groups

The University of Michigan uses several groups of similar institutions of higher education for purposes of comparison. Here are descriptions and member lists of three peer groups referenced in the Michigan Almanac. Private institutions are shown in italics.

 

1) Official Peers (list developed by U-M officials)

 

2) Association of American Universities (AAU) is a nonprofit association of the leading public and private research universities in the U.S. and Canada, listed with the year the school became a member in parenthesis. The Association of American Universities Data Exchange (AAUDE), a constituent group of the AAU, is comprised of the institutional research officers from each university as well as several non-AAU universities.

Canadian university AAU members (not included in comparison groups in this publication)

• McGill University (1926)
• University of Toronto (1926)

Non-AAU affiliates of AAUDE

• Syracuse University
• University of Nebraska-Lincoln

 

3) The Big Ten, an athletic conference formed in 1896 by seven public and private universities. The Big Ten membership is currently 18, listed with the year the school joined the conference in parenthesis. Northwestern University and University of Southern California, in italics, are the only private institutions now in the Big Ten. The University of Chicago, also private, was a charter member, but left the conference in 1946.

Appendix B: U-M Graduate Academic Programs Grouped by Broad Disciplinary Categories (Rackham Divisions)

This list excludes U-M professional degree programs by the same or similar names. Rackham Divisions are disciplinary groupings established by the Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studies.

Appendix C: Graduate and Professional Degree Programs at the University of Michigan

 

Graduate Academic Degree Programs (U-M refers to these as “Rackham degrees”)

 

Other Graduate Degree Programs (U-M often refers to these as “Non-Rackham degrees” and/or professional degrees.)

 

Professional Degree Programs

Appendix D: UM-Ann Arbor Information Summary

 

Name of institution: University of Michigan
City/State: Ann Arbor, Michigan
County: Washtenaw
Description of campus location: Small city / Population: 119,980 (2019 census estimate)
44 miles from Detroit (nearest large city)
General telephone number: (734) 764-1817

Year founded:  1817
President: Santa J. Ono
Year assumed office:  2022
Source of control:  Public (State)
Student body:  Coeducational

Academic year calendar: Trimester (limited summer courses available)
Degrees offered: Bachelor’s, Post-bachelor’s certificate, Master’s,
Post-master’s certificate, Doctoral, Professional
Number of Undergraduate schools/colleges/divisions: 12
Number of Graduate schools/colleges/divisions: 19

 

Prospective students should contact the following offices for further information:

First-Years/Undergraduates:
Office of Undergraduate Admissions
University of Michigan
1220 Student Activities Building
515 E. Jefferson St.
Ann Arbor, MI  48109-1316
Phone: (734) 764-7433
Fax: (734) 936-0740
admissions.umich.edu

Graduate Students:
Graduate Admissions
Rackham Graduate School
University of Michigan
915 E. Washington
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1070
Phone: (734) 764-8129
[email protected]
/rackham.umich.edu/admissions

 

Institutional accreditation:

As an institution, the University of Michigan is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission, a regional accreditation agency that accredits degree granting institutions of higher education based in the 19-state North Central region of the United States. An accreditation statement must be published in a unit’s bulletin and any other widely distributed advertising and recruitment materials in which accreditation status is relevant and mentioned. Federal law requires that whenever an institution refers to its affiliation with the Commission, it will include the Commission’s address and telephone number. The preferred statement is: “The University of Michigan is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission, 30 North LaSalle Street, Suite 2400, Chicago, Illinois  60602-2504. (800) 621-7440; (312) 263-0456; Fax: (312) 263-7462.”

Year first accredited: 1913
Most recent accreditation: 2020 (Higher Learning Commission) accreditation.umich.edu/
Next scheduled evaluation: 2029-2030
Carnegie Classification: Doctoral / Research Universities – Extensive

Appendix E: Glossary

 

AAU: American Association of Universities, a nonprofit association of 63 U.S. and two Canadian preeminent public and private research universities.

ACT: A standardized test designed to measure high school achievement and aid in the college admissions process.

Auxiliary activities: Essentially self-supporting activities primarily intended to furnish services to students, faculty and staff; examples include parking services, health care services to the public, residential services to students, and the athletic program.

Common Application: An undergraduate college admission application that students may use to apply to any of 488 member colleges and universities in the United States and various other countries. Its mission is to encourage the use of “holistic admission,” a process that includes subjective factors gleaned from essays and recommendations alongside objective criteria such as class rank and standardized testing.

Constant Dollars: An adjustment made to financial values to account for the effects of inflation. Sometimes referred to as “real dollars”.

Cost of Attendance: Cost of attendance is the estimated full and reasonable cost of completing a full year as a full-time student and typically includes tuition and fees, books and supplies, room and board, personal costs and transportation. See Net Cost of Attendance.

Clinical faculty: At the University of Michigan, these non-tenure-track instructional faculty appointments emphasize clinical/practice and teaching skill.

Current Dollars: The value of dollars in the year they were received or paid without any adjustment for inflation. Sometimes referred to as “actual dollars”.

Emeritus faculty: At the University of Michigan, regular and clinical instructional faculty, research professors, research scientists, librarians, curators, and archivists may, upon officially retiring from the University, be granted an emeritus or emerita title by the Board of Regents.

