| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Type | Online only; no campuses |
| Credentials | Associate, bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees; one undergraduate certificate |
| Typical length | Associate 60 semester hours; bachelor’s 120; master’s 30 to 64 credits; doctorates 44 to 56 |
| Accreditation | Higher Learning Commission, through the American InterContinental University System (reaffirmed July 2024); ACBSP for select business programs; CCNE for the BSN and MSN |
| State authorization | Arizona State Board for Private Postsecondary Education; SARA; registered with California’s BPPE |
| Federal aid | Yes: Pell Grants, Direct Loans and Parent PLUS |
| Owner | Perdoceo Education Corporation; part of AIU since March 2020 and of the AIU System since November 2020 |
| Founded | 1998, as Touro University International; named Trident University International since 2011 |
| Office | 2200 East Germann Road, Suite 150, Chandler, AZ 85286 (administrative; no classes) |
| Facts checked | 12 October 2026 |
An online university inside the AIU System
Trident University International opened in July 1998 as Touro University International, a branch of Touro College, and took its current name in 2011. Perdoceo Education Corporation, then Career Education Corp., brought it into American InterContinental University on 2 March 2020, and since November 2020 it has been part of the AIU System, whose three universities are now AIU, California Southern University and Trident. Each keeps its own name. Trident is a degree-granting online university rather than a trade school: its certificates in medical billing and coding and in computerized accounting closed to new students in 2021 and 2020. The closest fits for career training are the associate degree in cybersecurity and the RN-to-BSN for working nurses.
Programs and October 2026 prices
All programs are online and measured in semester hours (SH), mostly in 4-hour courses. Totals below are standard-rate prices from Trident’s October 2026 schedule, or the per-credit rate times the program’s credits where no total is listed; military rates are lower (see the next section). A dash means the catalog gives nothing notable.
| Program | Credential | Length | Notes | Standard tuition (Oct 2026) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cybersecurity | AS | 60 SH | No industry certification named | $26,880 |
| Homeland Security | AS, BS, MS | 60 / 120 SH; MS 40 credits | BS concentrations include Criminal Justice Administration and Cybersecurity | $26,880 / $53,760 |
| Professional Studies | AS | 60 SH | — | $26,880 |
| Business Administration | BS | 120 SH | Seven optional concentrations | $53,760 |
| Human Resource Management | BS, MS | 120 SH; MS 36 credits | — | $53,760; MS $21,960 |
| Computer Science | BS | 120 SH | Optional cybersecurity concentration | $53,760 |
| Artificial Intelligence | BS | At least 120 SH | — | $53,760 |
| Information Technology Management | BS, MS | BS at least 120 SH; MS 36 credits | Not designed to meet any licence or certification | $53,760; MS $21,960 |
| Health Administration | BS, MS, DHA | 120 SH; MS 48 credits; DHA 44 | No billing or coding content | $53,760; MS $29,280; DHA $36,344 |
| Health Sciences | BS, PhD | 120 SH; PhD 56 credits | Public Health concentrations | $53,760; PhD $58,184 |
| Nursing (RN-to-BSN) | BSN | 120 SH, 60 charged | Active RN licence required; CCNE; not open to Tennessee residents | $26,880 plus $103 resource fee |
| Nursing | MSN | 36 credits | CCNE | $21,960 |
| Business | MBA, DBA, PhD | MBA 48 credits; DBA 48; PhD 56 | ACBSP covers select business programs | MBA $29,280; DBA $39,648; PhD $58,184 |
Several former options no longer enroll new students, including the accounting, finance, marketing and international business concentrations, the medical billing and coding certificates and the graduate certificates; Trident’s catalog lists them in its teach-out list.
What the main programs cover
AS in Cybersecurity
The 60-semester-hour associate degree builds from programming and operating systems to networks. Its core courses are Object-Oriented Programming, Operating Systems and Security, Network Fundamentals, Network Defense and, as the capstone, Ethical Hacking and Intrusion Detection. General education adds further computer science and IT courses. At least 15 semester hours must be taken at Trident. The catalog names no certification exam the degree prepares for. Its 2022–23 completion cohort had fewer than 10 students, too few for a published rate.
