FOCUSED – A New Bachelor’s Degree Built for Modern Learners

NAU FOCUSED bachelor’s degrees are designed for working adults who want a more efficient, career-focused path to completion.

Explore NAU FOCUSED Bachelor’s Degrees

Technology

BS Information Technology – FOCUSED

Built for careers in today’s fastest-growing technology fields.


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Focus Areas

  • Cybersecurity
  • Network Administration
  • Cloud Computing
  • Artificial Intelligence

Business Leadership

BS Management – FOCUSED

Built for adults ready to lead, manage, and move forward.

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Focus Areas

  • Finance
  • Human Resources
  • IT Management
  • Marketing
  • Operations Management

Henley-Putnam School of Strategic Security

BS Criminal Justice – FOCUSED

Built for careers focused on service, protection, and justice.


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Focus Areas

  • Corrections
  • Criminal Intelligence Analysis
  • Criminal Investigation
  • Juvenile and Victim Justice
  • Law Enforcement and Administration
  • Private Security and Protection

Henley-Putnam School of Strategic Security

BS Strategic Security and Protection Management – FOCUSED

Built for the next generation of security professionals.


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Focus Areas

  • Cognitive Warfare & Information Operations
  • Conflict and Consequence Management
  • Counterterrorism
  • Intelligence Management
  • Protection Management
  • Strategic Security

What Makes a Bachelor’s Degree FOCUSED?

FOCUSED means the degree is designed with intention: a more efficient academic structure, career-connected learning, and a pathway built around the realities of adult life.

Efficiency, Not Intensity

A more efficient bachelor’s pathway built around 30 courses instead of the traditional 40-course structure.

Designed with Intention

Reduced open electives and more direct emphasis on professional field focus areas.

Built for Adult Life

Fully online programs designed for students balancing school, work, family, and responsibility.

Traditional vs. FOCUSED

A bachelor’s pathway redesigned around the needs of modern adult learners.

Traditional Bachelor’s Degree Modern FOCUSED Bachelor’s Degree
180 quarter credits 135 quarter credits
Approximately 40 courses 30 courses
More opportunity to customize your degree through elective coursework Career-specific curriculum with fewer open elective requirements
More room to explore interests and develop complementary skills Coursework concentrated around your major and selected focus area
Designed based on a traditional “four year” college experience Designed for working adult learners

Frequently Asked Questions About FOCUSED Bachelor’s Degrees

Learn more about NAU’s reduced-credit bachelor’s degree pathways and how FOCUSED programs are designed for today’s adult learners.

What is an NAU FOCUSED bachelor’s degree?

NAU FOCUSED bachelor’s degrees are reduced-credit Bachelor of Science pathways designed around the needs of working adults. Each program requires 135 quarter credits and 30 courses, compared with NAU’s traditional 180-quarter-credit bachelor’s structure.

Is an NAU FOCUSED degree a three-year bachelor’s degree?

FOCUSED bachelor’s degrees are 135-quarter-credit, 30-course pathways intended to allow a full-time student to complete the degree in approximately three years. Actual completion time may vary based on course load, transfer credits, and other factors.

How is a FOCUSED bachelor’s degree different from a traditional bachelor’s degree?

NAU’s traditional bachelor’s structure generally requires 180 quarter credits and approximately 40 courses. FOCUSED programs require 135 quarter credits and 30 courses, reducing open electives while placing greater emphasis on career-connected areas of study.

Are FOCUSED bachelor’s degrees accelerated?

FOCUSED programs are designed around efficiency, not increased intensity. The degree requires fewer credits and courses rather than requiring students to complete a traditional 180-credit bachelor’s curriculum at a faster pace.

Are NAU FOCUSED bachelor’s degrees accredited?

National American University is institutionally accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. FOCUSED programs award Bachelor of Science degrees from National American University.

What FOCUSED bachelor’s degree programs does NAU offer?

NAU offers FOCUSED Bachelor of Science programs in Information Technology, Management, Criminal Justice, and Strategic Security and Protection Management. Each program includes career-connected focus areas that allow students to concentrate part of their coursework around specific professional interests.

Are NAU FOCUSED bachelor’s degrees online?

Yes. NAU FOCUSED bachelor’s degree programs are offered 100% online and are designed for adults balancing education with work, family, and other responsibilities.

Secure your future through education.

The need for professionals who can recognize and respond to threats is growing. NAU’s Henley-Putnam School offers Strategic Security programs where you’ll study the interaction of applied tradecrafts and ongoing behaviors to forestall reasonable or probable threats. Unlike traditional security or strategic studies programs that focus on political and military strategies to influence the spectrum of peace and conflict, HP’s strategic security programs apply objective information on the personal, local, and organizational developments that can deter and prevent conflict.  You will develop skills in strategy development, strategic analysis, and assessment for jobs such as a strategic advisor, security analyst, or security manager.

Secure your future through education.

The need for professionals who can recognize and respond to threats is growing. NAU’s Henley-Putnam School offers Strategic Security programs where you’ll study the interaction of applied tradecrafts and ongoing behaviors to forestall reasonable or probable threats. Unlike traditional security or strategic studies programs that focus on political and military strategies to influence the spectrum of peace and conflict, HP’s strategic security programs apply objective information on the personal, local, and organizational developments that can deter and prevent conflict.  You will develop skills in strategy development, strategic analysis, and assessment for jobs such as a strategic advisor, security analyst, or security manager.

Secure your future through education.

The need for professionals who can recognize and respond to threats is growing. NAU’s Henley-Putnam School offers Strategic Security programs where you’ll study the interaction of applied tradecrafts and ongoing behaviors to forestall reasonable or probable threats. Unlike traditional security or strategic studies programs that focus on political and military strategies to influence the spectrum of peace and conflict, HP’s strategic security programs apply objective information on the personal, local, and organizational developments that can deter and prevent conflict.  You will develop skills in strategy development, strategic analysis, and assessment for jobs such as a strategic advisor, security analyst, or security manager.

Secure your future through education.

The need for professionals who can recognize and respond to threats is growing. NAU’s Henley-Putnam School offers Strategic Security programs where you’ll study the interaction of applied tradecrafts and ongoing behaviors to forestall reasonable or probable threats. Unlike traditional security or strategic studies programs that focus on political and military strategies to influence the spectrum of peace and conflict, HP’s strategic security programs apply objective information on the personal, local, and organizational developments that can deter and prevent conflict.  You will develop skills in strategy development, strategic analysis, and assessment for jobs such as a strategic advisor, security analyst, or security manager.

Get Started Now

Your NAU enrollment counselor is ready to help you build a success plan to get you where you want to go. We make applying, enrolling—and succeeding—here simple, whether you’re a first-time or a transfer student, active military or veteran, or a college graduate ready to earn your master’s or doctorate degree.