About
Northern Arizona University (NAU) is a public research university based in Flagstaff, Arizona. It was founded in 1899 as the final public university established in the Arizona Territory, 13 years before Arizona was admitted as the 48th state.
A member of the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities, NAU is one of the three universities governed by the Arizona Board of Regents and accredited by the Higher Learning Commission.As of fall 2021, 28,718 students were enrolled at NAU with 21,248 at the Flagstaff campus.The university is divided into eight colleges offering about 130 undergraduate degrees, 100 graduate programs, and various academic certificates. Students can take classes and conduct research in Flagstaff, online, and at more than 20 statewide locations, including the Phoenix Biomedical Campus.
The university is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity" and ranked No. 191 in the National Science Foundation (NSF) national research rankings for fiscal year 2019.It is ranked No. 57 nationally among the most innovative schools in the 2021 U.S. News Best Colleges Ranking.NAU's astronomy faculty co-discovered several astronomical bodies, such as Eris, Sedna, and are major participants in the search for the hypothetical Planet Nine, with the university being a primary institution of the Lowell Observatory.NAU is a federally designated Hispanic Serving Institution.