Bleach-blonde women, frat parties and exaggerated debauchery seem to make up the world's view of ASU. It has become the poster child for hedonism in college — the university people do not want on their degree if they want to be taken seriously post-graduation.
These stereotypes can lead students of "Alcohol Sex University" to face scrutiny, misogyny and more online.
ASU has caught nationwide, and even international, attention for a few rankings: No. 1 in innovation, the largest public University, one of the easiest to get into and commonly thought to lead the nation in STDs.
In 2002, Playboy Magazine ranked ASU as the No. 1 party school in the nation. While it has slipped down the ranks since then, it seems to be an inescapable reputation.
READ MORE: Party school no more? Students weigh in on ASU's status in 2025
Chances are, you've heard of ASU
Yianni Metis, a sophomore at Cornell University studying applied economics and management, is a staff writer for the Cornell Daily Sun. He recently published an article in The Cornell Daily Sun discussing the mythology of ASU's reputation and said he became interested in writing the article because of social media.
"For as long as I've had the internet, we've seen jokes about ASU," Metis said.
ASU is no stranger to popular culture shoutouts. Many fictional characters have been the butt of a joke for having attended ASU — the lawyer from "Ted 2," Principal Scudworth from "Clone High" and even Paxton from "Never Have I Ever."
The common thread between these characters, besides their time at ASU, is their low IQ and foolish behavior.
According to the ASU charter, the University is "measured not by whom it excludes, but by whom it includes and how they succeed." This inclusive approach to education leads to its infamous acceptance rate of around 90% year over year.
"Every school is fitting a different role," Metis said. "Arizona State is supposed to be a big state university, and I don't think there's any problem with a large state university that allows as many people as possible to come and get a college education."
In addition to the large student population, factors such as weather and location contribute to the University's promiscuous reputation, according to Metis' article.
"I just think (ASU) fits every box you need to check for a school to gain that sort of reputation," Metis said.
Metis said some of the most popular social media posts about ASU are skits about someone's girlfriend getting accepted to the University, with strong implications that she is going to cheat. The skits are overwhelmingly directed toward women attending ASU.
When forming his article, Metis interviewed influencer Marco Graci, whom he deemed an "ASU expert" in his story. Metis said he didn't speak to an ASU student for the article and had never met one, current or former.
Sam Ishee, a senior studying marine biology at the University of West Florida, said these stereotypes apply to all large universities — ASU just gets pinpointed.
Ishee said cheating is more common in college because of long distance and insecurity.
A lack of any reputation can also hurt universities, Ishee said, as lesser-known schools can seem less appealing on resumes even if they're just as rigorous as a large state school.
"If I saw somebody get their degree from ASU, I would think pretty highly of it, just because I've heard of it before," Ishee said.
Skylar Sivak, a second-year student studying media production at Northampton Community College in Pennsylvania, said he has seen ASU content online as well.
"It's just a cultural thing," Sivak said. "The only reason I think (the content is) as large as it is is purely because it was a joke. People kept repeating it, and now, to an extent, we feel like it's true."
Sivak said stereotypes can be harmful to students who just want to receive an education and emphasized the impact of negative stereotypes that he said can be associated with attending a community college. He said when asked whether he goes to college, he lies rather than telling people he attends community college.
Metis, however, said he takes a lot of pride in going to an Ivy League school and usually gets a very positive reaction when talking about collegiate status.
Despite having some of the highest-ranked degree programs in the U.S., ASU students still face a stigma that may not reflect reality.
READ MORE: Insight: Dealing with ASU's party-school reputation as a freshman
International perspectives
Xiaochen Guo, a graduate student studying East Asian languages and civilizations, is an international student from China. She said she applied to many universities in the United States, but ended up attending ASU because it accepted her and offered her a full scholarship.
She said it felt like ASU chose her, not that she chose ASU.
"ASU, to give me the money, give me the scholarship, it means they recognize me," Guo said. "It makes me feel very strong belonging to ASU."
Guo said she saw social media posts in China about ASU being a party school, and had reservations because it was the lowest-ranked school on her list. Since being here, Guo said her expectations were proven wrong.
"American students are hardworking, and they truly pay a lot of attention on their degrees and grades," Guo said.
Sheng Yang, a graduate student studying leadership and management, is from Taiwan. He said he chose ASU to study abroad because the Thunderbird School of Global Management was the best match for the program he wanted.
He said he researched ASU on Reddit before coming and found a lot of posts about the party school reputation. However, Yang said the universities in Taiwan do not have the concept of a "party school," so it did not bother him.
"(People from Taiwan) only know that ASU is the best school in Arizona where a lot of Taiwanese companies have their headquarters in America," Yang said.
He added that ASU's size allows international students to find each other and form community.
READ MORE: Is ASU's high acceptance rate hurting Sun Devils? Students weigh in
"It's a really inclusive school," Yang said. "They already have a lot of international students here, and that helps when you don't have any experience in the space."
A continuous reputation
While many people online perceive ASU as a joke, to students, the school can represent an opportunity to gain a higher education at a large school with lots of resources.
ASU Admissions chooses to highlight its research, sustainability, athletics, honors and other respectable programs that make up the University.
But if people across the country are still talking about ASU's poor reputation, it would seem the University has not escaped the stereotypes after all.
Edited by Emilio Alvarado, Alan Deutschendorf III, Grace Lawrence, Senna James and Kate Gore.
Reach the reporter at ajanusee@asu.edu and follow @lexijanusee on X.
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Lexi Janusee is a senior reporter at The State Press. She is a sophomore studying Journalism with a minor in Theatre. This is her third semester with The State Press, working previously as a full-time Echo reporter.
