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Tuition increase may be first step in improving university<br>

Universities across the nation are entering a period of revolutionary change. This change includes a declining percentage of state support, growth of the knowledge economy requiring increasing levels of education to assure economic well-being for individuals as well as the state, and the continued sophistication of technology which has revolutionized approaches to research, teaching and learning.

The Arizona Board of Regents has initiated a bold process called “Changing Directions,” which offers an opportunity to focus more clearly and differentiate the missions among Arizona’s three public universities.

For Northern Arizona University, this differentiation will allow us to offer excellence in a strengthened combination of teaching, research and public service.

NAU will offer a complete university experience with a focus on undergraduate education that achieves excellence and visibility on a national level, graduate education and research endeavors and an innovative distance learning network providing access to place-bound students.

In addition to teaching classes on the Mountain Campus in Flagstaff, NAU will continue to deliver courses to rural Arizonans in person, by interactive instructional television or through the World Wide Web.

We believe that all students should and must gain a college degree since it is the fundamental ingredient for economic independence and personal fulfillment in the 21st century.

Our long experience in distance delivery allows NAU to expand educational opportunities continually through unique delivery systems that combine on-site instruction with television and Web delivery. Today NAU delivers 64 undergraduate degrees through its distributed learning networks of 110 separate sites including 23 interactive instructional television locations.

NAU has partnerships with every (rural) community college in the state, with fully articulated programs that allow students to move seamlessly from the community college to NAU as they complete their associate degree. For example, NAU-Signal Peak is located on the campus of Central Arizona College and boasts one of the largest B.S. Elementary Education/Post Degree Certification programs in the state. We also have a strong partnership with Arizona Western College and offer many programs leading to the baccalaureate degree on a shared campus.

In many cases, NAU will use the Arizona Regents University to offer Web courses or cooperate with the University of Arizona and Arizona State University to ensure that Arizona residents can access the programs they desire and need. We are focused specifically on post-baccalaureate degrees and certificates for working adults who may need new knowledge or skills to advance in a chosen field or to change careers. In the last three years, the number of degree and certificate programs available to rural students has doubled or tripled in most areas of the state.

With the support of voter approved Proposition 301, NAU has started new degree programs in management, educational technology, nursing, and technology. Education in the 21st century will need to be far more responsive to economic demands and the needs of place-bound students than it has been in the past.

NAU continues to expand access to a quality higher education experience and is a major force in the market for post-baccalaureate degrees and certificates. Last year NAU awarded 1,900 master’s degrees, of which 1,300 were awarded to students participating in its statewide sites. The university can, and will, continue to develop courses and degrees that address workforce needs using a range of delivery methods that are both effective and affordable.

NAU offers 46 master’s, nine doctoral, and nine post-baccalaureate certificate programs. NAU is currently among the top 200 universities in the number of doctoral degrees awarded each year. It has numerous nationally ranked and internationally recognized graduate programs including forestry, biology, physical therapy, and applied linguistics.

However, Changing Directions also comes at a price: the universities must have a tuition increase to assure access to high quality programs, research excellence, and an educated workforce. We must do better and a tuition increase, while protecting low-income students through increases in financial aid, may be the first step in returning our universities to national prominence and our state to economic growth.


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