About
Arizona State University (ASU) is among the largest universities in the United States of America (U.S.) with more than 73,000 undergraduate and graduate students from all 50 U.S. states and more than 120 countries. ASU is consistently one of the top-ranked public, research universities in the country.
ASU has four comprehensive campuses located throughout the Phoenix metropolitan area and are accessible by free intercampus shuttles and various public transportation options. While international exchange students can study at any campus, most live and take courses at or near the Tempe campus due to the high number of classes and programs offered. Tempe is a lively university city, only a five-minute drive from Phoenix.
Learn more about ASU and take a virtual tour of our four campuses.
Location
ASU is located in the state of Arizona in the southwest U.S. Arizona is famous for its beautiful weather and scenery; including more than 310 days of sunshine each year and the famous Sonoran desert. The city of Phoenix is the capital of Arizona and the fifth largest city in the U.S. More than four million diverse residents from around the world live in the Phoenix metropolitan area. ASU’s convenient location is within a short drive or flight to some famous locations such as Los Angeles, Las Vegas, the Grand Canyon, and México.
Learn more about the state of Arizona, and the cities of Phoenix and Tempe, and see what there is to do around ASU’s four campuses.
Level of competitiveness
Less competitive *
The level of competitiveness (Less competitive * / Competitive ** / Very competitive ***) refers to one's chances of being allocated an exchange space at this partner. This is an approximation determined by the number of applications received for this destination during the last academic year versus the total number of exchange spaces available to Queen Mary students.
Academic Calendar
- Semester 1: August to December
- Semester 2: January to May
Please review the International Exchange Program Calendar for important dates related to international students and the academic calendar at Arizona State University (ASU).
Courses
ASU module access restrictions can be reviewed on their website here.
Students will need to request overrides from the specific academic departments in order to enroll into courses.
Search for courses and register using the ASU course catalogue. Course listings will list all course enrollment requirements, course information, special course fees (if applicable), and syllabi (if available). Use the advanced search function in order to find various course options.
International exchange students are responsible for searching for courses, requesting any required enrollment overrides, and for registering for courses. Before registering for courses, view the flowchart for the Course Registration Process.
Students must provide evidence of the MMR vaccine. This is required before course registration and enrollment.
Note – Engineering students most often take courses at the Tempe and Polytechnic campuses depending on course and discipline within engineering. ASU does offer a free shuttle between campuses, but it does take approximately an hour to travel between them. Engineering students also have to be okay with a very late registration time frame.
Restrictions
- W.P. Carey School of Business (undergraduate programs): seats are limited depending on the specific academic unit or course; one example is Supply Chain Management (SCM) which has extremely limited spaces for exchange students. See Business Courses open to exchange students and syllabi.
- W.P. Carey School of Business (MBA): prior approval required during exchange program nomination phase (limited course offerings)
- Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts: students studying a similar major at their home university will be required to submit a portfolio of work or audition to gain access to courses
- Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering: Engineering students cannot take any engineering capstone courses at ASU. In addition, some schools in engineering have further enrollment restrictions for engineering students:
- Computing, Informatics, and Decision Systems Engineering: Students can take any lower-division courses they wish. For upper-division courses, they need instructor approval to receive access to the course.
- Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment: If there are a large number of open seats, students will be allowed to enrol in courses for which they meet prerequisites. If there are very few seats available, advisors will wait until 1-2 weeks before the start of the semester before giving permission for exchange students to enrol.
- Engineering of Matter, Transport, and Energy: After all registration has opened, students may be given overrides into courses that still have a lot of seats open, depending on the course demand for ASU majors. For these courses, advisers will wait until the FIRST WEEK of the semester before giving permission for exchange students to enrol.
- Walter Cronkite School of Journalism & Mass Comm: JMC courses are not available; MCO courses are limited. Alternative courses in other colleges may be found under the following prefixes: COM & ENG
- College of Health Solutions: seats are limited depending on the specific academic unit or course
- Edson College of Nursing and Health Innovation: most courses are restricted
- Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law: graduate-level courses are only available to graduate-level law students; undergraduate courses are available to all other exchange students
- Mary Lou Fulton Teacher’s College: most courses are restricted
Credits
Undergraduate modules have a normal value of 3 Arizona State credits each. Students need to take 4 modules per semester (12-18 credits).
Find out more about credit transfer and grade conversions.
Accommodation
Students have 3 housing options:
- On-Campus - ASU Residence Halls: On-campus housing is EXTREMELY limited, and is assigned on a first-come, first-served basis! Students should apply for on-campus housing as soon as they have the opportunity, but housing may fill before you have the chance to apply.
- Off-Campus: Apartments: Prices are comparable to living on-campus, and apartments near campus are filled with ASU students.
- Homestays: Homestays are not organized by ASU, but can be organized through a recommended Homestay company in the area.
Cost of Living
Arizona State University provides information on the cost of living as a student here. You can find more general, up-to-date information about the cost of living in Phoenix here.
Please consult the estimated minimum and maximum cost of living figures for this destination country available in our “Estimated Costs of Living” document available on our Finance page.
Note: enrollment in ASU’s student health insurance plan is mandatory for international students and can’t be waived. The cost includes coverage for 4 weeks before and after the program begins and ends. The ASU Mandatory Insurance costs $1500-2000/semester and the mandatory Student Initiated Fees is $350/semester.
Support Services
The ASU Disability Resource Center provides services and resources for students with a physical or mental impairment to help students with their success at ASU.
Campus Life
This section provides information to help you prepare for student life at ASU, as well as for living in the US.
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