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.
Our editorial expertise at work
At NU, we rely on expert feedback and knowledge to craft and vet the information we present to our learners and staff. Learn more and get some process information about the curation of our blogs, how we ensure accuracy, and what to expect from our written materials.
Articles by NU Editorial Contributors
- June 8, 2025
Inside Info: Skills You Learn in Human Resources Courses
Human resources courses develop a blend of interpersonal and technical skills designed to build productive workforces, mediate conflicts, and navigate the legal and strategic dimensions of people management, with both soft and hard competencies essential for effective HR practice at every career level.
June 6, 2025What Do Special Education Teachers Do?
What Do Special Education Teachers Do? Across the United States, millions of children rely on special education services to thrive in school and beyond. For these students, special education teachers serve as educators, advocates, and champions for inclusion. These dedicated professionals provide the support necessary for students with disabilities to meet academic, social, emotional, and ...
May 23, 2025What Is a DHA Degree?
A Doctor of Health Administration (DHA) is a professional doctoral degree designed for experienced healthcare administrators seeking executive leadership, policy, or consulting roles. DHA programs prepare healthcare leaders to manage, streamline, and improve the performance of medical organizations, including hospitals, private clinics, and long-term care facilities, and are typically completed in four to five years, often in hybrid or fully online formats to accommodate working professionals.
May 10, 2025Dissertation Defense Guide: How to Present Your Research
A dissertation defense is a formal presentation in which doctoral candidates present their research findings to a faculty committee, an oral examination that assesses the candidate's ability to articulate their research, justify their methodology and results, and address committee questions with clarity and confidence. Most defenses are scheduled for approximately two hours and are open to the public, though formats, time limits, and protocols vary by institution and department.
April 26, 2025Careers in Health Informatics: Where Healthcare Meets Technology
Health informatics careers sit at the intersection of healthcare, data science, and information technology, with professionals managing electronic health records, analyzing patient data to improve outcomes, implementing health technology systems, and ensuring compliance with privacy regulations such as HIPAA.
April 12, 2025Information Security vs. Cybersecurity: What’s the Difference?
Protecting information and digital assets in today’s technology-driven world is crucial for individuals and businesses. Everyone should take precautions against cyberattacks, including malware, phishing, and hacking. These attacks can lead to consequences ranging from minor inconveniences to severe outcomes like data loss and financial harm. The Internet Crime Complaint Center has reported that, in 2023 ...
April 2, 2025What Is Integrated Marketing Communications?
Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) is a strategic approach that coordinates all marketing channels and messages, advertising, public relations, social media, direct marketing, and sales promotion, to deliver a clear, consistent, and compelling brand message across every customer touchpoint. The IMC framework is grounded in consumer behavior and psychology and emphasizes the customer, not the product, as the central focus of all communication strategy.
March 29, 2025What Can You Do with a Marketing Degree: 10 Career Paths
A marketing degree opens pathways across six core career tracks: digital marketing, brand management, advertising and promotions, market research and analytics, public relations, and product management. According to BLS data, marketing managers earn a median annual salary of $161,030 as of May 2024, with overall employment of advertising, promotions, and marketing managers projected to grow 6% from 2024 to 2034, faster than the national average and approximately 36,400 openings projected each year.
March 26, 2025What is a DNP Degree?
What is a Doctor of Nursing Practice Degree? A Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) degree is an advanced degree that prepares nurses for leadership roles in clinical practice, healthcare systems, and policymaking. Nursing is a vital part of healthcare, and advanced practice degrees like the DNP are designed to expand a nurse’s expertise beyond bedside ...
March 19, 2025What is a Dissertation?
A dissertation is an original, in-depth research project typically required in doctoral (PhD) programs, designed to contribute new knowledge, insights, or theories to a field through independent research and analysis, representing the pinnacle of academic achievement and culminating in a formal dissertation defense before a faculty committee. In American academic usage, "dissertation" refers to the doctoral-level document, while "thesis" refers to the shorter research project completed for a master's degree, though in many other countries these terms are used in reverse or interchangeably. Lehman
March 13, 2025How to Become a Penetration Tester
Penetration testers are ethical hackers hired to simulate cyberattacks on an organization's computer systems, networks, and web applications, identifying security vulnerabilities before malicious actors can exploit them using the same tools, tactics, and techniques as real-world attackers.
March 6, 2025How to Become a Nurse Anesthetist
Nursing is an exciting field with countless areas of medicine to explore, from cardiology and nutrition to pediatrics and neurology. There are dozens of different nursing careers, such as registered nurse (RN), critical care nurse (CCN), and licensed vocational nurse (LVN), but among all the types of nurses that you could train to become, one ...
February 24, 2025Criminal Psychology vs. Forensic Psychology: What’s the Difference?
Criminal psychology focuses on analyzing patterns in criminal behavior, identifying the social and environmental factors behind crime, and developing theories that explain why certain individuals commit offenses, with the primary goal of understanding, predicting, and preventing criminal acts. Forensic psychology, by contrast, applies psychological principles broadly across the legal system, ensuring that psychological factors are appropriately considered in legal decision-making processes.
February 20, 2025Demand for University Credit Transfer on the Rise
A new study by National University reveals that interest in credit transfer has been on an upward trajectory since 2021. This variation not only reflects changing student behaviors but also signals a broader shift in how students approach their educational journeys. Key Takeaways Seasonal Patterns Over the study period, average yearly search interest demonstrated a ...
February 17, 2025Clinical and Non-clinical Psychology PhD Programs: What’s the Difference?
Authored By: Michelle Ackerman, PhD Many people, including students of psychology, frequently get confused about the different “types” of psychology and psychologists that exist. Not all jobs in psychology require a clinical license, which is one of the main differences between clinical and non-clinical Psychology PhD programs. I got my PhD from a non-clinical PhD ...
February 14, 2025What Is Health Informatics? A Comprehensive Guide
Health informatics is an exciting and rapidly evolving field that blends healthcare, information technology, and data management to improve patient care and healthcare operations. By leveraging data and cutting-edge technology, health informatics professionals play a vital role in streamlining clinical processes, improving decision-making, and enhancing patient outcomes through more efficient healthcare delivery. As the healthcare ...
February 13, 2025What is Cybersecurity and Its Importance to Business
Cybersecurity is the practice of protecting networks, systems, devices, and data from unauthorized access, digital attacks, and damage, encompassing the tools, processes, and human decisions that defend the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of information across every sector. Common threats include phishing, ransomware, malware, and increasingly AI-powered attacks that automate vulnerability scanning and social engineering at scale. According to the WEF Global Cybersecurity Outlook 2026, 73% of respondents reported that they or someone in their professional or personal network had been affected by cyber-enabled fraud over the course of 2025, with CEOs now ranking cyber-enabled fraud as their top concern.
February 6, 2025What is an MEd Degree? Understanding the Master of Education [Updated 2026]
A Master of Education (MEd) is a professional graduate degree designed for educators and education professionals seeking to deepen their expertise, advance into leadership roles, or specialize in areas such as curriculum and instruction, educational technology, special education, or school counseling. Programs typically take one to two years full-time, or two to four years part-time, and are available in flexible formats including fully online, making them accessible to working teachers. The average total cost of an MEd degree is approximately $44,640, and most programs are structured around practical application rather than original research, distinguishing them from more research-oriented degrees like the MA in Education or EdD.