Inside Earned Admission: How ASU redesigned access to undergraduate degrees
More than 10,000 learners have earned admission to Arizona State University by demonstrating readiness in college-level coursework. Now, ASU is sharing what it has learned about performance-based admission.
A new white paper, Earned Admission at Arizona State University, documents how the pathway was built and what it means for learners seeking a different way into college.
ASU Earned Admission allows learners to earn admission by succeeding in college-level ASU coursework before formal admission, shifting the focus from past grades or test scores to demonstrated performance.
For decades, higher education has relied on past academic indicators as signals of readiness. While efficient, those measures do not always reflect a learner’s current capacity or determination.
At ASU, that gap prompted a sustained effort to design a different approach: Earned Admission.
As the paper explains, “Earned Admission shifts the barrier of entry to a degree from who qualifies based on past performance to who can succeed when given access to meaningful academic work.”
This white paper is shared as a record of institutional learning. It documents how ASU designed, implemented and refined performance-based admission within a large public research university, offering a transparent account of the decisions, trade-offs and operational realities involved. The paper is intended to inform institutional leaders as they examine their own admission policies and consider alternative pathways into degree programs.
Designing a pathway that works for learners and the institution
Currently housed in the ASU Learning Enterprise, Earned Admission was launched and has evolved through the specialized and dedicated efforts of EdPlus, ASU’s unit for designing, delivering and scaling digital learning, in addition to ASU Admission Services, University Registrar Services and the Office of the Provost.
Earned Admission was designed to function within ASU’s existing academic systems rather than alongside them.
Learners begin with Universal Learner Courses which are open-access, faculty-governed ASU undergraduate courses. Learners choose to add credit only after successful completion and admission is earned by meeting defined credit and GPA thresholds, providing a readiness signal based on performance in actual coursework.
For some learners, that structure becomes a first opportunity to demonstrate what they can do now.
“When I applied to ASU through the Earned Admission program, I had no experience — just the motivation to take that next step,” said Abigail Gilpin, who enrolled after earning her GED. “The program gave me the chance to prove I could succeed.”
Gilpin will graduate with a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the W. P. Carey School of Business through ASU Online.
More than 10,000 learners have Earned Admission to ASU through this innovative pathway and over 1,300 learners have completed their degrees.1,2
While the model reflects ASU’s scale and infrastructure, many of the lessons surfaced apply to institutions of varying sizes, examining readiness signals, transfer friction and adult learner reentry.
What scale requires
The white paper makes clear that performance-based admission is not a single intervention.
Building and sustaining the pathway required coordinated investment across academic design, faculty governance, learner support, data infrastructure and financial modeling. Some trade-offs were anticipated. Others emerged only through operation, particularly where existing policies and processes were not designed for performance-based entry.
As the paper notes, “By replacing predictive indicators with demonstrated academic performance, the model expands access while preserving academic standards, faculty oversight and institutional governance.”
For learners balancing work, service and family, that shift can be decisive.
“EA gave me a pathway back into higher education at a moment when I needed it most,” said Dion Bumpus, an active-duty service member and working parent who completed a bachelor’s degree in astronomical and planetary sciences. “It rebuilt my confidence and positioned me to pursue graduate study.”
The paper focuses on how these elements work together, rather than on outcomes alone. This is an approach intended to be useful for provosts, enrollment leaders and registrars examining similar questions within their own institutions.
What the paper covers
The ASU Earned Admission white paper examines:
- Institutional context and program evolution
- Faculty governance and academic integrity
- Learner progression and support structures
- Data systems used to assess readiness
- Financial models and institutional trade-offs
- Outcomes, limitations and lessons learned
It also outlines ten lessons from building Earned Admission, intended to inform adaptation rather than replication.
Why ASU is sharing this work
Earned Admission builds on more than a decade of institutional experimentation and collaboration across ASU’s schools and colleges.
ASU is sharing this work now as institutions across higher education reassess admission practices, readiness signals and pathways into degrees, often under conditions of enrollment volatility and changing learner demand.
This white paper reflects our work so far, captures what has been built, what has been learned and what questions remain.
For learners seeking a different starting point, and for institutions rethinking what readiness means, Earned Admission offers one example of how demonstrated performance can open the door.