Arizona State University was founded in 1885 as the Tempe Normal School. It became Arizona State University in 1945.
The university’s mission is to be a leading research institution, offering students a broad array of opportunities to learn and grow in an academic environment that promotes excellence, diversity and inclusion. The school was originally meant to help train teachers for Arizona’s schools, but it quickly grew into a full-fledged university with a wide range of programs and degrees.
ASU is the largest public university in the United States with more than 76,000 students from all 50 states and 130 countries. The university offers 200 bachelor’s and master’s degree programs across six colleges: The Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering, College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, W. P. Carey School of Business, Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts, School for the Future of Innovation in Society and College of Health Solutions.
The university is a member of the Pac-12 Conference and competes in NCAA Division I athletics. The school’s athletic teams are known as the Sun Devils, and their colors are maroon and gold (or cardinal red).
Also ASU offers more than 250 doctoral degrees through its campuswide graduate school — one of only four such schools at public universities nationwide — as well as professional degrees through ASU Online and the Thunderbird School of Global Management.
