University of Arizona
Tucson, Arizona · Founded 1885
Create a free account and we'll score this university against your grades, budget, intended major and location — and explain the reasoning.
Get your matchTesting policy
Test-optional
Arizona does not require the SAT or ACT for admission, its merit scholarships or the W.A. Franke Honors College; scores you send are considered and are also used for class placement at orientation, and they can satisfy some of the required high school course areas. For the class that entered in fall 2025, 12% of enrolled first-year students submitted an SAT score and 23% an ACT, so the published score ranges describe a small share of the class. In its Common Data Set the rigor of the high school record and academic GPA are rated Very Important, and class rank, test scores and the essay Considered. Transfer applicants do not need scores. Source: arizona.edu - High School Course Requirements and First-Year Applying & Requirements; University of Arizona Common Data Set 2025-2026, sections C7-C9 (verified October 2026).
About
Arizona's land-grant university and a member of the Association of American Universities, with about 43,000 undergraduates among more than 54,000 students in Tucson. It is one of only eight universities in the nation that combine Research 1 status, membership in the Association of American Universities and Hispanic-Serving Institution status, and its space science runs from the lunar maps NASA used for the Apollo missions to cameras on the James Webb Space Telescope. Business is its largest field.
History
The university was established in 1885, when the Arizona Territorial Legislature parceled out public institutions among its towns - the capital stayed in Prescott and the prison in Yuma - and Tucson received the university. Its first building, Old Main, was built from red clay bricks dug from the ground beneath it, and classes began in the fall of 1891. The motto Bear Down dates to 1926, when student body president and quarterback John Byrd Salmon, dying after a car crash, asked his coach to tell the team to bear down.
What stands out
- Test scores are optional for admission, merit scholarships and the W.A. Franke Honors College
- Applying by the November 1 early action deadline brings priority for admission, merit aid and the honors college; later applications are considered as space allows
- Admission is to a major, and some students start in The A Center to explore before declaring one
- First-year students on the main campus are expected to live on campus
Popular majors
Campus life
Students cheer for the Wildcats in the Big 12 Conference, led by mascots Wilbur and Wilma, and Arizona counts more than 500 student clubs and organizations and 50 fraternities and sororities. The motto Bear Down was painted on the roof of what is now Bear Down Gym in 1929.