College of Social and Behavioral Sciences

What College of Social and Behavioral Sciences does

The College of Social and Behavioral Sciences (SBS) is an academic college within the University of Arizona, a public research university governed by the Arizona Board of Regents and headquartered in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1982, SBS offers undergraduate majors, more than 40 graduate degrees, accelerated master's programs, and certificate programs across disciplines including Global Studies, Sociology, History, Communication, Political Science, and Human Rights Practice. In 2024, the college restructured its global-studies portfolio by forming the School of Global Studies, unifying eight programs under a single B.A. in Global Studies with emphasis areas.

The college operates on a multi-stream revenue model: tuition and mandatory fees for undergraduate, graduate, and online programs; external research grants from federal agencies including NSF, NIH, NEH, DOJ, USAID, and HUD (including a $2 million DOJ award for the Barrios Seguros/Safe Neighborhoods initiative); philanthropic contributions and endowments channeled through the university's Fuel Wonder campaign and the Innovation Circle giving program; and approximately $800,000 in annual scholarships distributed to students. Its technology infrastructure centers on a Drupal-based content management system with Flexible Pages for dynamic page building and integration with the UA Digital Asset Library. The product portfolio extends beyond academic programs to include the SBS Convocation RSVP System for ceremony ticketing, the SBS Impact research newsletter covering international and global issues, and experiential learning courses such as History 102 (partnering with the African American Museum of Southern Arizona).

SBS serves four primary customer segments — prospective undergraduate students, prospective graduate students, community members, and alumni/donors — through a hybrid GTM motion that combines university-wide admissions channels (including transfer pathways from Pima Community College), direct engagement via information sessions, and a multi-channel marketing stack spanning social media (Facebook, X/Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube), email newsletters (SBS Snapshots, Developments), university events, and a dedicated in-house marketing team. The college's primary problems solved are societal in nature: advancing interdisciplinary research on borderlands, immigration, human rights, and international comparative studies while preparing students with career-relevant skills in communication, critical thinking, and complex problem solving (skills that approximately 75% of employers rate as very important per a 2023 AACU survey).

Name

College of Social and Behavioral Sciences

Legal name

College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, The University of Arizona

Website

https://sbs.arizona.edu

Company type

Public

Founded year

1982

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

5,001–10,000 employees

Short description

The College of Social and Behavioral Sciences is an academic college within the University of Arizona offering undergraduate majors, more than 40 graduate degrees, and certificates across disciplines like Global Studies, Sociology, Political Science, and Human Rights Practice, serving prospective students, community partners, and federal research sponsors in Tucson and online.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Higher Education

NAICS

Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools (6113)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Social Sciences & Public Policy Research Universities (EDAHABAD)

Keywords

• Higher education services
• Social sciences research
• Undergraduate degree programs
• Graduate degree programs
• Behavioral sciences education

Headquarters

HQ city

Tucson

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Tuition and Fees: Revenue from student tuition and mandatory fees for undergraduate and graduate programs, including online programs.
2. Research Grants and Sponsored Programs: External funding from federal agencies (NSF, NIH, NEH, DOJ, USAID) and foundations supporting faculty research activities.
3. Private Donations and Endowments: Philanthropic contributions from alumni and donors, including the Fuel Wonder campaign targeting $3 billion and the Innovation Circle giving program.
4. Scholarship Funding: Approximately $800,000 in annual scholarships distributed to students, with funding from endowed and discretionary sources.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

The College of Social and Behavioral Sciences is an academic college at the University of Arizona that delivers undergraduate majors, more than 40 graduate degrees, accelerated master's programs, and certificate programs across social and behavioral science disciplines. It supports teaching and research through community museum partnerships, an online program offering, and approximately $800,000 in annual student scholarships.

