NU Editorial Contributors
National University Editorial Contributors include writers, editors, and academic professionals who are experts in creating high-quality educational content that is timely, accurate, informative, and easy to understand. All contributors who develop content for National University follow strict guidelines to ensure they provide credible and authoritative information that is independent, free from advertiser influence, and aligns with the high standards our readers and students expect from National University.
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Articles by NU Editorial Contributors
October 28, 2025How To Pay For College: Financial Aid and Scholarship Tips
Paying for college with minimal debt requires a sequenced strategy: file the FAFSA as early as possible after it opens to secure priority federal and state funding, accept free money first (beginning with Federal Pell Grants before federal loans or work-study), and contact the financial aid office directly to request an aid adjustment if your financial situation has changed since filing.
October 21, 2025Certificate vs. Degree: Pros, Cons, and Career Outcomes
A degree provides broad, in-depth academic education taking two to four or more years, covering general electives, theory, and core subjects, and is typically required for long-term career mobility, management roles, and regulated professions such as law, medicine, healthcare, and engineering. A certificate provides fast, specialized, skills-based training completed in weeks to one to two years at lower cost, focused entirely on practical, job-ready skills for quick entry into a specific field or trade.
October 18, 2025Essential Skills and Career Paths for Today’s Cybersecurity Professionals
Cybersecurity professionals in 2026 need a layered skill set combining foundational IT knowledge with specialized competencies in the areas posing the greatest current risk. What makes 2026 distinctive is the emergence of specialized career paths that did not exist five years ago, Cloud Security Engineers, AI Security Specialists, and OT Security Analysts represent growth areas where demand dramatically exceeds supply, driven by the convergence of AI-powered threats, accelerating cloud migration, and expanded attack surfaces across critical infrastructure.
October 15, 20259 Tips to Prepare for Your Doctoral Degree Journey
Preparing for a doctoral degree requires a strategic shift from being an exceptional student to becoming an independent researcher, a transition that demands intentional structure, relationship management, and wellbeing practices from day one rather than after problems emerge.
October 9, 2025Best Brain Foods for Studying
The foods best supported by research for cognitive performance share a common nutritional profile: omega-3 fatty acids, antioxidants, polyphenols, B-vitamins, and complex carbohydrates that provide steady glucose to the brain. Harvard Health Publishing identifies green leafy vegetables, fatty fish, berries, walnuts, and whole grains as the most consistently evidence-backed brain foods, noting that the best brain foods overlap significantly with heart-healthy foods, as what benefits cardiovascular health also improves cerebral blood flow and reduces neuroinflammation.
October 7, 2025What Is a Clinical Social Worker? Understanding the Role
A clinical social worker is a licensed mental health professional qualified to diagnose and treat mental, behavioral, and emotional disorders, providing psychotherapy, developing treatment plans, and connecting clients to community resources while considering the environmental, social, and economic factors that affect their wellbeing. Clinical social workers make up a significant share of the mental health workforce in the United States, more than psychiatrists, psychologists, and psychiatric nurses combined in many practice settings.
September 30, 2025How to Become a Labor and Delivery Nurse
Labor and delivery (L&D) nurses are registered nurses who care for expectant mothers and newborns before, during, and after childbirth, monitoring fetal heart rates and maternal contractions, assisting with pain management and epidurals, coaching patients through labor, and performing initial newborn assessments including APGAR scoring. Entry into the specialty requires an ADN or BSN, an active RN license, and a standard set of certifications: Basic Life Support (BLS), Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support (ACLS), Neonatal Resuscitation Program (NRP), and Electronic Fetal Monitoring (EFM), with most hospitals also preferring at least one to two years of general nursing experience before transitioning into the specialty.
September 26, 202520 Highest Paying Bachelor’s Degrees of 2026
The highest-paying bachelor's degrees are concentrated in engineering, computer science, and business, with mid-career salaries regularly reaching six figures. Outside engineering, finance, economics, and computer science consistently deliver six-figure mid-career earnings, while healthcare management and actuarial science offer strong salary growth paired with above-average job security. Bachelor's degree holders overall earned a median weekly income of $1,754 in early 2025, nearly double the $953 median for high school graduates, but salary outcomes vary significantly by major, experience, and geography, making return on investment an important consideration alongside starting pay.
