Spotlight on NAU: Awards, rankings, and achievements
NAU celebrates national recognition with top rankings and awards in multiple graduate programs, showcasing excellence across academics and student media.
Northern Arizona University is celebrating achievements across different departments, from student broadcasting excellence to top rankings in graduate programs. The university’s commitment to academic excellence and student success continues to garner national attention.
Broadcasting achievements and sports coverage excellence
In a remarkable showing at the 2025 Broadcast Education Association (BEA) awards, NAU’s School of Communication students secured four prestigious national awards from a competitive field of over 2,200 entries. The winning team of Jordan Vallender, Ava Nichols, and Makayla Richardson demonstrated exceptional skill across multiple categories, including a third-place finish for their election night coverage in the Television Newscast category.
The student broadcasting team earned an Award of Excellence for their Super Bowl special in Sports News Programming, with notable contributions from Adriana Sparks and Tony Bacha of NAU’s Sports and Adventure Media certificate program. Individual honors went to Ava Nichols, who received an Award of Excellence in the Student Sports Competition’s Short Video Story Feature category, while Makayla Richardson was recognized with an Award of Excellence in the Student Television News Reporter category.
Graduate programs rank among the nation’s best
NAU’s graduate programs have earned impressive rankings in the U.S. News and World Report’s 2025 Best Graduate Schools list. Notable achievements include:
- 26th nationally for physician assistant programs
- 50th for physical therapy
- 59th in earth sciences
- 61st for occupational therapy
- 69th in education
- 96th in public affairs
Individual achievements in archives and science
Sam Meier, Cline Library’s archivist for discovery, has been selected for the prestigious 2025 Archives Leadership Institute, joining an elite group of 25 archivists nationwide in the program funded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission.
In scientific achievement, three NAU scholars received honorable mentions in the National Science Foundation’s Graduate Research Fellowship Program: Jack Kohm (astronomy and astrophysics), Ashley Martinez (biomaterials), and alumnus Matthew Helms (environmental and ecological engineering).
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