University of North America (UoNA)

The school is accredited by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) and accredited by the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools (ACICS) to offer bachelor's and master's degrees. The Commission on Accreditation of Independent Colleges and Schools is licensed by the Commission on Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) nationwide.

In October 2009, the University received authorization from SEVP/ICE to admit international students and to incorporate Curricular Practical Training (CPT) into the curriculum structure of the Master's program.

In November 2018 and December 2018, the University received approval from the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) and the American Council for the Accreditation of Independent Colleges and Schools (ACICS) to offer the Master of Science in Accounting and Finance (MSAF), the Master of Science in Cybersecurity (MSCYS), the Master of Science in Education/Instructional Technology (MSEIT), the Master of Science in Management and Data Analytics (MSMDA), and Master of Science in Systems and Applied Engineering (MSSAE).

In April 2020, ACICS approved the University to offer MBA programs in a 100% online format.

Day 1 CPT Policy

The school's master's program uses an "Integrated Applied Learning" model, where international and local students are required to participate in an internship, which is a key part of the program requirements.

The curriculum requires students to apply and master what they have learned in the program hands-on. Full-time or part-time jobs or internships provide students with an opportunity to relate theory to practice.

If students are to complete class assignments, they will also need to participate in an internship to do so well.

At the end of each class, students are asked to write a paper on how they applied what they learned in the course to a real-world job and how these jobs or internships enhanced their abilities. Such internships allow graduates to gain work experience, improve interpersonal skills, and increase their employment rate upon graduation.

The school's Student Service department will also assist students in finding relevant internships. Such internships can be paid or unpaid, full-time (20+ hours per week) or part-time (less than 20 hours per week).

Suppose USCIS questions the need for a full-time CPT internship during the H1b application process.

In that case, the school will assist with official documentation stating that the CPT internship is an essential part of the program and a required course, not an elective.

With this documentation, the USCIS will usually approve the challenge to the full-time CPT.

The school uses a quarter system, with 4 quarters per year, each quarter lasting 11 weeks, with 1-2 weeks of vacation time between quarters, and students can enroll at the start of each quarter.

Each quarter requires 2 courses to be completed. Students may take a quarter off after 3 consecutive quarters.

Each quarter is 11 weeks long and requires 11 times onsite attendance, with a half-day class each Saturday. Students may take a maximum of 3 absences per quarter, or students will fail the class, and the school will require them to retake the class.

The application deadline is 4 weeks before the start of the school year. If you miss the deadline, please contact CPTDOG advisors, we can help you arrange an interview as soon as possible, and we can help you to receive an acceptance letter and I-20 in 3-5 days.

Students in the Master's program must complete the following 12 courses over 2 years (maximum 3 years).

According to the schedule below. There are 2 required standard core courses, 5 required program core courses, 4 elective courses, and a capstone course. The standard program length is 24 months (including vacation) and can be extended to 3 years for completion. The master's program allows 9 credits (2 courses) to be transferred from other schools.

• Common Core Courses - 2 Courses
• Program Core Courses - 5 Courses
• Elective Courses - 4 Courses
• Capstone Course - 4.5 Credits
  Program Total - 54 Credits

The College of Business and Management has the following programs are available with Full-time CPT:

• Master of Science in Accounting and Finance (MSAF)
• Master of Business Administration (MBA)
• Master of Science in Educational/Instructional Technology (MSEIT)
• College of Technology

The College of Science has the following programs are available with Full-time CPT:

• Master of Science in Computer Science (MSCS)
• Master of Science in Cyber Security (MSCYS)
• Master of Science in Information Technology (MSIT)
• Master of Science in Management and Data Analytics (MSMDA)
• Master of Science in System and Application Engineering (MSSAE)

The following are descriptions of the courses in each program:

Master of Science in Accounting and Finance (MSAF)

• Common Core Courses (9 credits):
  • MGMT515 Management that Transforms
  • TECH515 Technology that Transforms Program
• Core Courses (22.5 credits):
  • ACCT520 Accounting for Decision Making
  • ACCT521 Advanced Accounting
  • ECON520 Managerial Economics
  • FINS520 Finance for Decision Making
  • QANT510 Statistics for Decision Making
• Elective Courses (18 credits):
  • Group 1 Electives:
    • ACCT 522 Principles of Taxation
    • ACCT523 Auditing
    • ACCT524 International Accounting

  • Group 2 Electives:

    • FINS530 Financial Data / Statistics Management
    • FINS540 Investment Portfolio Management
    • FINS550 Case Studies in Financial Analysis and Reporting

Note: Applicants need to have accounting work and study experience. Other applicants with no relevant background must have completed at least one course in business accounting and one course in economics as part of their undergraduate studies.

Master Of Business and Administration (MBA)

• Common Core Courses (9 credits):
  • MGMT515 Management that Transforms
  • TECH515 Technology that Transforms Program
• Core Courses (22.5 credits):
  • ACCT520 Accounting for Decision Making
  • ECON520 Managerial Economics
  • FINS520 Finance for Decision Making
  • MKTG571 Marketing Management
  • QANT510 Statistics for Decision Making
• Elective Courses (18 credits):
  • Four courses selected from master’s program electives
• Capstone Course (4.5 credits):
  • CAPS600 Graduate Capstone

• Common Core Courses (9 credits):
  • MGMT515 Management that Transforms
  • TECH515 Technology that Transforms Program
• Core Courses (22.5 credits):
  • EITE510 Principles of Learning/Teaching Strategies and Methods
  • EITE520 Transformational Education/Instruction
  • EITE530 Contemporary Classroom Approaches
  • EITE540 Integrating Technology in the Classroom
  • EITE550 Ethical Considerations for Educational/ Instructional Technologies
• Elective Courses (18 credits):
  • EITE 505 Adaptive Teaching and Learning Approaches
  • EITE 515 Tools for Digital-Age Learning Strategies
  • EITE 525 Data-Driven Instruction for Individualized Learning
  • EITE 535 Outcome-Based Instructional Applications
  • EITE 545 Active Learning in the Collaborative Classroom
  • EITE 555 Strategies for Adapting System-Wide Technologies Total Electives 18
• Capstone Course (4.5 credits)
  • CAPS600 Graduate Capstone

Note: The program requires applicants to have an undergraduate major in educational administration or a related field, or to have relevant work experience in the field of education.

