Want to benefit from Naropa's contemplative approach, but have work, family, or financial obligations that limit your mobility? 

Naropa will meet you where you are. 

With five low-residency degree programs plus a variety of innovative eLearning options, Naropa's online college courses are the perfect opportunity to advance your career and enrich your life, all without leaving your zip code.   

Naropa is a pioneer in broadening the reach of meditation skills and contemplative pedagogy through its distance learning applications. As members of the National Council for State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements (NC-SARA), we embrace students from all over the country and the world. 

Welcome to online education at Naropa.

FIND YOUR ONLINE PROGRAM

Master of Arts in Ecopsychology

Combine your love for nature with your passion for helping others in a 2-year, 38-credit program that trains students to become educators, green entrepreneurs, nature therapists, and more.

Through online courses and four Boulder, Colorado-based intensives, you’ll connect deeply with nature, learn the tenets of transpersonal psychology, and gain wilderness survival skills.

This is an online learning experience that connects you to the healing power of nature rather than distracting you from it.

Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing 

Connect with writers all over the world from your home writing desk. In Naropa's low-residency Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing, you'll learn to experiment with language, take creative risks, and push your craft to a new level.

This 2-year, 40-credit distance learning program combines online courses with 30 total days of on-campus residency in Boulder, Colorado, including participation in Naropa's Summer Writing Program. By the end of your two years in the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics, you will have widened your literary circle, learned the ropes of printing and publishing, and completed a ready-for-publication manuscript.

Master of Arts in Mindfulness-Based Transpersonal Counseling (Hybrid Program) 

The Mindfulness-Based Transpersonal Counseling concentration within the Master of Arts in Clinical Mental Health Counseling asks future counselors to approach their work from a transpersonal and humanistic point of view. Personal contemplative work and Gestalt awareness are an integral part of the program's curriculum.

The format of this 3-year, 60-credit hybrid program is 50% online education paired with 50% in-person intensives held primarily on Naropa's Boulder, Colorado, campus. The program is highly interactive and includes a 700-hour counseling internship in your area.

Master of Divinity (Low-Residency Program)

Naropa's Master of Divinity program, which is rooted in Buddhist philosophy and meditation practice, prepares future leaders of spiritual communities in contemplative, interfaith methods of care and community building.

This 72-credit program combines online learning with inspiring residential retreats where students can connect with peers and faculty. You'll leave this program with a deeper understanding of self, a theoretical grounding in religious studies, and hands-on chaplaincy work that prepares you to inspire others as you continue your spiritual growth. 

Master of Arts in Yoga Studies

Now you can earn a master's degree in Yoga Studies from anywhere in the world. Naropa's graduate yoga studies program provides a scholar's approach to yogic traditions. You'll learn the history, philosophy, and practices of yoga from its original roots to its present-day manifestations.

This 3-year, 48-credit low-residency program will immerse you in yogic practice and the study of yogic tradition, all while allowing for the demands of work and family life. You'll engage in compelling dialogue through faculty-led online learning and meet with your fellow practitioners in two residential retreats.

 

QUICK FACTS

5 Low-Residency Degree Options 2-3 Years to Your Graduate Degree 75% of Graduate Students Receive Federal or Institutional Aid

YOU ARE READY.

Your search for outstanding colleges with online courses stops here. Naropa is dedicated to extending the benefits of our contemplative approach well beyond our Boulder, Colorado, campus. Our eLearning, low-residency options connect seekers of knowledge from all over the world.

Learn From Any Zip Code

Distance Learning With Naropa

Not everyone has the flexibility to move across the country for a transformative graduate program. Now, self-motivated independent learners like yourself no longer have to. Naropa's eLearning programs allow you to study from anywhere in the world. 

With just a computer and internet connection, you can join Naropa’s academic community of contemplative changemakers. The combination of online courses and in-person intensives allow students from all over the world to engage with a deeply connected learning community.

Contemplative practice and experiential learning—hallmarks of Naropa’s on-campus programs since its founding—are integrated into the online coursework and residential retreats, making these programs truly unique distance learning opportunities.

Scholarship Opportunities

Naropa understands that aligning aspirations with budgets can be challenging. 

Graduate scholarships include the Naropa Honor Scholarship, awarded to graduate students who will be enrolled at least half-time (6 credit hours) in a degree-bearing program; the Martha Bonzi Scholarship, awarded to one Master of Arts in Religious Studies student each year; and the Ted Berrigan, Robert Creeley, and Jack Kerouac Scholarships, awarded to returning residency or low-residency MFA Creative Writing students. 

With over 75% of graduate students receiving some form of federal or institutional aid, there's a path to success for you in Naropa's online learning programs.

Contemplative Approach

In the West, Naropa is leading the way in contemplative approaches to education. Our low-residency programs balance rigorous, scholarly work with deep personal introspection and truth-seeking. 

As a result of your time spent at Naropa — online and in person — you'll have more than advanced skills and deep knowledge in your content area. You'll also have an authentic understanding of yourself and your place in the world. 

Whether you're training to be a socially conscious entrepreneur, an educator, a chaplain, or some other agent of change, Naropa can help you know yourself so that you can more fully offer your gifts to others.

 

STUDENTS, TRANSFORMED

“I feel Naropa is changing who I am on a very basic level, preparing me to be a more open and connected person. Naropa is opening my heart to service. Naropa is healing me. Wow—that's quite a job for a university education!”

Christine Baugh, Master of Arts in Ecopsychology, 2016

  

EXPERIENCE NAROPA FROM HOME

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