2024-2025

Career and Technical Education 90-30, Bachelor of Science in Education

Department of Educational Specialties

College of Education

We offer this degree as part of Northern Arizona University's Online and Innovative Initiatives' program. All CTE requirements are offered in the online format.

  • Available Emphasis Areas:
  • Business and Marketing - Emphasis
  • Education and Training - Emphasis
  • Family and Consumer Science - Emphasis
  • Health Careers - Emphasis
  • Industrial and Emerging Technologies - Emphasis
  • Occupational - Emphasis

  • To receive a bachelor's degree at Northern Arizona University, you must complete at least 120 units of credit that minimally includes a major, the liberal studies requirements, and university requirements as listed below.

    • All of Northern Arizona University's diversity, liberal studies, junior-level writing, and capstone requirements.
    • All requirements for your specific academic plan(s).
    • At least 30 units of upper-division courses, which may include transfer work.
    • At least 30 units of coursework taken through Northern Arizona University, of which at least 18 must be upper-division courses (300-level or above). This requirement is not met by credit-by-exam, retro-credits, transfer coursework, etc.
    • A cumulative grade point average of at least 2.0 on all work attempted at Northern Arizona University.

    The full policy can be viewed here.

In addition to University Requirements:

  • At least 85 units of major core requirements including:
    • 30 units of CTE core requirements
    • 51 units of emphasis requirements
    • 4 units of internship

  • Elective courses, if needed, to reach an overall total of at least 120 units.

Students may be able to use some courses to meet more than one requirement. Students may transfer up to 90 units of community college and/or university credit from regionally accredited institutions of higher education. Contact your advisor for details.

Minimum Units for Completion 120
Major GPA 2.5
Highest Mathematics Required MAT 114
Additional Admission Requirements Required
Fieldwork Experience/Internship Required
Accelerated Undergraduate/Graduate Plan Optional
Some online/blended coursework Required
Progression Plan Link Not Available
Community College Emphasis Required

An emphasis is transferred to NAU from a Community College.

Purpose Statement

The Bachelor of Education, Career and Technical Education (CTE) program is intended to integrate occupation-specific knowledge and skills with current CTE theory and practice to create professionals who can train others in those occupations. The program is geared to promote professionalism and continual growth and development by combining professional and workplace knowledge with the fundamentals of CTE. Our mission is to produce graduates who will:

  • Be effective instructors armed with a variety of tools to teach diverse learners.
  • Be thoughtful and intentional about their educational practices.
  • Disrupt negative stereotypes and sell the field of CTE.
  • Be ethical and professional practitioners.

This degree is tailored to those who are interested in teaching their occupation to others in formal or informal settings. Students either already are or desire to become secondary, post-secondary, or business and industry educators. Graduates will have the knowledge and ability to:
  • assume a role in career and technical education within society.
  • plan, develop, deliver, and assess instruction in an occupationally specific area, and
  • Integrate current technological and safety practices into the instructional environment of the classroom or workplace.

Student Learning Outcomes
  • Validate 3 years of occupational knowledge and skills through coursework, Job Ready NOCTI Exam, industry credentials, and/ or occupational experience credit. (Major courses vary by student indicated by milestone).
  • Demonstrate occupation-specific knowledge and skills through program and course development and instruction.
  • Examine career and technical education from historical, political, social, and economic perspectives and identify considerations and consequences that impact communities and their work in the profession.
  • Demonstrate the ability to plan, develop, deliver, and assess CTE programs of instruction using proven frameworks that address the needs of diverse learners.
  • Develop a plan for creating, managing, and maintaining, an effective and safe learning environment or workplace that integrates Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) rules and regulations as appropriate.
  • Model health and safety principles and practices as appropriate for the occupational area in the learning environment.
  • Evaluate and utilize current and emerging technology resources and tools to positively impact personal productivity/efficiency and the learning environment.
  • Effectively advocate the benefits, needs, and role of CTE to local stakeholders.
  • Promote relationships between stakeholders and educational entities at the local level.
  • Effectively communicate in both written and oral formats in educational and professional settings.
  • Integrate and model general and occupation-specific employability skills and professional and ethical conduct in CTE curriculum and instruction.
  • Support inclusion and equity by evaluating educational practices to remove educational barriers.

Additional Admission Requirements
  • Individual program admission requirements over and above admission to NAU are required.

    • An emphasis transferred as part of an associate degree or other set of courses from a community college.
Liberal Studies Requirement
  • Students who have not earned an AGEC/IGETC/CSUGE must complete all General Studies requirements and diversity requirements before graduation.

Transfer Block
  • Students may transfer up to 90 units of community college and/or university credit from regionally accredited institutions of higher education.

Major Requirements
  • This 90-30 degree allows you to transfer up to 90 units of community college credit from regionally accredited institutions of higher education and requires 85 units distributed as follows:

    • Career and Technical Education Requirements taken at NAU: 30 units
    • Internship Requirement: 4 units
    • An emphasis transferred as part of an associate degree or other set of courses from regionally accredited institutions of higher education: 51 units.

