Northern Arizona University to change admission requirements starting in fall 2023

PHOENIX — Northern Arizona University will have new admission requirements for students who wish to attend the university starting in the fall of 2023.

The new requirements are part of an admissions pilot program that the Arizona Board of Regents approved last week.

The changes include removing the foreign language requirement from the 16 core classes students need for guaranteed admission to the state’s three public universities. NAU is also expanding the list of fourth-year math courses it’ll accept.

“We’re doing this because we really want to establish the university as an engine of opportunity, and that starts with ensuring that we’re removing all unnecessary obstacles in the transition from high school to college,” NAU President José Luis Cruz Rivera told KTAR News 92.3 FM. 

Rivera pointed out not all Arizona high schools offer those 16 core classes that NAU, along with Arizona State University and the University of Arizona, currently require for assured admissions. He added about 50,000 students currently attend these high schools. 

“We felt that, that was an unfair situation for our students,” he said, adding that his university’s new admissions criteria will more closely align with the Arizona high school graduation requirements. 

NAU will still require that students earn a 3.0 GPA or better. However, it will consider on a case-by-case basis students who don’t meet that.

ABOR Chair Lyndel Manson applauded NAU’s efforts and said they will help expand the workforce in Arizona.

“Our state’s economy is booming and projected employment opportunities in high-wage, high-demand fields are significant,” Manson said in a statement. “However, without bold intervention to broaden access and opportunity for a postsecondary degree, many Arizona residents will be left behind.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Kathy Hoffman also stated she believed NAU’s new admission requirements “will be transformative for our students and our state.”

“Aligning admission to NAU with standards that already exist within our K-12 system provides a clear and transparent message to Arizona students who work hard that they can and will be able to go to college,” Hoffman said.

The pilot program will last for six years. During that time, NAU will have a team of specialized counselors to help advise and provide academic support to students.

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