During the 2025-26 school year, more than 200,000 students enrolled at Arizona State University across campus and online, a first in the university’s history. More than 119,000 of them study online.
That level of reach reflects something ASU believes deeply: access to education strengthens individual lives and, in turn, whole communities. The university takes responsibility for opening the door to higher education and helping students all the way through to graduation and beyond — a commitment written into the ASU Charter and lived out across the university.
ASU President Michael Crow tied the recent enrollment milestone to that founding idea, which he called "the mission that has guided ASU's transformation for more than two decades," one focused on "measuring our success not by whom we exclude, but by whom we include and how they succeed." That mission, he said, "is an enduring model for how a top research university can be of greater service now and into the future."
Phil Regier, university dean for educational initiatives and CEO of ASU EdPlus, has spent nearly two decades building the university's online programs, and he regards growth as a virtue. "At ASU, we think of scale as an asset and a strength. We can take students and make them successful because we have developed muscles that nobody else has,” he said on a recent podcast appearance.
In practice, that comes down to time and repetition. ASU has offered online programs for 20 years, long enough to test what works, learn from what does not and refine the experience for the more than 100,000 alumni who have earned an ASU degree online. That experience is how scale makes room for the individual. At ASU, you don’t have to fit the university. The university has more ways to fit you.
With you from day one to graduation
At any large university, some classes are big, and it is easy to picture yourself as one face in a crowded lecture hall. The online experience at ASU is built to work differently. Your courses are designed by faculty alongside instructional designers who specialize in how people learn online, so the material is shaped around you rather than aimed at a room of hundreds.
That design shows up as connection, not just lectures or course content. Across your courses, you'll find discussion boards, group projects, interactive activities with real-time feedback and office hours with your professor to talk through anything that's giving you trouble. Much of the coursework is asynchronous, meaning there are no set class times, so you can work when it fits your life, with deadlines to keep you on track. Either way, the means to connect are embedded in the course.
Outside of class, the support runs just as deep. As an online student at ASU, you can reach a wide range of student services, from academic advisors and free online tutoring to the writing center, the university library, technology help and research opportunities across many programs. Because ASU is one of the largest universities in the country, its network is extensive and offers more avenues of support tailored to your needs.
One person helps tie it all together: your success coach. From the time you register for classes through graduation, you're paired with a success coach who helps you set goals, develop study strategies, stay motivated and find your way to the right ASU resources. You can reach that coach however works for you, by call, text, email, Zoom or Slack.
Conorie Richmond, a senior success coach at ASU, describes the role this way: "We are accountability partners. We are motivators. We are people who have their backs and hold their hands sometimes. Our job is to get them from the beginning all the way until they cross the stage at graduation."
And your coach is only one part of an entire support team. For example, you'll also work with an enrollment coach who answers your first questions as you apply to the university and an academic advisor who helps you shape your degree path, so there is someone who is always in your corner, every step of the way. That is what personal looks like at a large university: a team that knows who you are and where you’re headed.
The same faculty, curriculum and degree as on campus
Part of what makes a large research university worth choosing is the strength of the faculty and the weight of the degree. Online at ASU, you get all of it. You learn from the same faculty and follow the same curriculum as students on campus, and you earn the same degree.
That parity was the plan from the start. "The point of getting big with online was to make the whole university better," Regier said. Rather than hiring a separate set of online instructors, ASU trained the faculty who already teach on campus to teach online as well.
Offering a high-quality student experience doesn't stop at who teaches your courses. You'll learn from the same curriculum and earn the same degree, with no notation on your diploma and no difference on your transcript. It's the same ASU standards, whether you study online or on campus.
The research power behind your degree
ASU is a top-tier research university, part of a small group recognized for the highest levels of research activity. The university’s reach brings more of everything that fuels discovery: funding, facilities and faculty working on problems that matter.
That work reaches your online classroom. You learn from faculty who are active in their fields and use material that reflects what is happening now. With so much research underway, there are more chances to find work that matches your interests.
The numbers back it up. ASU ranks #1 in the U.S. for engineering and non-science research expenditures, ahead of Penn, Harvard and Wisconsin, according to the National Science Foundation's 2025 HERD survey. ASU has also been named #1 in the U.S. for innovation for 12 years running, ahead of MIT and Stanford, by U.S. News & World Report (2016-2027). For you, that adds up to a degree carrying the reputation of one of the country's leading research universities, no matter where you earn it.