    Take the following 85 units units with a minimum GPA of 2.5:
  • Internship Requirement (4 units)

    • Select one from the following (4 units)
      • CTE 408
      • Internship transfer credit
      • Occupational experience credit
  • Emphasis Requirement (51 units)

    • Select courses in one of the following approved career and technical education (CTE) occupation areas (51 units):
      • Business and Marketing Emphasis
      • Education and Training Emphasis
      • Family and Consumer Science Emphasis
      • Health Careers Emphasis
      • Industrial and Emerging Technologies Emphasis
      • Occupational Emphasis

    Coursework can include any combination of transfer credit* approved by CTE advisor, minor(s) from related fields, certificate(s) awarded by accredited institutions from related fields, National Occupational Competency Testing Institute (NOCTI) Job Ready test credit, exam-based industry certification, and/or occupational experience credit. See your advisor for more information.

    *For Occupational Emphasis, transfer credits must be approved coursework clusters of at least 15 units in a specific occupation.
     

    Please note that if you have previous trade, industrial, or technical experience, we may grant you up to 20 units toward your major requirements upon unit verification of work experience aligned with the emphasis area and coursework. Additionally, you may earn 35 units for the successful passage of an emphasis area/coursework-aligned NOCTI test or an advisor-approved exam-based industry certification. See your advisor for more information.

  • Students enrolled in this plan may not enroll in or pursue the following due to the number of overlapping units:

Accelerated Bachelor's to Master's Program
    • This program is available as an Accelerated Undergraduate/Graduate Plan wherein a student may start a master's degree while simultaneously completing their bachelor's degree.

    • Students enrolled at the Online campus for both undergraduate and graduate programs are eligible to complete the Bachelor of Science in Education in Career and Technical Education - 90-30 and start a Master of Education in Career and Technical Education at NAU.

    • Students must apply to the master's program by the graduate program's application deadline, meet all admissions requirements listed in the policy Accelerated Bachelor's to Master's Programs, as well as the admissions requirements for the specified master's plan to be considered for admission. Admission to programs is competitive and qualified applicants may be denied because of limits on the number of students admitted each year.

      Be sure to speak with the Master's Program Director/Coordinator regarding your interest in the accelerated plan.
    • Students accepted into the Accelerated Program should complete the following requirements:

    • This 90-30 degree allows you to transfer up to 90 units of community college credit from regionally accredited institutions of higher education and requires 85 units distributed as follows:

      • Career and Technical Education Requirements taken at NAU: 30 units
      • Internship Requirement: 4 units
      • An emphasis transferred as part of an associate degree or other set of courses from regionally accredited institutions of higher education: 51 units.


      Take the following 85 units units with a minimum GPA of 2.5:

    • Internship Requirements (4 units)

      • Select one from the following (4 units)
        • CTE 408
        • Internship transfer credit
        • Occupational experience credit
    • Emphasis Requirement (51 units)

      • Select courses in one of the following approved career and technical education (CTE) occupation areas (51 units):
        • Business and Marketing Emphasis
        • Education and Training Emphasis
        • Family and Consumer Science Emphasis
        • Health Careers Emphasis
        • Industrial and Emerging Technologies Emphasis
        • Occupational Emphasis

      Coursework can include any combination of transfer credit* approved by CTE advisor, minor(s) from related fields, certificate(s) awarded by accredited institutions from related fields, National Occupational Competency Testing Institute (NOCTI) Job Ready test credit, exam-based industry certification, and/or occupational experience credit. See your advisor for more information.

      *For Occupational Emphasis, transfer credits must be approved coursework clusters of at least 15 units in a specific occupation.
       

      Please note that if you have previous trade, industrial, or technical experience, we may grant you up to 20 units toward your major requirements upon unit verification of work experience aligned with the emphasis area and coursework. Additionally, you may earn 35 units for the successful passage of an emphasis area/coursework-aligned NOCTI test or an advisor-approved exam-based industry certification. See your advisor for more information.

    • Students enrolled in this plan may not enroll in or pursue the following due to the number of overlapping units:

General Electives
  • Additional coursework is required if, after you have met the previously described requirements, you have not yet completed a total of 120 units of credit.

    You may take these remaining courses from any of the academic areas, using these courses to pursue your specific interests and goals. You may also use prerequisites or transfer credits as electives if they weren't used to meet major, minor, or liberal studies requirements.

    We encourage you to consult with your advisor to select the courses that will be most advantageous to you.

Additional Information
  • Career and Technical Education State Teaching Certification

    You may become career and technical education certified in Arizona by providing documentation of previous occupational experience to the teacher-certification unit at the Arizona Department of Education. See your advisor for more information.

  • Be aware that some courses may have prerequisites that you must also successfully complete. For prerequisite information, click on the course or see your advisor.