BS in Business Administration
The 44-hour core spreads across accounting, business communication, international business, finance, information technology, management, marketing and operations management, with economics and mathematics added alongside. Students can take a 16-hour concentration of four courses: Contract Management, Digital Marketing, General Business, Human Resource Management, IT Management, Logistics or Project Management. The older Accounting, Finance, Marketing, International Business and Criminal Justice Administration concentrations no longer take new students.
BS in Human Resource Management
The 48-hour core centers on HR practice: Staffing, Training and Development, Global Human Resource Management and Human Resource Information Systems, alongside management courses and a course on HR management and the law. It closes with a capstone. Like other Trident bachelor’s degrees it totals 120 semester hours, and at least 30 must be earned at Trident. The catalog does not say the degree is aligned with SHRM or any other certification body.
BS in Health Administration
This degree trains managers rather than clinicians or coders. The 48-hour core includes Management of Health Programs, Health Care Finance, quality and Health Information Systems. It has no medical billing or coding courses; Trident’s separate billing and coding certificates closed to new students in May 2021. Students who want a public health focus can choose the BS in Health Sciences instead, whose core covers epidemiology, health statistics and health promotion.
RN-to-BSN
The Bachelor of Science in Nursing is a degree-completion program for registered nurses, not a route to an RN licence. Applicants need an active, unencumbered RN licence and an associate degree or diploma in nursing; their earlier study counts toward general education. The 36-hour nursing core runs from NUR 300 to NUR 499 and includes physical assessment, with a minimum grade of B- in every nursing course. Trident does not accept Tennessee residents into the program.
Cost: one national rate, priced by military status
Trident charges the same rate in every state, with no in-state or out-of-state difference. Its October 2026 tuition schedule sets the standard associate and bachelor’s rate at $448 per credit; the standard bachelor’s rate on the previous schedule was $415. The military rates include a military grant and also apply to immediate family members, except families of Department of War (DoW) civilian employees.
| Level (Oct 2026) | Standard | Retired military and veterans | Active duty, Reserve, Guard |
|---|---|---|---|
| Associate’s and bachelor’s | $448 per credit | $356 | $250 |
| Master’s | $610 per credit | $457 | $250 (their family members and DoW civilian employees $350) |
| Ed.D. in Leadership | $799 per credit | $719 | $689 |
| DBA and DHA | $826 per credit | $743 | $688 |
| PhD | $1,039 per credit | $929 | $840 |
At the standard rate a 120-credit bachelor’s degree lists at $53,760 and a 60-credit associate degree at $26,880. Books are included in tuition. Other charges include a one-time $150 graduation fee, $10 per transcript, a $35 to $55 payment-plan fee and a $103 nursing resource fee, per Trident’s fee schedule; California residents also pay the state’s STRF fee.
Federal aid and military benefits
Trident students can use Pell Grants, Direct Subsidized and Unsubsidized Loans and Parent PLUS loans. Federal aid eligibility is held by the AIU System as a whole. Service members can use Tuition Assistance under the Department of War Voluntary Education Partnership agreement that the AIU System signed in July 2024, which runs to 2029. The catalog covers VA benefits under Chapter 31 (Veteran Readiness and Employment) and Chapter 33 (Post-9/11 GI Bill).
Admissions and schedule
Classes run online in sessions, and Trident enrolls full-time students only; a full-time academic year is two semesters, about seven months. Transfer credit is accepted, but at least 30 semester hours of a bachelor’s degree and 15 of an associate degree must be taken at Trident. The Organizational Leadership certificate accepts no transfer credit. The RN-to-BSN requires an active RN licence and is closed to Tennessee residents.
Accreditation and federal oversight
Trident is not accredited on its own. The Higher Learning Commission accredits the American InterContinental University System, of which Trident is part; HLC reaffirmed that accreditation after a comprehensive evaluation on 16 July 2024, set the next reaffirmation for 2033–34 and lists no sanctions (checked October 2026). The AIU System is licensed by the Arizona State Board for Private Postsecondary Education, takes part in SARA through Arizona and is registered with California’s Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education.