Master of Science in Computer Science (MSCS)

• Common Core Courses (9 credits):
  • MGMT515 Management that Transforms
  • TECH515 Technology that Transforms Program
• Core Courses (22.5 credits):
  • CMSC501 Structure of Programming Languages
  • CMSC 512 Computer Architecture
  • CMSC530 Operating System Internals
  • INST569 Data and System Security
  • TECH540 Database Management Systems
• Elective Courses (18 credits):
  • Four courses selected from master’s program electives
• Capstone Course (4.5 credits):
  • CAPS600 Graduate Capstone

Master of Science in Cyber Security (MSCYS)

• Common Core Courses (9 credits):
  • MGMT515 Management that Transforms
  • TECH515 Technology that Transforms Program
• Core Courses (22.5 credits):
  • INST 540 Information Security Policy
  • INST 541 Principles of Information Security
  • INST 542 Information Security Risk
  • INST 569 Data and System Security
  • INST 570 Information Security Ethics and Legal Aspects
• Elective Courses (18 credits):
  • CYBR 501 Cybersecurity Range Lab Simulations and Training
  • CYBR 502 Operating System Internals
  • CYBR 550 System Architecture and Security Design
  • CMSC 530 Forensics and Incident Response
  • CMSC 580 Cloud and Security Control
  • INST 543 System Defense and Network Security
• Capstone Course (4.5 credits):
  • CAPS600 Graduate Capstone

Master of Science in Information Technology (MSIT)

• Common Core Courses (9 credits):
  • MGMT515 Management that Transforms
  • TECH515 Technology that Transforms Program
• Core Courses (22.5 credits):
  • INST534 Computer and Information Networking
  • INST574 Management Information Systems
  • INST569 Data and System Security
  • TECH540 Database Management Systems
  • TECH581 Electronic Business Systems
• Elective Courses (18 credits):
  • Four courses selected from master’s program electives
• Capstone Course (4.5 credits):
  • CAPS600 Graduate Capstone

• Common Core Courses (9 credits):
  • MGMT515 Management that Transforms
  • TECH515 Technology that Transforms Program
• Core Courses (22.5 credits):
  • DATA 521Tackling Big Data Challenges-Intro to Big Data
  • DATA 522 Solving Big Data Problems- Data Analytics
  • DATA 524 Information Visualization
  • INST 522 Database Design and Processing
  • QANT 510 Statistics for Decision Making
• Elective Courses (18 credits):
  • DATA 523 Big Data Technologies
  • INST 525 Business Intelligence and Data Warehousing
  • DATA 526 Advanced Analytics and Modeling
  • DATA 530 Demonstrated Solutions with Analytics
  • QANT 520 Probabilistic and Scholastic Models
  • QANT 530 Statistical Estimation and Regression Analysis
  • DATA 540 Deterministic Optimization Models
• Capstone Course (4.5 credits):
  • CAPS600 Graduate Capstone

Note: This program requires an undergraduate degree in Information Technology or Business Management, Marketing, or completion of a computer language course and a course in calculus or introductory statistics, or work experience in a related field. Experience in a related field.

Master of Science in System and Application Engineering (MSSAE)

• Common Core Courses (9 credits):
  • MGMT515 Management that Transforms
  • TECH515 Technology that Transforms Program
• Core Courses (22.5 credits):
  • CMSC 509 Software Methodology
  • CMSC 512 Computer Architecture
  • DATA 521 Tackling Big Data Challenges
  • INST 534 Computer and Information Networking
  • CMSC 580 System Architecture and Security Design
• Elective Courses (18 credits):
  • CMSC 530 Operating Systems Internals
  • CMSC 583 Software Programming Testing and Integration
  • CMSC 589 JAVA Programming
  • MSAE 530 Cloud and Mobile Computing
  • DATA 523 Big Data Technologies
  • INST 518 Technology and Operations Management
  • MSAE 550 Emerging Systems and Technologies
  • CYBR 501 Cloud and Security Controls
  • CYBR 502 System Defense and Network Security
• Capstone Course (4.5 credits):
  • CAPS600 Graduate Capstone

Note: The program requires an undergraduate degree in Information Technology, Engineering, Computer Science, Mathematics or other Science-related field, or work experience in a related field.

Each quarter requires 2 courses of 4.5 credits each, for a total of 9 credits. The Master's program requires 54 credits and can be completed in 1 year and 6 months.

The Master's program costs $390 per credit, $3,510 per quarter for 9 credits, and international students are required to register for a minimum of 3 quarters per year for a total of $10,530.

Students who need to apply for CPT do not need to pay extra tuition for CPT credits, but they need to pay $585 CPT administrative fee when they apply for Approved Quarter Off after 3 consecutive semesters.

For students with good grades during their undergraduate or graduate studies, the school is friendly to H1b to F-1 applicants.

When H1b encounters RFE, the school can respond to the USCIS question about the need for full-time CPT by presenting information that CPT is a required course completed in the program and students who are now in H1b status and need to convert to F-1 status can apply for scholarships.

Scholarships are also available for students who have completed a master's degree and are pursuing a second master's degree at UONA.

CPTDOG can assist with the above scholarships at no cost, please contact us.