Exhibit 99.1

NATIONAL AMERICAN UNIVERSITY HOLDINGS, INC. REPORTS FISCAL 2015 FIRST QUARTER RESULTS

Company to host conference call on October 2, 2014, at 11:00 a.m. EDT

Financial and Operational Highlights

Rapid City, South Dakota, October 1, 2014 — National American University Holdings, Inc. (the “Company”) (NASDAQ: NAUH), which through its wholly owned subsidiary operates National American University (“NAU”), a regionally accredited, proprietary, multi-campus institution of higher learning, today reported unaudited financial results for its FY 2015 first quarter ended August 31, 2014.

Ronald L. Shape, Ed.D., Chief Executive Officer of the Company, commented, “We were very pleased to report profitable operations in the FY 2015 first quarter, which was a direct result of our continued efforts to better align expenditures with revenues. We are also excited to announce that we received final approvals for the Roueche Graduate Center in Austin, TX, and our Houston, TX, location. Enrollment for the summer 2014 term declined 7.6% to 9,930 students, which was in line with our expectations given the weaker demand among NAU’s targeted student demographic and our recent reduction in enrollment counselors. We anticipate we will continue to experience enrollment pressures over the next few quarters as we work to better align our marketing and enrollment efforts. As a result of two one-time, non-recurring events related to the sale of the Rapid City campus and a change in estimated retirement plan contributions, as well as a number of cost-cutting initiatives including reducing staffing and marketing costs, we were able to significantly lower SG&A expenses and achieve $2.2 million in net income attributable to the Company during the period, compared to a loss of $329,000 in the FY 2014 first quarter.”

Dr. Shape continued, “We continue to roll out the changes we have made to our enrollment counselor system, which we expect to be fully in place by the end of this calendar year, and are encouraged by the initial results thus far. Our goal is to help our counselors perform to the best of their abilities by providing them with the appropriate knowledge and tools. This in turn will benefit NAU’s students by enabling them to make more informed decisions about their academic objectives and the best way for them to move forward. We will continue to monitor the progress of our enrollment and persistence efforts while executing on our strategic initiatives and making sure expenditures remain in line with revenues and the current needs of the Company.”

Operating Review

Enrollment Update

Total NAU student enrollment for the summer term of 2014 decreased 7.6% to 9,930 students from 10,743 during the prior summer term. Students enrolled in 85,085 credit hours compared to 92,106 credit hours during the prior summer term. The current average age of NAU’s students continues to be in the mid-30s, with those seeking undergraduate degrees remaining the highest portion of NAU’s student population.

The Company reported significant enrollment growth in its continuing education and doctoral degree programs, which did not exist in prior-year periods. While still a relatively small percentage of total students, enrollment in these programs improved sequentially to 141 from 49 in NAU’s fiscal 2014 fourth quarter.

The following is a summary of student enrollment at August 31, 2014, and August 31, 2013, by degree level and by instructional delivery method:

Financial Review

The Company, through its wholly owned subsidiary, operates in two business segments: the academic segment, which consists of NAU’s undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral education programs and contributes the primary portion of the Company’s revenue; and ownership in multiple apartments and condominium complexes from which it derives sales and rental income. The real estate operations generated approximately 2.5% of the Company’s revenues for the quarter ended August 31, 2014.

Fiscal 2015 First Quarter Financial Results

Educational services expense specifically relates to the academic segment, and includes salaries and benefits of faculty and academic administrators, costs of educational supplies, facility costs, faculty reference and support material and related academic costs.

Balance Sheet Highlights

Quarterly Dividend

The Board of Directors declared a cash dividend in the amount of $0.045 per share on all shares of the Company’s common stock outstanding and of record as of the close of business on September 30, 2014, that will be paid on or about October 10, 2014.

Conference Call Information

Management will discuss these results in a conference call (with accompanying presentation) on October 2, 2014, at 11:00 a.m. EDT.

The dial-in numbers are:

(877) 407-9078 (U.S.)

(201) 493-6745 (International)

Accompanying Slide Presentation and Webcast

The Company will also have an accompanying slide presentation available in PDF format at the “Investor Relations” section of the NAU website at http://www.national.edu/InvestorRelations. The presentation will be made available 30 minutes prior to the conference call. In addition, the call will be simultaneously webcast over the Internet via the “Investor Relations” section of the NAU website or by clicking on the conference call link: http://national.equisolvewebcast.com/q1-2015.