Product overview

The College of Social and Behavioral Sciences is an academic college within the University of Arizona offering educational programs and services. The product portfolio consists primarily of academic offerings including undergraduate majors, graduate programs (more than 40 graduate degrees), accelerated master's programs, and certificate programs across multiple disciplines. Supporting services include the SBS Convocation RSVP System for ceremony ticketing, the SBS Impact research newsletter, scholarship funding (approximately $800,000 annually), and experiential learning courses like History 102 that partner with community museums.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Quantifiable outcome

• Approximately 75% of employers consider SBS core skills (communication, critical thinking, problem solving, teamwork) very important
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

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

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and major.

• African American Museum of Southern Arizona (AAMSAZ)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe college partners with AAMSAZ through the History 102 course where undergraduate students conduct research to inform museum exhibits on African American history in Southern Arizona. Students visit museums, archives, and community spaces, contributing to exhibits on topics including Cathay Williams, the Beau Brummel Club, and Green Book sites.
• PUC-Rio (Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with the Department of Communication at PUC-Rio in Brazil for the co-taught course Digital Media and Democracy in Latin America, bringing together graduate and undergraduate students from Arizona and Brazil. The collaboration produced a co-edited volume on digital radical right in Latin America.
• Binational Migration InstitutecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-directed by Daniel Martínez, the institute conducts collaborative research on undocumented migration, deportation, and criminalization of immigration, producing reports on migrant deaths in Pima County.
• Colibrí Center for Human RightsmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-founded by Robin Reineke, the center has helped resolve more than 300 cold cases involving unidentified human remains in the borderlands.
• El Colegio de San Luis (Mexico)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerBinational research partnership with El Colegio de San Luis in Mexico, producing co-authored scholarship and convening conferences on both sides of the border on cinema, culture, and media.
• Arizona Board of RegentsmajorOthersPartnership with Arizona Board of Regents on statewide research examining recruitment and retention of police, fire, and detention officers.
• Arizona State University and Northern Arizona UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration through the Arizona Housing Analytics Collaborative, a partnership among researchers at University of Arizona, ASU, and NAU to help estimate homelessness across the state.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• MIT School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences: Combines social sciences research and education with strong faculty grant activity at a top-tier research university; comparable in offering interdisciplinary social science programs alongside research-intensive graduate training.
• UC Berkeley Division of Social Sciences: Social sciences division within a flagship public research university, providing undergraduate majors and Ph.D. programs across disciplines including political science, sociology, history, and global studies — a structural twin to the UA SBS College.
• University of Texas at Austin College of Liberal Arts: Public flagship university's social sciences and humanities college, with comparable undergraduate majors, graduate programs, and federally funded faculty research portfolios.
• USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences: Large social sciences college within a private research university with significant federal grant funding, multiple social science departments, and graduate programs closely aligned to UA SBS's portfolio.
• University of Wisconsin–Madison College of Letters and Science: Public Big Ten university's broad social sciences and humanities college offering comparable undergraduate majors, graduate programs, and externally funded faculty research.
• Ohio State University College of Arts and Sciences: Large public research university college covering social and behavioral sciences with extensive graduate programs and substantial externally funded faculty research, comparable in scale and structure.
• University of Chicago Division of the Social Sciences: Research-intensive social sciences unit at a major U.S. university, with strong graduate training, externally funded faculty research, and disciplinary breadth across the social and behavioral sciences.
• Stanford School of Humanities and Sciences (Social Sciences): Social sciences programs within Stanford's broader School of Humanities and Sciences, with comparable research output, graduate degree offerings, and externally funded faculty portfolios.
• UCLA Division of Social Sciences: A social sciences division within a major public research university offering undergraduate and graduate programs across sociology, political science, history, communication, and global studies — directly comparable in scope, mission, and structure to UA's College of SBS.
• Penn State College of the Liberal Arts: Public research university's college housing social sciences, communication, political science, sociology, and global/international studies — closely matched in scale and disciplinary mix to UA SBS.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/uarizonasbs
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@collegeofsbs
• Facebookfacebook.com/UArizonaSBS
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-university-of-arizona
• Instagraminstagram.com/uarizonasbs

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

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

Frequently asked questions about College of Social and Behavioral Sciences