NU Success Indicators

1. To offer academic programs that provide students with opportunities for personal, spiritual, and professional development.

85% of students will agree or strongly agree with the statement “My faith was increased due to my studies at NU” in the Program Completion Survey.

93.59% agreed or strongly agreed.

85% of students will agree or strongly agree with the statement “The education I received from NU trained me to become a Christian leader” in the Program Completion Survey.

91.02% agreed or strongly agreed, down from 97.8%

30% of graduates in the B.R.S. program will apply to graduate studies as measured by applications to NU’s graduate programs or requests for transcripts to be sent to other programs. (Current national average is about 39% but is generally lower in liberal arts and humanities.)

57.14% of 2020 B.R.S. graduates applied to graduate school.

2. To portray biblical Scriptures in a positive manner

85% of students will agree or strongly agree with the statement “The NU curriculum portrayed the biblical Scriptures in a positive manner” in the Program Completion Survey.

100% agreed or strongly agreed.

3. To offer programs of academic excellence at a post-secondary level of instruction.

100% of courses will be taught by professors holding appropriate credentials and education for the subject matter as determined by an annual review of faculty appointments.

100% of classes are taught by appropriately degreed faculty.

85% of students will agree or strongly agree with the statement “The examinations adequately tested the subject matter” in the Program Completion Survey.

94.87% agreed or strongly agreed.

85% of students will agree with the statement “The examinations appropriately tested the course material presented in the syllabus, lecture notes, videos, and additional readings.” in the Course Completion Survey.

97.79% agreed or strongly agreed.

4. To build and maintain educational programs and services that are global in scope and suitable for global instruction

85% of students will agree or strongly agree with the statement “The NU curriculum was easy to apply to my culture and life experience” in the Program Completion Survey.

92.31% agreed or strongly agreed that curriculum was easy to apply to their culture.

94.87% agreed or strongly agreed that curriculum was easy to apply to their life experience.

5. To offer an open system for seekers without barriers to exploration

85% of students will agree or strongly agree with the statement “I felt no prejudice from NU personnel and/or materials because of my religious orientation” in the Program Completion Survey.

93.59% felt no prejudice from NU personnel.

96.15% felt the NU material was not prejudiced against their religious orientation.

6. To operate in keeping with the values found in the gospel of Jesus Christ

85% of students will agree or strongly agree with the statement “The NU personnel interact in ways that reflects the teachings of Jesus Christ” in the Program Completion Survey.

98.62% agreed or strongly agreed.

7. To protect the students’ security

85% of students will agree or strongly agree with the statement “I felt safe and secure in my dealings with NU” in the Program Completion Survey.

98.62% agreed or strongly agreed.

8. To provide programs that students can afford

85% of students will agree or strongly agree with the statement “NU books and materials are affordable” in the Program Completion Survey.

93.59% agreed or strongly agreed.

9. To provide accessible programs for students. (Maestro upgrade in Jan 2019)

85% of students will indicate registration was extremely easy or moderately easy in the Program Completion Survey.

94.87% indicated registration was extremely or moderately easy.

85% of students will indicate course materials were extremely or moderately accessible in the Program Completion Survey.

92.31% indicated materials were extremely or moderately accessible.

85% of students will indicate course exams were extremely or moderately accessible in the Program Completion Survey.

91.04% indicated exams were extremely or moderately accessible.

85% of students will indicate their student records indicating progress in the program were extremely or moderately accessible.

96.16% indicated student records were extremely or moderately accessible.

(NEW) 85% of students will indicate course electronic textbooks were extremely or moderately accessible in the Program Completion Survey.

60.1% indicated materials were extremely or moderately accessible.

10. To encourage student progress through a supportive system of individual contacts by caring and dedicated staff and volunteers

85% of students will agree or strongly agree with the statement “I received sufficient encouragement from the NU personnel” in the Program Completion Survey.

100% agreed or strongly agreed compared to 91.94% in 2017 and 96.87% in 2016.

85% of students will agree or strongly agree with the statement “I experienced positive interaction with NU Student Services representatives” in the Program Completion Survey.

98.72% agreed or strongly agreed.

85% of students will answer “yes” to the statement “If you [contacted your advisor] did your advisor respond quickly?” in the Course Completion Survey.

94.19% answered “Yes,”

85% of students will agree with the statement “If you [contacted your advisor] how satisfied were you with the help provided?” in the Course Completion Survey.

97.6% were satisfied or highly satisfied.

85% of students will agree or strongly agree with the statement “I experienced positive interaction with NU Faculty” in the Program Completion Survey. (New metric of 2015)

97.44% agreed or strongly agreed.

85% of students will agree or strongly agree that feedback from professors on graded material was beneficial on the Course Completion Survey.

92.62% of students agreed or strongly agreed that feedback was beneficial.

85% of students will answer “yes” to the statement “If you [contacted faculty] did your professor respond quickly?” in the Course Completion Survey.

93.9% (up from 88.5%) answered “yes” to this question.

85% of students will indicate satisfaction with the statement “If you [contacted faculty] how satisfied were you with the comments?” in the Course Completion Survey.

