In the US education system, there is no difference between a term paper and a seminar paper - both are papers written for a course.

Studienarbeit
Bevor es mit der Diplomarbeit ernst wird, erfolgt zunächst ein Probedurchlauf in Form von Studienarbeiten. Das Thema ist hier enger gefaßt, die Dauer erheblich kürzer, die Betreuung intensiver und die Bewertung wirkt sich nur sehr gedämpft auf die Diplomnote aus.

http://www.tu-clausthal.de/studieren/info/glossar.shtml.de


Diploma Theses and Pre-Diploma Theses:
The pre-diploma thesis is a short paper students have to write. Its goal is to improve the practical education and serves as a preparation for the diploma thesis. The duration is 3 months.
With the diploma thesis a student demonstrates her or his ability to work self-responsible and in a scientific way on a computer science problem under supervision of a professor or teaching assistant. The duration is 6 months.

http://www.cs.tu-bs.de/idb/html_e/home/denker/Teach.html
http://www.proz.com/kudoz/667992?keyword=Studienarbeit

CJ 7920 Seminar Research Paper
Description Based on individual interest and consultation with an advisor, the student will be required to write an advanced research paper on a specific topic; the independent empirical research should serve as a capstone to the student's educational experience, and as a bridge to the student's future in the criminal justice field. Special Registration Instructions

http://www.uwplatt.edu/disted/Courses/cj7920.html