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
November 20, 20255 Reasons to Earn a Doctorate Degree
A doctorate is the highest academic credential available, and the decision to pursue one is best driven by a clear understanding of what it delivers beyond the credential itself: higher earning potential, specialized professional authority, advanced transferable skills, a direct pathway to academia and research, and the opportunity to make an original, lasting contribution to a field.
November 17, 2025Ranking The Best College Degrees for Employment in 2026
A National University analysis of 74 college majors, evaluating unemployment rates, underemployment rates, and projected job growth through 2033, found that STEM and healthcare fields dominate the top rankings, with nursing placing first overall at a 1.42% unemployment rate, followed by mathematics, computer science, and engineering disciplines. STEM fields are projected to grow up to 28.4% through 2033, while business and finance degrees, particularly accounting and information systems, offer steady 6-7% job growth and low unemployment rates, with accounting placing among the top 15 at a 1.88% unemployment rate.
November 10, 2025What Are the Most Future-Proof Careers in Southern California?
A new report by National University shows that Southern California’s 9.8 million worker economy presents a compelling case for non-tech career resilience in an age of technological disruption. While the region hosts significant technology employment, over 90% of SoCal jobs exist outside traditional tech sectors, creating strong career opportunities. Findings: Current Tech Employment Reality Tech ...
November 6, 2025Can Music Help You Study and Focus? [Updated 2026]
Music can help you study, but the effect is task-dependent and genre-dependent rather than universal. Research shows that background music increases task-focus states compared to silence on sustained-attention tasks, with on-task states linked to faster response times than off-task or mind-wandering states. Classical music and instrumental music have been shown in multiple studies to positively affect concentration and academic performance, while music with lyrics or complex rhythmic sequences can distract, particularly during reading and writing tasks that engage the same verbal processing channels as song lyrics.
November 4, 2025The Future of Healthcare: Integrating AI and VR in Professional Roles
The future of healthcare is shifting from reactive, hospital-centric treatment to a proactive, personalized, and digital-first model, driven by AI, genomics, continuous biometric monitoring, and decentralized care delivery that moves routine management out of clinics and into patients' homes and daily lives.
November 4, 2025Is National University Legit? Accreditation and Quality Explained
National University holds institutional accreditation from the same governing body as Stanford, UCLA, and other respected institutions in higher education. As a private, nonprofit university accredited by the WASC Senior College and University Commission (WSCUC), National University meets the same rigorous institutional standards as the most prestigious universities on the West Coast. Founded in 1971 ...
October 31, 2025Teaching Cybersecurity Ethically in a Digital Age
Teaching cybersecurity ethically means balancing technical capability with moral responsibility, digital citizenship, and legal compliance, instilling in students the understanding that consent, privacy, and responsible behavior are not constraints on security work but foundational principles of the profession.
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
How to Become a Labor and Delivery Nurse: A Step-by-Step Guide With infant mortality rates on the rise in the U.S., the need for skilled labor and delivery nurses and improved maternal and infant care has never been more urgent. Labor and delivery (L&D) nurses provide a safe and supportive birth experience, combining expert medical ...
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
Turn Your Interest in Forensic Science Into a Career Each piece of crime scene evidence has a story to tell. To uncover those stories, forensic science pros are essential. From tracing hidden DNA markers to trailing digital clues, these specialists help solve criminal cases by turning forensic science into justice. During National Forensic Science Week, ...
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.