Northern Arizona University

Northern Arizona University

Former names	Northern Arizona Normal School Northern Arizona State Teacher's College Arizona State Teacher's College of Flagstaff Arizona State College of Flagstaff
Type	Research university Public
Established	1899
Academic affiliation	Arizona Board of Regents
Endowment	$136 million (2014)
President	Rita Cheng
Vice-president	Joanne Keene (Chief of Staff)
Provost	Daniel Kain
Academic staff	1,094 (full time)
Students	30,368
Undergraduates	26,506
Postgraduates	3,862
Location	Flagstaff, Arizona, U.S. Coordinates: 35°11′17″N 111°39′11″W / 35.188°N 111.653°W / 35.188; -111.653
Campus	Small city 707.62 acres (2.8636 km2)
Colors	Blue and gold
Nickname	Lumberjacks
Mascot	Louie the Lumberjack
Sporting affiliations	NCAA Division I Big Sky Conference Western Athletic Conference
Website	www.nau.edu

Northern Arizona University (NAU) is a public research university with a main campus at the base of the San Francisco Peaks in Flagstaff, Arizona, a branch campus in Yuma, Arizona, and community campuses statewide. Governed by the Arizona Board of Regents and accredited by the Higher Learning Commission, the university offers more than 160 baccalaureate and graduate degrees.

As of fall 2016, 30,368 students were enrolled, 22,134 at the Flagstaff campus. The average cost of tuition and fees for a full-time, Arizona resident undergraduate student for two semesters is $10,764, and out-of-state undergraduates will pay an estimated $24,144. NAU also participates in the Western Undergraduate Exchange Program, which offers lower tuition rates for students from the Western United States. For 2016 – 2017, WUE tuition and fees are $15,638. NAU offers Flagstaff undergraduate students the Pledge Program, which guarantees the same tuition rate for four years.

According to the global university rankings published by the Times Higher Education in 2016, NAU ranked among the top 500 universities in the world.

Initially named the Northern Arizona Normal School, the institution opened on September 11, 1899, with 23 students, two faculty members—one, Almon Nicholas Taylor, was also the school president—and "two copies of Webster's International Dictionary bound in sheepskin" as teaching resources. The first graduating class, in 1901, consisted of four women who received credentials to teach in the Arizona Territory. In 1925, the Arizona State Legislature allowed the school, which was now called the Northern Arizona State Teachers College, to grant bachelor of education degrees. In 1929, the school became Arizona State Teachers College at Flagstaff.

Also in 1929, the Great Depression struck the nation, and the ASTC found new meaning in community outreach. Rather than collapsing, the school endured through the depression. In fact, Grady Gammage, the school president at the time, described higher education as "a 'depression industry' that fared well in hard times." Despite financial difficulties, enrollment increased from 321 students to 535 students between 1930 and 1940, and graduate work was introduced in 1937.

ASTC provided an education during economically trying times, often creating jobs to help students afford their education; they worked in the school-owned dairy farm, in the campus kitchen and dining hall, and as newspaper deliverers. The self-sufficiency of the college helped conserve monetary resources, and it was a major contributor to the local economy of the surrounding Flagstaff community, injecting almost a half million dollars in 1938.