Trident’s catalog lists programmatic accreditation from ACBSP for select business programs, CCNE for the BSN and MSN, and AAQEP for educator preparation. The AIU System says its programs are not designed to prepare students for state licensing exams.
In February 2025 the Department of Education recertified the AIU System’s federal aid agreement through 30 June 2027 and removed it from provisional certification, Perdoceo reported in its 2025 annual report. The same report says the AIU System is among the schools listed in the 2022 Sweet v. Cardona borrower-defense settlement, under which former students of listed schools receive automatic or expedited loan relief; Perdoceo says it is not a party to the settlement.
Enrollment and results
Trident does not publish its own enrollment. The AIU System as a whole had 10,510 students on 30 June 2026, and Perdoceo said a modest decrease at Trident contributed to a 1% decline, per its second-quarter 2026 results.
The AIU System’s student outcomes disclosure (as of March 2024) gives Trident a 74% retention rate for students active in the summer to September 2022 sessions who were still enrolled in early 2023 sessions or had graduated, ranging from 42% in the AS in Homeland Security to 93% in the PhD in Educational Leadership. For the 2022–23 award year, 68% of AS in Professional Studies students and 24% of AS in Homeland Security students completed within 150% of normal time; the AS in Cybersecurity had too few students for a rate. Trident publishes no job placement rate.
Before you enroll
- This is a degree university, not a trade school. Trident’s certificates in billing and coding and in accounting closed in 2021 and 2020, and the AIU System says its programs are not designed to prepare students for state licensing exams.
- Check that your option still enrolls. Many concentrations listed on older pages, such as accounting, finance, marketing and international business, are now in teach-out.
- Completion varies widely. Only 24% of 2022–23 AS in Homeland Security students finished within 150% of normal time, against 68% in Professional Studies.
- The RN-to-BSN needs a current RN licence. It does not train new nurses and is closed to Tennessee residents.
- Full-time only. Trident does not enroll part-time students, so every term is a full-time load.
What students say
On Niche, Trident scores 4.1 out of 5 from 262 reviews (checked 12 October 2026), with 114 five-star and 13 one-star reviews. Reviewers praise the flexible online format, instructors who adjust deadlines around military training and deployments, and responsive faculty and advisors. Complaints center on a hard-to-reach financial aid office with slow replies, coding courses that rely on copying code and have tooling problems, and a heavy writing load. Most reviews date from 2022 to 2025 and arrive slowly rather than in bursts: the latest came about two weeks before checking and the one before it about ten months before checking, so they mostly reflect earlier years.
Facts checked October 2026.
Programs & Courses
Business and management
- Business Administration Bachelor of Science (concentrations in contract management, digital marketing, general business, human resource management, IT management, logistics and project management)
- Human Resource Management Bachelor of Science and Master of Science
- Leadership Bachelor of Science and Master of Science; Organizational Leadership undergraduate certificate
- Master of Business Administration
- Doctor of Business Administration; PhD in Business Administration
Computer science and IT
- Cybersecurity Associate of Science
- Computer Science Bachelor of Science (optional cybersecurity concentration)
- Artificial Intelligence Bachelor of Science
- Information Technology Management Bachelor of Science and Master of Science
Health administration and health sciences
- Health Administration Bachelor of Science and Master of Science; MSHA/MBA dual degree
- Doctor of Health Administration
- Health Sciences Bachelor of Science (Public Health concentrations)
- PhD in Health Sciences
Nursing (for licensed RNs)
- Bachelor of Science in Nursing (RN-to-BSN)
- Master of Science in Nursing
Homeland security
- Homeland Security Associate of Science, Bachelor of Science and Master of Science
Education and general studies
- Master of Arts in Education; Doctor of Education in Leadership; PhD in Educational Leadership
- Professional Studies Associate of Science
Campus Locations
100% Online , Online,