Training and tools

Degree Search evolution

A cross-university orchestration team is currently working on a three-phase project to develop the next great digital experience for learning about ASU’s degree offerings.

Together, the team will create a compelling, personalized digital home for centralized degree content that accelerates ASU's competitive marketing advantage while serving as a trusted source of truth for degree information.

Degree Search will inform, differentiate the university's offerings from peer institutions and inspire users to take the next enrollment steps.

The “why” behind this work and the urgency of now

Students and those who help them make decisions expect a world-class content experience from the most innovative university in the country. Marketing strategies and content strategies to drive enrollment and persistence toward graduation must reflect the highest level of excellence at all levels of the funnel.

Simultaneously, user behavior has changed

Artificial Intelligence (AI) search results have fundamentally changed how people learn information by presenting summarized information – often pulled from deeper webpages. This leads to incomplete storytelling and a fragmented user experience. A unified, comprehensive university strategy ensures we have our best foot forward.

ASU has been experiencing a decline in web performance based on user behavior, competition amongst our own pages and transformations in how the web incorporates AI. This is challenging how students learn about ASU's degree offerings.

Degrees.asu.edu is consistently performing well

However, the site as designed is not optimized for conversion in this rapidly changing digital landscape. Degree Search needs to be our “source of truth” while also continuously evolving to meet market needs as we develop the next great digital experience for learning about ASU's degree offerings.

University solution in three phases

Phase 1

GEO-optimized “Degree Search” pages.
Catalog all degree content and communications efforts underway across ASU.
Streamline college and school degree pages with efficient direction to degrees.asu.edu.

Phase 2

Relaunch degree search with optimized UI/UX content.
Centralize degree search across ASU web ecosystem.

Phase 3

Answer “What’s the next great student experience for learning about ASU’s academic experience?” Aim to fundamentally redesign the web-based degree content strategy across ASU.

Non-negotiables

Clearly communicate curricular requirements for each degree, to maintain a “help vs. hype” philosophy.
Solution must meet the needs of prospective and currently enrolled students.

Phase 1 ask to colleges

Streamline college and school degree pages

Impact

Provide short, introductory degree content on college and school domains that encourage website visitors to click through to Degree Search degree detail pages to point all traffic to one “source of truth.”

Timeline

November 2025–April 2026

Status

Starts today! Some colleges have already streamlined degree content on college pages to point users directly to Degree Search.

W. P. Carey example

Cronkite example

Project guiding principles

Our solution will be a source of truth

While our new degree content will be designed and structured on best-in-class marketing and storytelling principles, degree content will be factual, true and designed to help prospective and current students understand the academic experience of each major.

Accreditation and regulatory requirements will be followed

New degree content on degree search will meet all requirements that our academic community must uphold. We understand that accurate degree information is like a “contract with our students” that we must fulfill.

Degree information will be student-centric

Focus grouping and testing with students from all backgrounds will inform our work

Colleges and schools will be engaged, in perpetuity

Representatives from colleges and schools need to be engaged always to ensure that degree information matches the academic experience.

Our solution will work for campus and online students alike

We will design a solution that improves enrollment conversions for all prospective students, so that siloed solutions are no longer necessary.

Orchestration team

The universitywide team executing the plan

A major challenge to any universitywide solution is coordinating and integrating across multiple units – this is particularly challenging at ASU, where multiple elements of the ASU story are executed by these various parts of the university.

However, we recognize that the students we serve – our current students, our prospective students, and their families – see us as one university, and expect information about ASU to be consistent and easy to find and understand. With revolutionary web, search and AI changes underway, now more than ever we need to design solutions that present a unified university voice.

Based on an idea published through the Harvard Business Review and the Wharton Future of Advertising program, an orchestrator model is an effective approach to activate and facilitate the key players across an enterprise to avoid fragmented messaging, execution and delivery strategies.

The Degree Search project is co-led by Enterprise Brand Strategy and Management and the Office of the University Provost.

Orchestration leads

Anna Consie (Brand)

Kevin Kovaleski (Provost)

Orchestration team contributors

Tanya Amos (Academic Enterprise)

Turner Bohlen (Learning Enterprise)

Shaun Calvin (Enterprise Technology)

April Crabtree (Academic Enterprise)

Jack Durkin (Enterprise Technology)

Casey Evans (EdPlus)

Cindi Farmer (Academic Enterprise)