Arizona State University's College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

What Arizona State University's College of Liberal Arts and Sciences does

The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences is the largest constituent college of Arizona State University, a public research university established in 1885 and governed by the Arizona Board of Regents. It serves 31,501 students (27,632 undergraduate and 3,869 graduate, Fall 2022) across 21 academic units organized into three divisions: Humanities, Natural Sciences, and Social Sciences. The portfolio includes more than 100 undergraduate degree programs and over 150 graduate degree programs, plus 80+ accelerated master's pathways and 11 Early Start pre-college programs. Delivery is split between Tempe-campus on-ground instruction (15,810 students) and ASU Online (15,691 students), giving the unit a hybrid physical-digital reach. Notable specialized assets include the School of Transborder Studies (the only U.S. school focused on U.S.-Mexico transborder populations), the first fully online accredited undergraduate astronomy degree, the Institute of Human Origins, and the Bee Lab Annex. Faculty research output underpins 25+ NASA missions and instruments in development, supported by federal grants from NASA, NSF, NIH, and NEH.

The College's revenue model combines four primary streams: tuition and fees from undergraduate and graduate enrollment, state appropriations as a public research institution, federal and private research grants and contracts, and philanthropy through the ASU Foundation across six campaign pillars. A secondary revenue stream is The College Drupal Distribution, an internal managed web platform offered to ASU academic units at $1,565-$10,267 per year via tiered SLAs. Proprietary technology includes the Dreamscape Learn virtual-reality platform integrated into NeoBIO and NeoCHEM flexible teaching models for immersive science education, and a custom Drupal 9 distribution with ASU Web Standards v2 compliance. Operational scale is significant: 1,300+ faculty, 1,600+ staff and administration, 50+ research centers and institutes, and $135.6M total scholarship disbursement annually ($133M undergraduate, $2.6M graduate).

Go-to-market is hybrid sales-led and direct-to-consumer: traditional university admissions for on-ground students plus self-serve online enrollment for ASU Online. Customer concentration is structurally low given thousands of individual student payers. The College is led by Senior Vice Provost and Dean Kenro Kusumi, with three divisional deans (Jeffrey Cohen, Dan Cox, Magda Hinojosa) and a leadership team spanning student programs, online innovation, faculty, research, AI/emerging tech, and development. In May 2024, the College received a $1 million four-year grant from CIEE to develop study abroad programs, part of an $8 million multi-university initiative.

Name

Arizona State University's College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Legal name

Arizona State University

Website

https://thecollege.asu.edu

Company type

Public

Founded year

1885

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

5,001–10,000 employees

Short description

The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences is ASU's largest college, serving 31,501 students across 100+ undergraduate and 150+ graduate degree programs in humanities, natural sciences, and social sciences, delivered on the Tempe campus and via ASU Online, supported by 1,300+ faculty and 50+ research centers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Higher Education

NAICS

Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools (6113)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYEDAHACAA

General Liberal Arts Colleges

Education/Higher Education (Colleges & Universities)/Liberal Arts Colleges

Keywords

• Higher education
• Liberal arts education
• Undergraduate degree programs
• Graduate degree programs
• Online university programs

Headquarters

HQ city

Tempe

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Tuition and Fees: Revenue from undergraduate and graduate student tuition and fees for on-ground and ASU Online programs
2. State Funding: State appropriation funding as a public research university
3. Research Grants and Contracts: Federal and private research funding from NASA, NSF, NIH, NEH and other agencies supporting faculty research
4. Philanthropy and Donations: Donations through ASU Foundation including campaign pillars: Build the Future of Health, Reshape Our Relationship with the Planet, Transform Global Education, Empower Community Resilience, Advance Technology for Good, Inspire Tomorrow's Game Changers
5. Website Services (Drupal Distribution): SLA-based website hosting and support services for academic units at $1,565-$10,267+/year

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Arizona State University delivers undergraduate and graduate degree programs across humanities, natural sciences, and social sciences through 21 academic units. It offers 100+ undergraduate and 150+ graduate degree programs via on-ground instruction at Tempe and ASU Online, supplemented by career services (Futures Center), pre-professional advising, research opportunities, and specialized programs including Dreamscape Learn VR labs and accelerated master's pathways.

