Arizona State University enrolled more than 200,000 students this year, including 119,300 degree-seeking students online, the largest online student body in university history and nearly four times what it was a decade ago.
Working adults, parents and military-connected learners are increasingly turning to flexible online degrees to make that growth possible.
At the center of that milestone is ASU Online. With 84,600 students enrolled this fall, it is a driving force behind the university's continued growth and its mission of accessible education.
For many students, pursuing a degree has traditionally meant fitting their lives around higher education. ASU has worked to reverse that, expanding access to education through online learning so more students can pursue degrees in ways that fit their careers, families, locations and other responsibilities.
“It is clear that the mission that has guided ASU's transformation for more than two decades — measuring our success not by whom we exclude, but by whom we include and how they succeed — is an enduring model for how a top research university can be of greater service now and into the future,” ASU President Michael Crow said.
A decade ago, ASU enrolled roughly 30,000 students online. Today, that population is nearly four times as large, as more working adults, parents and military-connected learners seek flexible, high-quality pathways to a degree.
That growth shows up not just in numbers, but in the paths of individual students like Aubri Renn.
Meeting students where they are
Aubri Renn hasn’t called one single place home.
Growing up in a military family, moving from around the country became expected. That meant attending multiple universities, yet never completing her degree.
“I was given out-of-state tuition, which was incredibly expensive for me, and on top of that, I was having to drive to campus, an hour from where I live, four days of the week, and I was working a part-time job on top of that,” Renn said.
Living in Texas at the time, Renn’s mother suggested looking west. With three years of college experience, she was ready to finish what she had started at ASU.
ASU’s expansion into digital teaching and learning has not come at the expense of rigor. Courses are taught by the same faculty who teach on ASU's physical campuses, and online students earn the exact same ASU degree as their on-campus peers, a distinction ASU EdPlus, the unit facilitating ASU Online, says sets it apart from many other online providers.
“The significance of this growth isn’t the number alone. It’s what the number represents,” said Phil Regier, university dean and CEO of ASU EdPlus. “More students are able to pursue a high-quality ASU degree without putting the rest of their lives on hold. When we combine academic excellence with the flexibility and support learners need, we expand who can see themselves earning a university degree and who has the opportunity to succeed.”
Today's ASU Online student looks different from the traditional undergraduate: the median age is 26, while the mean age is 30. Hundreds of learners in their 60s and 70s earn their diplomas from ASU every year.
Online learning at ASU has also become a critical pathway for the nation's military-connected learners — among ASU's record 27,300 military-connected students last year, the vast majority chose to learn online.
For Renn, pursuing her degree online made balancing work, life and school easier. She could access her courses at any time, even as she worked until the early hours of the morning. But life has a way of changing well-intended plans, and Renn made the difficult decision to once again place her studies on hold.
“I can't put into words how much of a failure I felt like,” she said. “I was only two classes away from graduating, and I had already put more than five years into my degree, and so dropping out when I was so close to the finish line felt like the worst thing in the world.”
Support that meets the moment
Expanding access, however, is only part of the equation. For ASU Online students, flexibility is paired with personalized support designed to help them persist and succeed, support that proved decisive for Renn.
Online students have access to success coaching and a range of academic and student services, including re-entry, academic advising, tutoring and career resources, designed to help students stay on track from enrollment to graduation. That support is especially important for working adults and other learners balancing college with careers, families and responsibilities outside the classroom.
“Online students bring different goals, responsibilities and life experiences to their education, so supporting their success can’t be one-size-fits-all,” said Nancy Cervasio, deputy chief operating officer at ASU EdPlus. “Our focus is on providing the right support at the right time to help students stay engaged, make progress and ultimately achieve their goals.”
After noticing her lapse in enrollment, Renn’s re-entry specialist, Kimlee Grant, reached out to ask how she could support her and whether she would consider returning to finish her degree. Renn says that call was pivotal.
“I struggled at first to explain that the circumstances meant that I probably never could come back, but she was so patient with me,” Renn said. “She began researching different ways to help me, especially when I told her I wanted my degree more than anything, and I had been so close to getting it.”
Renn felt seen, heard and understood.
With Grant’s help, they identified a major that better fit her goals and assisted her in completing her FAFSA and registering for classes.
“Everything has turned around for me, and I have never been so excited, even when I first applied for ASU,” Renn said. “It finally feels like that degree is mine, and I couldn't have done it without Kimlee and the resources that ASU has for students like me who felt like maybe the world was against them.”
For Renn, finishing isn’t just about closing her five-year journey. It’s about what she plans to do next.
“I want my degree not just because I have worked so hard for it, but I really want to be a teacher in secondary education,” Renn said. “I get to take this knowledge with me when I become a teacher, and hopefully pass it on to my future students. My degree means more than just everything I have endured to get to the finish line. It also represents the people who have helped me along the way and my desire to help future students like me.”
Redefining who a university can serve
As the fall 2026 semester begins, ASU projects approximately 84,600 students will be enrolled online, alongside 73,400 students on ASU's physical campuses. Combined with a projected 38,000 new students joining ASU this year — including first-year, transfer and graduate students — the numbers reflect a university where online and in-person education are no longer separate tracks, but complementary front doors to the same institution.
ASU's broader enrollment milestone reflects more than two decades of work to redefine who a public research university can serve. From launching ASU Online in 2010 to expanding degree offerings that align with workforce demand in health care, engineering, business, and technology, ASU Online now offers more than 400 online degree programs.
That access is translating into degrees and a broader economic impact. As of summer 2025, more than 114,000 online students graduated from ASU. ASU economists estimated that ASU Online graduates generated a $9.2 billion national economic impact in 2023, including $2.7 billion in Arizona.
For students like Renn, that mission isn't abstract. It's personal, and it's the reason ASU's record enrollment matters as much for who it represents as for the number itself.