About National American University Holdings, Inc.

National American University Holdings, Inc., through its wholly owned subsidiary, operates National American University (“NAU”), a regionally accredited, proprietary, multi-campus institution of higher learning offering associate, bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degree programs in technical and professional disciplines. Accredited by The Higher Learning Commission and a member of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, NAU has been providing technical and professional career education since 1941. NAU opened its first campus in Rapid City, South Dakota, and has since grown to multiple locations throughout the United States. In 1998, NAU began offering online courses. Today, NAU offers degree programs in traditional, online, and hybrid formats, which provide students increased flexibility to take courses at times and places convenient to their busy lifestyles.

Forward Looking Statements

This press release may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 regarding the Company’s business. Statements made in this release, other than those concerning historical financial information, may be considered forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this release and are based on current beliefs and expectations and involve a number of assumptions. These forward-looking statements include outlooks or expectations for earnings, revenues, expenses or other future financial or business performance, strategies or expectations, or the impact of legal or regulatory matters on business, results of operations or financial condition. Specifically, forward-looking statements may include statements relating to the future financial performance of the Company; the ability to continue to receive Title IV funds; the growth of the market for the Company’s services; expansion plans and opportunities; consolidation in the market for the Company’s services generally; and other statements preceded by, followed by or that include the words “estimate,” “plan,” “project,” “forecast,” “intend,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “seek,” “target” or similar expressions. These forward-looking statements involve a number of known and unknown risks and uncertainties or other assumptions that may cause actual results or performance to be materially different from those expressed or implied by those forward-looking statements. Other factors that could cause the Company’s results to differ materially from those contained in its forward-looking statements are included under, among others, the heading “Risk Factors” in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K, which was filed on August 8, 2014, and in its other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company assumes no obligation to update the information contained in this release.

Contact Information:

National American University Holdings, Inc.

Dr. Ronald Shape

605-721-5220

rshape@national.edu

NATIONAL AMERICAN UNIVERSITY HOLDINGS, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

UNAUDITED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS AND COMPREHENSIVE INCOME

FOR THE THREE MONTHS ENDED AUGUST 31, 2014 AND 2013

(In thousands except share data)

NATIONAL AMERICAN UNIVERSITY HOLDINGS, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

UNAUDITED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEET

AS OF AUGUST 31, 2014 AND CONDENSED

CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEET AS OF MAY 31, 2014

(In thousands except share data)

The following table provides a reconciliation of net income attributable to the Company to EBITDA:

EBITDA consists of income attributable to the Company, less income from non-controlling interest, plus loss from non-controlling interest, minus interest income, plus interest expense (which is not related to any debt but to the accounting required for the capital lease), plus income taxes, plus depreciation and amortization. The Company uses EBITDA as a measure of operating performance. However, EBITDA is not a recognized measurement under U.S. generally accepted accounting principles, or GAAP, and when analyzing its operating performance, investors should use EBITDA in addition to, and not as an alternative for, income as determined in accordance with GAAP. Because not all companies use identical calculations, the Company’s presentation of EBITDA may not be comparable to similarly titled measures of other companies and is therefore limited as a comparative measure. Furthermore, as an analytical tool, EBITDA has additional limitations, including that (a) it is not intended to be a measure of free cash flow, as it does not consider certain cash requirements such as tax payments; (b) it does not reflect changes in, or cash requirements for, its working capital needs; and (c) although depreciation and amortization are non-cash charges, the assets being depreciated and amortized often will have to be replaced in the future, and EBITDA does not reflect any cash requirements for such replacements, or future requirements for capital expenditures or contractual commitments. To compensate for these limitations, the Company evaluates its profitability by considering the economic effect of the excluded expense items independently as well as in connection with its analysis of cash flows from operations and through the use of other financial measures.

The Company believes EBITDA is useful to an investor in evaluating its operating performance because it is widely used to measure a company’s operating performance without regard to certain non-cash expenses (such as depreciation and amortization) and expenses that are not reflective of its core operating results over time. The Company believes EBITDA presents a meaningful measure of corporate performance exclusive of its capital structure, the method by which assets were acquired and non-cash charges, and provides us with additional useful information to measure its performance on a consistent basis, particularly with respect to changes in performance from period to period.