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NAU is teaming up with Pima Community College (PCC), Mohave Community College (MCC) and Chandler-Gilbert Community College (CGCC) to offer students a more affordable and flexible option to obtaining a bachelor’s degree.
During a press conference in Tucson in late February, NAU President John D. Haeger and PCC Chancellor Roy Flores announced the first in-state 90/30 program offered to students for earning a baccalaureate degree. The program will allow students to take up to 90 credits at the community college and then finish the remaining 30 credits at either the NAU main campus or at one of NAU’s 35 satellite locations spread throughout the state and online.
The degree transfer program innitiates an agreement between NAU and the various community colleges involved that would allow for students to receive a degree from NAU after having completed only 30 credit hours with NAU and the remaining 90 with the community college.
MCC initiated the same program with NAU in March, offering classes from its three campuses in Kingman, Bullhead City and Lake Havasu City.
CGCC announced its involvement in the same program shortly after MCC joined in.
During the press conference in Tucson, Haeger spoke about this new opportunity offered to students in Arizona and the growing partnership between NAU and other in-state institutions.
“Northern Arizona University strives to bring access and affordability to students throughout the state,” Haeger said. “The 90/30 program is one more example of how our institution can work hand-in-hand with community colleges to deliver higher education opportunities where and when they are needed.”
Fred Hurst, NAU vice president of extended programs, and Michael Kearns, chancellor of MCC, announced the new 90/30 degree transfer program.
After completing the program, students who began at PCC, MCC or CGCC would obtain a degree from NAU, even if they had never been to Flagstaff.
The Arizona Board of Regents approved the program earlier this year, making NAU the first of the three public universities in Arizona to offer the 90/30 program to students.
The program, also referred to as “three plus one,” will ultimately decrease the cost of completing a bachelor’s degree in-state. By paying community college tuition for the first 90 units, and then paying NAU tuition for the final 30 units, students will save more money than if they had attended NAU for the full 120-unit requirement.
Ellen Nymark, NAU program coordinator, says the program allows students to save money by completing three-quarters of their credit hours while paying community college tuition.
“This is Arizona’s most affordable path to a bachelor’s degree,” Nymark said during a CGCC press conference. “Also, financial aid is available through special consortium agreements for 90/30 students.”
As a part of the 90/30 program, community college students can apply approximately 50 percent more credits from PCC or MCC toward a bachelor’s degree than the current two-year transfer degree programs allow. In the past, Arizona universities would only allow a transfer of 64 credit hours from the community college system.
During the press conference in Tucson, Flores addressed the need to offer more opportunities to earn bachelor’s degrees at affordable prices in the state.
“The Arizona Board of Regents has concluded there’s a huge shortage of opportunities for bachelor’s degrees in Arizona,” Flores said. “We are the fastest-growing state in the nation, and we have fewer universities and fewer opportunities for degrees than many states. This is a step to resolve that.”
Flores said a report from ABOR announced 69,000 new degrees would have to be produced in Arizona just to reach the average of other states.
NAU is offering four bachelor’s degrees under the 90/30 partnership: a B.A. and a B.S. in interdisciplinary studies with an emphasis in public management, and a B.A. and a B.S. in interdisciplinary studies with an emphasis in humanities.
NAU campuses offering the degree transfer program include locations in Chandler, Gilbert, Globe, North Valley, Payson, Show Low, Tucson, North Tucson and online.
The flexible B.A. and B.S. degrees in interdisciplinary studies offer students a chance to consult with advisers to design a plan of studies in the new 90/30 program that will meet the needs of residents all over the state.
Hurst also signed an agreement with MCC to allow dual admission between the two schools. As a part of this agreement, MCC students will be allowed to enroll in classes from both institutions and will have access to academic advising from advisers at both NAU and MCC.
This dual admission program is similar to the existing programs provided between NAU and Arizona Western College in Yuma, South Mountain Community College in Phoenix and Yavapai Community College in Prescott.
“The partnership between Northern Arizona University and Mohave Community College demonstrates our ongoing commitment to making higher education more accessible to residents of Arizona,” Haeger said.
NAU offers 39 undergraduate and 19 graduate and certificate programs entirely online. It now also offers six undergraduate and 12 graduate and certificate programs delivered in-person at the three MCC campuses. The program increases the number of opportunities students living outside of Flagstaff have for attaining an NAU deg

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 10th, 2008 at 7:56 pm and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.