Common Terms

Higher education comes with its own set of terms which you may or may not have encountered before. You can find a list to many of them, along with definitions, here. In addition to several of the terms linked previously, Valar Institute also frequently refers to the following:

Concentration: A set of related courses that have been grouped together for ease of study. For example, the Accounting concentration is made of six courses including, Accounting I, Stocks and Bonds, and Managerial Accounting, among others.

Defer: Students who are accepted and registered are able to defer their enrollment at any time during the schedule. Deferring enrollment transfers all progress to a new class, allowing you to pause your studies and resume them at a later date. Students are able to defer a total of two times after their acceptance. Students deferring prior to their cohort's start date will have their choice of the next two upcoming cohorts. More information here.

Diploma: Upon graduation, Valar will mail all graduated students a paper diploma, signifying that they have completed the program and graduated with an official Executive MBA degree.

Library: Valar offers access to an online research library available to all of our accepted students. Use the available resources to assist with your projects, and even schedule time with our librarian for an orientation on how to use the tools. See the full description of library services here.

Prompt: A prompt refers to the document which contains all the necessary information to complete a case study project or presentation. Prompts are sent out to all students via email, and posted to Slack. Read the prompt to understand the project requirements and find links to the case study and grading rubric.

Rubric: A document that outlines how a project will be graded. This scoring document ensures that students are aware of the requirements, and that all projects are measured against the same standards.

Transcript: A transcript is a copy of your academic record from an educational institution. Transcripts are different from diplomas and typically list the courses completed. You can request a digital copy of your Valar transcript at any time. Valar requires that you submit an official transcript for the highest completed degree listed on your application. Some institutions refer to transcripts by another name such as Higher Education Academic Records (HEAR) or Marksheets. Read more about this requirement along with other enrollment documentation requirements.