93.9% (up from 88.5 %) of students were satisfied with the professor’s response.

65% of students will graduate within the 150% of the time expected for each degree.

C.B.S. Completion Rate for 2020 (using a 2018-2019 cohort) was 36%. DEAC standard is 60%.  The DEAC minimum benchmark for non-degree, correspondence programs is 28%.

B.R.S. Graduations Rate for 2020 (using a 2014 cohort) was 57.1% DEAC standard is 43%.

MTS Graduation Rate for 2020 (using a 2017 cohort) was 57.5%. DEAC standard is 54%.

M.Div. Graduation Rate for 2020 (using a 2014 cohort) was 100%. (It should be noted that there was only one student in this cohort.) DEAC standard is 62%.

33% of first-year undergraduate students will continue taking courses in the next academic year. Traditional Retention Rate is calculated using first-time, full-time undergraduate students. Given that NU does not have full-time students and uses open, rolling enrollment with no quarter or semester designation, this metric is almost impossible to assess. However, it is possible to count the number of students who are admitted into a program in one year who are still active in the following year. Dividing the number of students remaining active by the number of students who were admitted to the B.R.S. in the previous year gives a general assessment of the “retention rate.”

Modified Traditional Retention Rate for 2020 is 74.6% (up from 47.54% in 2019).

The average completion rate for undergraduate courses will be no less than 50% and no less than 65% for graduate courses. (These benchmarks are well above the 6% completion rates reported in a study on Harvard and MIT online courses and the 10% completion rate reported in SAGE Journal.)

Overall completion rate for all students in all courses in 2020 was 13.76%. Undergraduate courses experienced a 11.32% completion rate, while the graduate completion was 16.67%.

The average course grade for all completed undergraduate courses will be no less than 80% and no less than 85% for graduate courses.

Average course grade for all undergraduate Bible courses was 88.97%

Average course grade for General Education courses was 85.60%

Average course grade for all graduate courses was 88.55%

11. To conduct the business of the institution in the most efficient means

85% of student-initiated communications will be responded to within three (3) business days.

Director of Advising reports all student-initiated communication is responded to within 48 hours.

100% of student’s requests for refunds will be addressed according to the University’s Refund Policy.

All refunds were handled according to NU policy.

85% of students will agree or strongly agree with the statement “The information I received before enrolling proved to be accurate” in the Program Completion Survey.

97.44% indicated information was accurate or very accurate.

85% of students will answer “Yes” to the question “Did the course description and summary accurately reflect the content of the class material?” in the Course Completion Survey.

99.75% indicated “Yes” to this question.

85% of students indicate that they will achieve the goals they had when they started the program as indicated in the Program Completion Survey.

100% indicated “Yes.”

85% of students indicate that they would refer a friend to study at NationsU.

100% indicated “Yes.”

85% of students indicate they were satisfied with their experience with NationsUniversity as indicated in the Program Completion Survey.

98.7% indicated they were satisfied with their studies with NationsUniversity.

Student-Faculty Ratio will be maintained at 24:1 or less.

On January 1, 2021 the Student-Faculty Ratio was 18.8:1.

Consumer Information Disclosure

The institution was approved by the Board of Regents of Louisiana on June 18, 1996 to grant degrees in religious studies. The name “NationsUniversity was registered with the U. S. government on July 7, 1998, and subsequently renewed through July 7, 2018. The institution was granted tax-exempt status by the Internal Revenue Service as a 501(c) 3 organization on February 3, 1998. NationsUniversity is incorporated in the State of Louisiana as non-profit corporation. The University was first accredited in July 2015 through DEAC.

NationsUniversity provides religious courses to individuals around the globe. Students learn through internet-based courses and interact with their personal student advisor, and faculty via email, telephone, and the Moodle instructional technology platform.

The University provides instruction asynchronously, has rolling admissions, and does not operate within any semester, quarter, or other term system. However, enrollment within any given course expires after a twelve-month period from enrollment if the course is incomplete. The University does not have a physical campus and operates as a distance education University.

NationsUniversity students learn biblical principles from a Christian perspective, with emphasis on real-life application.

NationsUniversity students enroll for many reasons including interest in Christianity, personal spiritual growth, increased biblical knowledge, and preparation for teaching and ministry.

NationsUniversity students, who range in age from 18 to 80, represent students from over 150 countries around the world. NationsUniversity serves over 400 incarcerated students in the United States.

The university offers three degrees, the Bachelor of Religious Studies, Master of Religious Studies, and Master of Divinity, and a certificate in biblical studies.

The university offers three degrees the Bachelor of Religious Studies, Master of Religious Studies, and Master of Divinity.

Student Demographical Information (As of December 31, 2020)
Total Number of Students: 1610
Certificates: 509
Undergraduate Students: 227
Graduate Students: 152
Non-Credentialed: 722
Countries Represented: 131
Total Registrations: Over 33,500 (since 1996)

2020 Student Satisfaction Ratings

Success Indicators
Total degrees awarded since founding: 1,546