Arizona State University is known as a powerhouse in national scholarship circles, consistently producing more winners of the most prestigious awards than almost any other public university. Following are rankings as of February 2008.

Eleven ASU students have been named among the top 20 undergraduates in the U.S. by USA Today, on the All-USA College Academic First Team, since 1992. This is the best record of any public university in the nation. Only Harvard and Duke have had more. (Another 7 ASU students were named to the second team of 20 and 2 to the third team of 20.) A national team of judges chooses top students based on grades, leadership, activities and how the students extend their intellectual talents beyond the classroom.

Three ASU students have won Rhodes Scholarships and 12 have been awarded Marshall Scholarships since 1994. (ASU has won a total 5 Rhodes & 14 Marshalls over the years—there were 2 Rhodes in the 60s.) These two awards are considered the most distinguished scholarships in the world, given to only 30 or 40 students a year after many rounds of interviews, based on overall potential and evaluated on intelligence, character, integrity and leadership. Both provide for two years of postgraduate study in Great Britain. Few universities have won more Marshalls.

The Truman Scholarship is the nation’s highest undergraduate leadership award. ASU has been named a Truman Honor Institution, for having 14 winners since 1991. The $30,000 scholarship is given to juniors who have outstanding leadership potential and who intend to pursue careers in public service.

ASU is a leading university for Udall Scholarships, awarded to top sophomores and juniors each year who are headed for careers in environmental public policy, tribal policy and health care. Eighteen students have won 20 Udalls since the award was established in 1995.

An impressive 35 ASU students have won Goldwater Scholarships over the past 15 years, the nation’s premier undergraduate awards for students studying science, math and engineering. This record puts ASU in the top 20 universities in the nation.

ASU students’ record of winning Fulbright Fellowships is double the national average. Ten percent of applicants nominated from any given university actually will be awarded a Fulbright; ASU applicants win at the rate of 36 percent. In 2007, 16 students won Fulbright awards to study or do research abroad next year, a record for ASU, placing the university 4th among public universities and 14th overall.

For the past eight years ASU has ranked in the top 20 universities in the country for the number of freshman National Merit Scholars, along with Harvard, Stanford, Yale, UC Berkeley, MIT and Princeton. ASU ranks 6th in public schools. In 2007-08, ASU enrolled 148 freshman National Merit Scholars and 583 overall.

Updated February 2008