Online and On-Campus Colleges in ARIZONA

This Tucson school is home to some of the highest-rated degree programs among Arizona colleges. The University of Arizona's graduate degrees in Earth sciences, photography, atomic physics, rehabilitation counseling and information systems all rank among the ten best programs nationwide in their subjects, with online courses available in many.

It's earned accolades on the global scale, as well -- the Center for World University rankings placed UA among the top 75 universities in the world on its 2017 report. UA is also a member of the Association of American Universities, a prestigious group of around 60 research institutions that includes Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Duke and other top-tier schools.

UA also makes it easy for community college students to transfer into one of their more than 240 bachelor's programs. The UA Bridge program provides an admissions guarantee, pre-transfer admissions counseling, scholarships for eligible students and more.

The flagship location of Arizona State University is the largest campus by enrollment among the top schools in Arizona. More than 51,000 students attend classes on the Tempe campus, making it not only the most populous university in the state but earning it a spot among the top ten largest in the country.

The selection of degree programs available here is about as robust and diverse as you'd expect from a school of its size -- more than 430 undergraduate programs are available on campus and as online courses, and graduate students have more than 500 options at the master's and doctoral levels.

ASU makes a case for itself as one of the top colleges and universities in Arizona for online students, as well, thanks to its total of more than 180 undergraduate and graduate online programs.

Northern Arizona University was founded in 1899, when Arizona was still a U.S. territory. This accredited institution in the mountain town of Flagstaff offers approximately 200 degree programs in total, including study plans in valuable but traditionally uncommon subjects like forestry, civic engagement and applied indigenous studies.

A vast variety of online degrees awaits NAU students who want to use the virtual classroom for online courses. A few of the nearly 90 bachelor's, master's and certificate programs have special admissions criteria, so be sure to meet with an advisor before jumping in.

NAU also maintains numerous satellite campuses around the state. The list of 25 campus locations features outposts in the Phoenix metro area, the Navajo Nation in northeastern Arizona and small towns such as Thatcher and Show Low.

The Downtown campus of Arizona State University has only been in business for a little over ten years, but it's made great strides since opening its doors. Enrollment went from zero to nearly 12,000 between 2006 and 2016, and close to 170 degrees and certificates can be earned through its seven colleges and schools.

One of the most prestigious departments at ASU -- the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication -- was the first new building built at the Downtown site. It also recently became the home base for the university's Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law.

What's more, students at ASU Downtown are less than two miles away from major cultural centers. Take in classic and contemporary art at the Phoenix Art Museum, Native American and Hispanic art and culture at the Heard Museum and interactive fun at the Arizona Science Center.

This Northwest Phoenix campus of Arizona State University is one of the smaller public accredited Arizona universities, reporting enrollment of less than 3,700 students. Having a smaller student body isn't necessarily a bad thing, though -- the student-faculty ratio at ASU West is 12:1, better by 25 percent than the national average of 16:1.

Transfer students are important to the mission at ASU West. Students may take their first two years of courses at a community college and switch to this or another ASU campus to complete their degree.

The West Campus Transfer Center exists to help provide support for community college students looking to transfer in. What's more, students in the Maricopa County Community College District can make use of the Maricopa to ASU Pathways Program (MAPP) to start their transfer journey on the right track.

This ASU campus near the southeastern edge of the Phoenix metro area is another close-knit school. The student body at Arizona State University Polytechnic tops out at around 4,400, although it's grown by more than 15 percent since 2012.

Degree programs at the Polytechnic campus focus on interdisciplinary sciences, technology, engineering, management and education. Industry partnerships make it possible for ASU Polytechnic to offer degrees in uncommon subjects such as aeronautical management, history of science, human systems engineering and graphic information technology for game design.

Advanced technology and project-based approaches to learning combine to produce a unique educational experience at this Mesa school. Campus facilities include a flight simulator, semiconductor fabrication equipment, on-demand digital manufacturing machinery and a major regional airport, all within a few dozen miles of breathtaking mountainscapes and majestic desert lakes.

Grand Canyon University is a faith-based college located in Phoenix. Founded in 1949 by the Southern Baptist Church, GCU transitioned out of non-profit status in 2004 and began operating as one of the few accredited for-profit colleges to arise out of a religious tradition.

GCU was one of the best schools in Arizona for distance education, offering more than 80 specific online courses at the bachelor's, master's and doctoral levels. Busy students can also attend evening courses on campus and mix course types to create hybrid degree plans.

As a private Christian university, GCU does offer ecclesiastical degrees both on campus and online, but conventional, secular subjects are also widely available. Degrees in business, education, health care, information technology and the arts and humanities can all be earned in the traditional classroom or as entirely online degrees.

The flagship campus of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University is located in Daytona Beach, Florida, but this small satellite campus has been educating students in the central Arizona city of Prescott for over 40 years. A total of close to 30 degree programs are offered at the Prescott location, including some in subjects that may be hard to find at other Arizona schools.

As an outpost of the largest aviation-oriented institution in the world, Embry-Riddle's Prescott campus is uniquely suited to a few specialized and highly technical fields. Degrees in aeronautical science, air traffic management and applied meteorology are just a few of the high-flying study plans available here.

Security-minded students have an exciting option at Embry-Riddle, as well. Spy Camp is an immersive summer program that provides hands-on experience with investigation and surveillance techniques, counterintelligence practices and espionage.

If you're looking for a tiny, private liberal arts institution in Arizona, look no further than Prescott College. Total enrollment here tops out at fewer than 400 students, and the college has yet to reach 10,000 total graduates in its more than 50 years of awarding degrees.

Prescott College is located in a wildly diverse natural area featuring six different biomes within ten miles of the center of the city. As such, sustainability is a significant part of the mission here -- more than 100 percent of the campus's electricity needs are sourced from solar and other renewable energy sources.

Also exemplifying that commitment to sustainability is a newly built student residence hall called the Village. Its rainwater catchment system, high-efficiency design and other features earned it a Platinum-level certification by Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED).

The Phoenix campus of this nationally distributed for-profit school offers just one campus-based degree program: a three-year Bachelor of Science in Nursing (B.S.N.) plan that consists of 122 credit hours of coursework. A liberal arts core encompasses 56 of the required credits, with dedicated nursing courses making up the balance.

Some of the latest pieces of nurse training technology are available at Chamberlain, including a patient simulator that produces realistic vital signs and somatic reactions. Lifelike simulated patients are controlled by instructors and can voice their discomfort, blink, sweat, bleed and more.

Multiple degree plans are available online through the Chamberlain system as well. Working registered nurses (RNs) comfortable with virtual instruction can enroll in an online RN-to-BSN program, while bachelor's degree holders can pursue master's degrees in nursing and public health.