September 23, 2025Top 5 Reasons Adult Learners Benefit From Finishing Their Degree
Finishing a degree as an adult learner delivers six distinct advantages: higher lifetime earning potential and salary negotiation leverage, layoff protection during industry consolidations and technological disruptions, access to leadership and executive roles that require formal credentials, career pivot credibility that allows employers to confidently hire into a new field, specialized professional networking with faculty and peers that generates long-term mentorship and collaboration, and the personal confidence and role-modeling effect of completing what you started.
September 16, 2025Explore Careers in Forensic Science: National Forensic Science Week 2025
Forensic science careers combine scientific analysis with criminal justice, with professionals applying biology, chemistry, digital technology, and medical expertise to collect, analyze, and interpret evidence for legal proceedings. Core specializations include forensic biology and DNA analysis, which identifies individuals through biological evidence such as blood, hair, and bone; digital forensics, which recovers and analyzes data from devices, cloud storage, and networks; trace evidence and toxicology, which examines microscopic materials and identifies drugs or poisons in biological samples; and forensic pathology and anthropology, which determines cause of death and identifies human remains in homicide and mass fatality cases.
September 12, 2025What Is Industrial-Organizational Psychology?
Industrial-organizational (I-O) psychology is the scientific application of psychological research and methods to workplace issues, studying productivity, employee selection and testing, organizational dynamics, and work-life quality to help organizations and the people within them function more effectively. The field has two distinct but complementary sides: the industrial side focuses on personnel functions such as hiring, assessment, training, and performance evaluation, while the organizational side examines how culture, leadership, motivation, and structure influence employee behavior and organizational outcomes.
September 8, 2025How to Become a Marriage Counselor: A Step-by-Step Guide
Becoming a licensed marriage and family therapist (LMFT) is a multi-stage process that typically takes seven to nine years: four years for a bachelor's degree, two to three years for a master's degree in marriage and family therapy (MFT) or a closely related field, and one to two years of post-degree supervised clinical experience. In California, where NU's programs are primarily based, the Board of Behavioral Sciences (BBS) oversees licensure, requiring candidates to register as an Associate Marriage and Family Therapist (AMFT), complete 3,000 hours of supervised experience, and pass both the LMFT Law and Ethics Exam and the LMFT Clinical Exam before receiving an independent license.
September 5, 2025Completing Your College Application as an Adult Learner in 10 Steps
Completing a college application as an adult learner is a different process than applying directly from high school, the evaluation centers on professional maturity, life experience, and readiness for academic work rather than standardized test scores, which most institutions waive for applicants aged 25 and older.
September 2, 2025What is Natural Environment Teaching? A Guide to NET
Natural Environment Teaching (NET) is an evidence-based Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) method that embeds skill instruction into everyday routines, play, and settings where a child naturally spends time, such as homes, classrooms, and playgrounds, rather than structured table-based drills. NET follows the child's lead: therapists capture moments of natural motivation and use them as teaching opportunities, with reinforcement typically coming from the activity or item itself rather than an external reward.
August 26, 2025Financial Aid for Adult Learners: Your Step-by-Step Guide
Adult learners have access to the same federal financial aid programs as traditional students, with one significant advantage: students aged 24 and older are automatically classified as independent on the FAFSA, meaning financial aid eligibility is based on the student's own income rather than parental finances, which often results in higher need-based aid awards. The FAFSA is the essential first step, unlocking eligibility for federal grants that do not require repayment, including the Pell Grant.
August 22, 2025The Best Online Degrees for Career Change After 30
The best online degrees for career changers after 30 share three characteristics: strong job growth and salary potential, flexibility for asynchronous study that fits around existing employment and family obligations, and transferable skills that let learners apply prior professional experience rather than starting entirely from scratch.
August 19, 2025Step-by-Step Dissertation Guide
A dissertation follows three sequential phases: preparation and proposal, research and drafting, and finalization and defense, with each phase building directly on the previous one and committee approval required before advancing.
August 8, 2025The Future of Social Work: Trends and Innovations
Social work is entering a period of significant transformation, driven by an aging population, an escalating mental health crisis, and the integration of digital tools into practice, creating both expanded demand and new professional competencies.