ASU is a comprehensive public metropolitan research university enrolling more than 64,000 undergraduate, graduate, and professional students on four campuses, and its Tempe campus is the largest university campus in the U.S.. ASU continues to produce more winners of top national scholarships and honors than almost any other public university and awards over 12,000 degrees annually.
ASU has been moving at an accelerated pace to establish itself as one of the leading centers for cutting-edge interdisciplinary research in selected areas, both fundamental and applied. ASU favors a research enterprise dedicated to societal relevance and socially optimal outcomes of research. The university's research expenditures grew more than 7% in 2007, totaling $218.5 million.
But ASU is also a community of poets, artists, and musicians, a place where the expression of a personal vision is valued as highly as the design of a new molecule. ASU offers outstanding resources for study and research including libraries and museums with important collections, studios and performing arts spaces for creative endeavor, and unsurpassed state-of-the-art scientific and technological research facilities.
In addition to the historic Tempe campus, the university comprises three newer campuses with more specialized missions: ASU at the West campus balances the traditions of a liberal arts education with responsiveness to the dynamics of the workforce. ASU at the Polytechnic campus integrates applied science and technology. And with a new campus in downtown Phoenix, ASU is a key stakeholder in the revitalization of the historic urban core.
Driving ASU's growth is its vision to create the New American University - a university that is responsible for the economic, social, and cultural vitality of our region. As a New American University, ASU seeks to:
- Provide quality education that is accessible to a broad population
- Create a highly educated workforce
- Generate economic growth
- Conduct transdisciplinary research for the public good
- Maintain a global perspective in our endeavors