Northcentral University


Northcentral University is a private online university with its headquarters in San Diego, California. It was established in 1996 and is classified among "D/PU: Doctoral/Professional Universities." NCU was acquired by the National University System in 2019.
Northcentral offers bachelor's, master's, specialist, and doctoral degrees in Business and Technology Management, Education, Marriage and Family Therapy, and Psychology.

History

Northcentral University was founded in 1996 by Donald Hecht as a private for-profit university.
In 1978, Hecht had established California Southern University, formerly known as Southern California University for Professional Studies.
In 2003 the university received regional accreditation from The Higher Learning Commission. Four years later, the institution moved its headquarters to Prescott, Arizona. In that same year, the school received ACBSP accreditation. Shortly thereafter, on October 8, 2008, Northcentral announced the university was being purchased by Rockbridge Growth Equity, LLC.
In 2011 the US Department of Education determined Northcentral was one of 75 US institutions failing its 2009-2010 financial responsibility test, and would be required to post a letter of credit in order for students to receive federal financial aid. Northcentral also failed its 2010-2011, 2011-2012 and 2012-2013 financial responsibility tests, scoring zero for 2010-2011 on a scale of -1 to 3, lower than the 0.2 it earned the prior term; 0.2 for 2011-2012; and 0.2 again for 2012-2013. In 2015 the US Department of Education placed Northcentral on "HCM-Cash Monitoring 1" status because of its financial issues.
In 2019, the National University System acquired Northcentral University.

Academics

Northcentral University consists of five schools:
Northcentral is regionally accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges; the institution was previously accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. The university's business school is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs. The university's master's and PhD programs in Marriage & Family Therapy are accredited by the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy.
Northcentral University is also recognized as a Registered Education Provider at the Global Provider Enrollment Level by Project Management Institute and offers project management degrees at the bachelor, master, and doctoral levels.

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