Academic Catalog

An academic plan is a particular course of study identified by Northern Arizona University, in accordance with standards recommended by the Arizona Board of Regents (ABOR Policy 2-221)

Doctoral and Master's Degrees

Academic Program Plan

• Doctoral degree programs at NAU require a minimum of 60 units. Many doctoral degree programs require more than 60 units, dependent on discipline and/or external accreditation standards. 
  • The Medical Science DMSc program is an exception, requiring only 24 units, due to completion of a Physican Assistant Studies Master's degree, which requires over 100 units of credit.

• Master’s degree programs at NAU require a minimum of 30 units. Many master’s degree programs require more than 30 units, dependent on discipline and/or external accreditation standards.

At least 12 units within the academic program plan should be unique to that academic program plan to differentiate it from other academic program plans.

Emphasis

If needed, emphases can be judiciously created for an academic program plan.  An emphasis is a planned group of courses, consisting of at least 9 units, from one or more subject matter areas, related to the academic program plan’s discipline. Emphases within an academic program plan must differ from each other by a minimum of 9 units. Furthermore, emphases may not require more than 60% of the total number of credits for the academic program plan.

An example of an emphasis (sub-plan) printed on transcripts is as follows:

Concentration

An academic program plan may also label smaller groupings of courses as concentrations. Concentrations will not be printed on the transcript. A concentration represents a lesser subdivision within an academic program plan than an emphasis but serves the same purpose of allowing students to tailor the academic program plan to their needs and interests.