Expected Family Contribution (EFC): An estimate calculated according to a Federal formula of the amount that a student and his or her parents might be expected to contribute toward the costs of a college education. Once a student’s EFC has been determined, the amount of federal, state, and institutional need-based aid the student is eligible to receive is calculated using the following equation: Cost of Attendance (minus) Expected Family Contribution (minus) Other Financial Resources (private scholarships, etc.) (equals) Eligibility for Need-Based Aid.

FTE: Full-time equivalent. A unit used to indicate the workload of an employed person or calculate the number of students or faculty members in a comparable or standardized way across institutions.

First generation student: An undergraduate student whose parents have not previously attended college at any level.

First-Years, First-Year Undergraduate: An undergraduate student who is attending college for the first time ever. This term is being used by many offices at the U-M, including the Office of Admissions, to replace the term “freshman” and “freshmen.”

GPA: Grade point average. An indicator of past academic success that is requested as part of a student’s application for admission.

General Fund: At the University of Michigan, the General Fund relies largely on student fees and state appropriations and pays for teaching, research, library services, student scholarships, fellowships, and maintenance and operation of physical properties, among other services.

Geographic origin: A student’s geographic origin is defined according to the address used in the application for admission. The geographic origin of a student is similar, but not identical, to residency status.

Graduate Student Instructor (GSI): They are graduate students who help teach classes. GSIs act in different capacities depending on the class setup and professor preference. They can lead discussion sections, lead lectures, hold extra office hours, or be available for student help and advice.

Graduate Student Research Assistant (GSRA): A Graduate Student Research Assistantship (GSRA) is an appointment which may be provided to a student in good standing in a University of Michigan graduate degree program who performs personal research (including thesis or dissertation preparation) or who assists others performing research that is relevant to his or her academic goals.

Graduate Student Staff Assistant (GSSA): The GSSA is a graduate student whose employment is a part of a degree requirement or is otherwise considered academically relevant. GSSAs perform administrative, counseling or educational duties other than those of a GSI.

Grant Aid: Financial aid provided to students that is typically based on need.

Grant, research See research grant.

Indirect costs: Indirect costs are the real costs of University operations that are not readily assignable to a particular project. Officially known as Facilities and Administrative costs, these costs are determined by federal auditors under the guidelines of the Office of Management and Budget.

Indirect cost recovery: Payments for overhead costs received from a research sponsor.

In-state student: The informal designation of a student who pays the “resident” tuition rate. In broad terms, such students are permanent residents of the State of Michigan as demonstrated by the applicant’s parents and/or the applicant or the applicant’s spouse or partner holding permanent employment in the state.

Instructional faculty: Individuals at the University of Michigan involved in student instruction, excluding graduate student instructors. ‘Regular instructional faculty’ includes tenure track faculty, clinical instructional faculty, and lecturers. ‘Supplemental instructional faculty’ includes adjunct instructional faculty, adjunct clinical instructional faculty, and visiting instructional faculty.

National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS): A comprehensive research dataset on financial aid provided by the federal government, the states, postsecondary institutions, employers, and private agencies, along with student demographic and enrollment data.

National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE): A higher education survey administered by the Center for Postsecondary Research in the Indiana University School of Education NSSE annually collects information at hundreds of four-year colleges and universities about student participation in programs and activities that institutions provide for their learning and personal development. The results provide an estimate of how undergraduates spend their time and what they gain from attending college.

Net Price: Net price is defined as the sum of tuition and fees, room and board, books and supplies, and other expenses for a full-time first-year undergraduate minus the sum of need and merit-based grant aid (not including work-study programs or government subsidized loans). See Cost of Attendance.

Net Student Tuition/Fees: When used in the context of the University’s operating revenues, this is the determined by subtracting scholarship aid from the tuition and fees paid by students.

Out-of-state student: The informal designation of a student who pays the “non-resident” tuition rate. In broad terms, such students are not permanent residents of the State of Michigan as demonstrated by the applicant’s parents and/or the applicant or the applicant’s spouse or partner holding permanent employment in another state or country.

Residency status: Residency status determines whether a student pays “in-state” or “out-of-state” tuition. Residency status is similar, but not identical, to geographic origin.

SAT: A standardized test designed to measure high school achievement and aid in the college admissions process.

Scholarship Aid: Financial aid provided to students, typically based on merit. (In some instances, scholarships may also have a need-based component.)

Selectivity: The percentage of applicants offered admission.

STEM: An acronym for fields related to science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Technology transfer: The set of activities aimed at turning university research discoveries into products or processes with economic value.

Tenured/tenure-track faculty: Instructional faculty members who have either received tenure or who intend to be evaluated for tenure in the future.

U-M Health System: For the Michigan Almanac, this phrase refers collectively to the U-M Hospitals and Health Centers, Michigan Health Corporation, Medical School patient care-related activity and the Office of the Executive Vice President for Medical Affairs. This phrase excludes the Medical School, which is included as part of the Ann Arbor campus. NOTE: “Michigan Medicine” is the phrase used to cover U-M Hospitals, Health Centers, the Medical School and Medical Group Practice, Michigan Health Corp., and the Office of the Executive Vice President for Medical Affairs.

University of Michigan Asks You (UMAY): The name used at the U-M for its version of the Student Experience in the Research University (SERU) survey. The survey, designed to learn about undergraduate student experiences, is administered to all U-M undergraduates at the Ann Arbor campus. Other research institutions to their students administer similar surveys.

Yield: The percentage of admitted students who enroll.