Homes in Southern Arizona

Higher Education: A Southern Arizona Rivalry

30th June, 2010 - Posted by admin - Comments Off

Young adults growing up in the southern Arizona area are often faced with a difficult life choice around the age of 18.  Usually this dilemma is not decided alone in the spur of the moment, but is subject to their parents’ preference and the resulting household culture of blue and red or maroon and gold.  Since 1899, when Arizona and Arizona State first met on the football field, the two universities have been locked in a constant battle ranging far beyond its original gridiron glory.  As members of the soon to be Pac-16 conference, the two schools still square off in football every year (the heated rivalry has been dubbed “The Duel in The Desert”), but today the institutions also spar for the area’s best students and the acclaim of educational awards.

Separated by just over 100 miles on the I-10 interstate, the schools’ fates are geographically joined at the hip.  The Arizona State Sundevils make their home in Tempe and the surrounding Phoenix area, while the Arizona Wildcats call Tucson their own.  ASU is comprised of over 50,000 undergraduate students, constituting the largest public research university in the United States.  While originating in the original Tempe campus, the University has expanded over the last decade to include other nearby Phoenix locations, all housed under the same administration.  Students may choose from the university’s wide selection of 250 majors housed in 17 different colleges and schools.  After major upgrades in both campus facilities and academic offerings, the US News and World Report named Arizona State as one of its top 5 “Up and Coming” universities in 2010.

Rival Arizona enrolls a smaller student body, though still considered a large university with almost 30,000 undergraduate students.  The Wildcats have a long history in Arizona, founded as the state’s first university in 1885.  For its lofty academic profile, the school is recognized as a Public Ivy, a term reserved for a selection of public universities with exceedingly high standards of educational quality.  The U of A offers 334 fields of study, in total, working towards bachelors, masters, doctoral and professional degrees.  The campus itself has a distinctive southwestern flair and was first featured in film with the the 1984 film Revenge of the Nerds, doubling as the home of the Adams College Atoms.

No matter which esteemed university they select, southern Arizona is the proud home of tens of thousands of college students, all receiving a top notch public education.