Arizona State University Online

The online arm expanded significantly under university President Michael Crow, who made innovation and access central themes of the institution's growth. Under this leadership, ASU Online built a portfolio that covers dozens of undergraduate and graduate fields, ranging across the disciplines and using courses structured primarily for remote study. Online courses commonly run in accelerated terms, with undergraduate terms of about 7.5 weeks in fall and spring, and instruction is primarily asynchronous, allowing students to complete coursework on their own schedules.

The program was designed to serve populations that traditional research universities often underserve. Working adults and community college transfer students were particular targets, and the university emphasized admissions and support structures that made it easier for these students to start and finish degrees. At the same time, ASU maintained its identity as a research university with a substantial physical campus, using its online operation to expand enrollment without sacrificing its academic standing. Enrollment in the online programs has reached tens of thousands of students, and ASU has marked milestones of large numbers of graduates from its online programs over the years.

ASU entered the 2020 coronavirus pandemic with substantial online capacity already in place. That pre-existing infrastructure allowed the university to shift additional campus courses to remote delivery relatively quickly when in-person instruction was suspended, an experience that contrasted with institutions that had to build virtual teaching from scratch. The episode illustrated how a deliberate, long-term investment in online delivery could pay off during a period of sudden disruption.

Reviews of the program from students tend to emphasize the accessibility and structure of its courses. Students commonly describe ASU Online as effective at organizing online coursework and making it understandable, even for learners who had not previously studied remotely. The university also has integrated examples of virtual and immersive learning into its online offerings, using narrative and simulation approaches in fields such as science education.

ASU Online is frequently cited in discussions of how elite and large public universities can harness online education. By keeping the same faculty, the same diploma, and the same institutional brand for online and campus students, it helped normalize the idea that online degrees from a research university should carry equal weight with residential degrees. Its model, built on scale, accelerated terms, and a focus on adult and transfer students, has been studied and emulated by other universities seeking to grow their own online programs.