Background

Purpose and potential uses
The online version of the Postsecondary Education English-Spanish Glossary offers a convenient way to find the Spanish language equivalent of over 2,000 terms used in the student financial aid and higher education communities.

This glossary can serve as a tool for translators and others involved in producing Spanish-language materials. Also, financial aid counselors, call center representatives, high school counselors, educators, and others can easily look up terms when counseling students or parents about student financial aid or higher education-related matters.

Users are encouraged to bookmark the page as a resource, and download the printable download version for use away from the computer (Adobe® Reader® is required).

Glossary history
This glossary is maintained and supported by a group of organizations involved in student financial aid and in promoting access to higher education to Hispanics throughout the country:

• Educamexus,
• National Association for College Admission Counseling, National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators,
• National College Access Network,
• National Council for Community and Education Partnerships,
• National Council of Higher Education Loan Programs,
• TG, and
• the U.S. Department of Education.

These organizations created a workgroup of education, student financial aid, and Spanish language experts, who drew upon and reconciled preexisting glossaries to develop a single, easy-to-use reference tool that could facilitate the creation of more consistent Spanish-language materials about higher education and student financial aid. The glossary includes computer terms commonly used when completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid on FAFSA on the Web (FOTW), as well as terms relating to the eligible fields of study for the National Science and Mathematics Access to Retain Talent Grant (National SMART Grant). Use of the glossary is entirely voluntary.

Translation process
This glossary uses standard Spanish; consequently, the workgroup strove to avoid anglicisms and “Spanglish,” which might not be meaningful to some Spanish speakers. During the glossary’s development, however, challenges arose due to variation in education terminology used in different Spanish-speaking countries. Whenever feasible, the glossary seeks to accommodate these variations and to specify the region in which a particular term is used.

There are concepts represented in the glossary that are unique to the American higher education and financial aid systems. Therefore, invention and compromise were required at times when translating terms that describe concepts having no precise equivalent in the education and aid systems of Spanish-speaking countries.

Due to the variety of audiences and situations to which Spanish-language materials are directed, the glossary offers synonyms from different linguistic registers (or levels of formality). When necessary, the glossary also provides contextual and usage notes. Where multiple terms are provided, we trust the translator to use the term that best applies to a specific context and audience.

Finally, in order to communicate a concept accurately, it may be necessary at times to include, in parentheses after the Spanish term, the original English term, or a definition in Spanish. For example: una escuela secundaria (high school, or grades 9-12), una institución postsecundaria de dos años (community college).

Annual review process
Anyone wishing to provide input about the glossary should submit his or her comments to Maria Luna-Torres at maria.luna-torres@tgslc.org by March 15 of each year. The initiative participants will establish a workgroup annually to evaluate the comments and review the glossary. An updated glossary will be released each year.

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Other resources

Press release for English-Spanish Glossary

Adventures In Education en Español

Spanish publications

Order TG's Spanish publications

To learn more about the initiative, or to offer suggestions for modifications and edits to the glossary, please send an e-mail message to communications@tgslc.org. Please include “Spanish Glossary” in the subject line.