More than 400 ways to build a degree
ASU offers more than 400 online programs across 50+ subject areas. That includes bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees, certificates and minors, plus hard-to-find fields where ASU was among the first to offer an online option. Online programs across engineering, science, health care and law are expanding access to these fields and empowering students to pursue their passions without leaving their home communities. With electives, concentrations and interdisciplinary paths layered on top, you can shape a degree around your own interests and goals.
That range is by design, and it is what lets you personalize your path. "Every program we add starts with real questions. Where is the opportunity? Whose life does it change?" said Casey Evans, Chief Operating Officer at ASU EdPlus. "A catalog this broad isn't about counting programs. It's about the humans betting on themselves and making sure there's a path here for every one of them."
Breadth is only half of it. These are respected, ranked programs. ASU's online bachelor's programs rank among the top 10 in the country, according to U.S. News & World Report (2026). That means more choices to fit your ambition and a degree that holds its value.
Many paths to an ASU degree
A university measured by who it includes creates more than one door, open to students from all walks of life. Whether you're transferring credits, returning after time away or starting college for the first time, ASU has more ways to meet you where you are.
If you’re still exploring your options, Universal Learner Courses are a low-cost, low-risk way to experience college online and gain credit before you formally apply. Earned Admission is another way in, designed to help you start your journey to ASU. You begin with real coursework that counts toward your degree and carries you to full admission, so you're making progress from day one.
Your employer can open a door too. Corporate partnerships, such as the Starbucks College Achievement Plan, provide 100% tuition coverage, allowing eligible employees to earn an ASU degree while they work.
Getting in is only half of it. The Carnegie Foundation classifies ASU as both “high access” and “high earnings,” meaning qualified students can get in and graduates go on to strong outcomes. ASU also ranks in the top 2% in the country for the value of your tuition and tax dollars, ahead of Stanford, Columbia and UC Berkeley, according to Washington Monthly (2026). That’s access and payoff, together.
Each of these paths is a way in for someone who might not otherwise have one, and collectively, they are a major reason so many students have found their place at ASU.
Support outside the classroom, and a community around you
Scale creates more ways to belong, and your support system at ASU goes well beyond academics. By serving so many students, the university can offer a full network of care and connection, and all of it is available to you online.
For your well-being, 360 Life Services connects you to counseling and mental health support, plus financial and legal resources when you need them. Military-connected students have a support team built for their needs, and Student Accessibility and Inclusive Learning Services makes sure your courses and resources work for you.
With this many students, there are more ways to find your people. You can join clubs and organizations through Sun Devil Central, take part in traditions and connect with classmates and a global network of Sun Devils, wherever you are.
For Roxanne Wilcox, '25, MS in public interest technology, getting involved at ASU made a real difference. "Joining clubs allowed me to make friends," Wilcox said. "Collaborating with my peers motivated me and challenged me to be the best version of myself." That showed up in her studies, too. "I can say without a shadow of a doubt that joining online clubs contributed to my academic success," she added.
Your Sun Devil community spans the globe, and your studies can too. Through the Global Education Office, any ASU student can pick from 350 study abroad programs in over 65 countries, so studying online never has to mean staying in one place. Delaney Sevchik, an online master's student, did exactly that with an immersive field experience in Bermuda.
"Being able to work my full-time job, being an online student studying for my master's, and then still getting hands-on experience is exactly what I was looking for," said Sevchik, ‘27, MS in coastal and marine science and management. "It really is such an amazing opportunity that I can do that in Bermuda."
Where an ASU degree takes you
A university as large as ASU creates more ways to succeed. For you, that means a degree that works as hard as you did to earn it.
An ASU degree gives you more than expertise in one subject. You graduate as a more adaptable thinker, with durable skills such as critical thinking, communication and problem-solving that carry across an entire career, no matter how the job market shifts.
ASU ranks #2 in the U.S. for employability among public universities, ahead of UCLA, University of Michigan and Purdue, according to the Global Employability University Ranking and Survey, 2023–2026. It also appears on Forbes’ list of top colleges for launching your career.
The value is financial, too. A bachelor's degree translated to median earnings of $81,800 in 2024, about 62% above what high school graduates earned, according to the College Board's Education Pays 2026 report. Graduates also face lower unemployment and are more likely to land jobs with health coverage and retirement plans, which is all part of why a degree is still worth the investment.
Earn your degree online at ASU
So what can a large university actually do for you? Bring everything ASU has to one student at a time — and that student can be you. More research, more programs, more support and more people, all focused on empowering you to earn a degree and build on it.
The ambition is yours. The power of a large university surrounds that ambition with the faculty, support and community to help you turn that ambition into a degree that moves your life forward.
Explore more than 400 online degree programs at ASU, part of an even larger catalog that includes on-campus options, and find the one that fits you and where you want to go.