Product overview

The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Arizona State University is an academic institution offering educational programs and services rather than commercial products. Its core offerings include over 100 undergraduate degrees and 150+ graduate degrees across humanities, natural sciences, and social sciences. The portfolio includes specialized academic units (School of Transborder Studies, School of Human Origins, Institute for Human Origins, Bee Lab Annex), innovative programs (Dreamscape Learn VR labs, Online Undergraduate Research Scholars program, Early Start pre-college program, Accelerated Master's degree pathways), and career services (Futures Center, Pre-Health/Pre-Law Advising). Additionally, The College operates The College Drupal Distribution, a Drupal 9-based website platform offered as a managed service to internal academic units, featuring custom modules for content management, SEO optimization, user management, and Views-based dynamic content display.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Undergraduate and Graduate Degree Programs Comprehensive bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degree programs across 21 academic units in humanities, natural sciences, and social sciences, delivered on-ground at Tempe and via ASU Online.
• Dreamscape Learn Virtual-reality-based experiential learning platform that uses immersive cinematic storytelling to help students understand complex scientific concepts through VR labs.
• Online Undergraduate Research Scholars (OURS) Program Hands-on research opportunities program designed specifically for online students, extending undergraduate research participation to ASU Online learners.
• Futures Center College-wide career hub offering tailored advising, career-focused programming, pre-health and pre-law advising, and experiential learning opportunities for all College students.
• Early Start Program Pre-fall immersive program offering 11 major-specific experiences with faculty mentors before fall classes begin, providing 3 elective credits to invited incoming students.
• Accelerated Master's Degrees Pathway programs combining undergraduate and graduate coursework that enable students to earn both bachelor's and master's degrees in as little as five years by completing dual credit in senior year; 80+ pathways available.
• The College Drupal Distribution Managed Drupal 9-based website building platform with custom theme, configuration, and modules for creating ASU brand-aligned websites; offered to internal ASU academic units and centers as 'Drupal as a Service' on an annual SLA basis.
• First Online Accredited Undergraduate Astronomy Degree First-of-its-kind fully online accredited undergraduate astronomy bachelor's degree offered through ASU Online within The College.

Quantifiable outcome

• Ranked #1 in anthropology nationally (NSF FY18 data)
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Scale indicators22 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• UCLA College of Letters and Science: UCLA's largest college, similar in mission and structure to ASU's College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, covering humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences at a major public research university. Directly comparable in scale, discipline coverage, and research intensity.
• University of Michigan College of Literature, Science, and the Arts: Michigan's primary undergraduate and graduate college spanning humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences at a top public research university. Directly comparable as one of the largest and most research-intensive L&S colleges in the U.S.
• UC Berkeley College of Letters and Science: Berkeley's largest college, encompassing humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences at a leading public research university. Comparable in breadth of programs, research output, and national ranking profile.
• University of Florida College of Liberal Arts and Sciences: UF's largest college with an identical naming convention (CLAS), covering humanities, natural sciences, and social sciences at a major public research university. Direct peer in structure, scale, and public-research-university positioning.
• University of Texas at Austin College of Liberal Arts: UT Austin's largest academic unit, covering humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences at a flagship public research university. Comparable in program breadth, faculty credentials, and research grant capture.
• Ohio State University College of Arts and Sciences: Ohio State's largest college spanning arts, humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences at a major public research university. Comparable in enrollment scale (tens of thousands of students) and research-intensive mission.
• Penn State College of the Liberal Arts: Penn State's largest academic college, covering humanities, social sciences, and sciences at a large public research university. Comparable in program breadth, scale, and online/distance learning offerings through Penn State World Campus.
• University of Washington College of Arts & Sciences: UW's largest college, spanning arts, humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences at a leading public research university. Comparable in research intensity, faculty credentials, and graduate program depth.

Broad incumbents

• Southern New Hampshire University: A leading nonprofit online university with massive online enrollment and broad program offerings, including liberal arts and sciences degrees. Competes directly with ASU Online in the same online liberal-arts-and-sciences segment, though structured as a specialized online institution rather than a research university.
• Western Governors University: A large nonprofit online competency-based university serving working adults nationwide. Competes with ASU Online for nontraditional and online students in similar program areas at typically lower price points, representing a meaningful share-of-wallet competitor for online liberal-arts enrollment.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/ASUTheCollege
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCie1GAiq6KIvJJoScO90XKw
• Facebookfacebook.com/ASUTheCollege
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/15099983
• Instagraminstagram.com/ASUTheCollege

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles26 records

Subsidiaries4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Arizona State University's College of Liberal Arts and Sciences