About UNVA

Innovative and dynamic, the University of Northern Virginia is fast becoming a major international university, offering accredited American educational programs, at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, to qualified students worldwide through a wide-ranging network of branch campuses and international partnerships.  Its various campuses hold local licenses to operate and are accredited by many distinguished international scholarly bodies. 

Some of the details of this catalog apply solely to the main campus in Virginia.  While  the mission remains the same throughout UNVA, there may be occasionally some differences in objectives, programs, and rules of the various campuses.  Such differences, when they occur, are set out in the respective addenda of the various campuses.

·         The School of Education offers a Master of Education degree with different majors for the graduate student.

·         The School of Liberal Arts provides communications and English courses as well as developmental programs for English and Math, and it houses the general education courses.  It also evaluates all entering students for placement in the university’s graduate and undergraduate programs. 

·         In the School of Management, the graduate program offers a Doctor of Business Administration, a Master of Public Administration, a Master of Accountancy, and a Master of Business Administration with several majors to meet a wide variety of student needs.  UNVA also offers a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration.  It includes several important and contemporary concentrations.

·         The School of Technology offers the graduate student a Master of Science degree in Computer Science and a similar degree in Information Systems Technology.  The School of Technology also offers the undergraduate student the Bachelor of Science degree in Information Technology. 

 UNVA is an American university with an international perspective.  Attendance at UNVA is conducive to the building of a strong sense of confidence and self-worth.  The university encourages active student participation and individualized faculty-student interaction.  The variety of cultural backgrounds to be found at UNVA brings a special dimension to relationships. Student educational experiences at UNVA are not limited to that which is found in the classroom and in textbooks; the university offers many students a valuable opportunity to compare the American system with those which flourish in their own countries or elsewhere. 

The University of Northern Virginia is a private educational institution legally operated by the Board of Directors of the University of Northern Virginia, Inc., under a license from the Commonwealth of Virginia.  All academic, personal, and student decisions rest in the hands of the Board of Trustees of the university. As a thriving private educational institution relatively free of  bureaucratic impedimenta, UNVA can play a vital role in a student’s development by providing an educational setting that embraces the international nature of business today.  The result is a sense of personal involvement and a strengthened sense of confidence.

UNVA is a community of learning whose members, including administration, faculty and students, are international in origin and in outlook.  The university conducts its programs with a conscious focus on the international and cross-cultural dimensions of learning.

As a global university, it is necessary to provide outreach facilities for many students who cannot study on our residential campuses. Therefore, most of the UNVA programs and courses have been approved for online instruction as well as residential instruction.  The dean of distance learning coordinates all online instruction, and the university utilizes the widely-praised Moodle platform for many online activities.

The University of Northern Virginia is certified to operate by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia and is accredited by the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools.  The university is a member of the American Council of Education, the American Educational Consortium and the International Assembly for Collegiate Business Education. Each international campus operates under the strictures of the relevant local authorities as well.

The main campus of the University of Northern Virginia is authorized by the United States government to enroll non-immigrant alien students and to enroll veterans.  It is also a testing site for the College Board and College Level Examination Programs.