ASU - Thunderbird School of Global Management

Thunderbird School of Global Management has two main campuses, one for undergraduates at ASU’s West campus in Glendale, Arizona, and one for graduate students at ASU’s Downtown Phoenix campus. 

With global headquarters in Arizona and regional Centers of Excellence strategically located in top centers for international business and trade, Thunderbird School of Global Management offers degree programs (graduate and undergraduate), professional development opportunities and corporate solutions to individuals and organizations around the world.

Thunderbird’s growing network of satellite hubs around the world will all be connected by a dynamic new global headquarters facility, an architectural tour de force now under construction on ASU’s Downtown Phoenix campus. Designed to foster innovation and collaboration, the digitally enhanced building will embody the grandeur of Thunderbird’s rich history while leveraging the latest technology to serve as a central nexus of the School’s worldwide network.

The state-of-the-art facility is engineered as a welcoming and luxurious space in which to convene and educate global leaders to maximize the benefits of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Envisioned as a global village of high-tech learning and innovation, the new global headquarters is scheduled for completion in 2021 when the Thunderbird community will be celebrating 75 years of educating global leaders who advance inclusive and sustainable prosperity worldwide.

Thunderbird’s global presence is on the rise, with Centers of Excellence now operating in Geneva, Switzerland, Moscow, Russia, Dubai, UAE, Tokyo, Japan, Jakarta, Indonesia, Seoul, Nairobi, Korea, Los Angeles, California and Washington, DC. The School has plans to expand to twenty of these regional hubs by 2025.

Students at Thunderbird enjoy modern classrooms equipped with cutting-edge technology for global connectivity, complemented by spacious, comfortable study rooms and lounge areas. Thunderbird students can also make use of libraries, sport and recreational facilities, entrepreneurial projects, cross-sectoral collaborations, research and innovation labs, executive meeting suites for boardroom style presentations, and more. 

Graduate students step outside their high-tech business tower into a vibrant commercial district packed with restaurants, gyms, shops, theaters, hotels and bars. For Thunderbird undergraduates, the West campus of Arizona State University creates a learning community blending liberal arts education with 21st-century workforce preparation. The northwest Phoenix campus provides modern amenities in its residence halls, dining facilities, and the Sun Devil Fitness Complex and swimming pool. Subtropical landscaping, fountains and outdoor enclaves are third-space opportunities for students to socialize and collaborate while pursuing their global leadership dreams.

Thunderbird School of Global Management brings people from around the world to Arizona’s sunny capital city of Phoenix and to its many surrounding suburbs such as Scottsdale and Glendale, part of the fifth-largest and fastest-growing US metropolitan area. As a large, diverse, and rapidly growing hub for global trade and commerce, Phoenix provides students with a broad spectrum of rich internship and job opportunities within multinational corporations, global nonprofit organizations, and government agencies, as well as access to eminent thought leaders and innovators from across sectors and industries. 

In addition to being a dynamic center of government, international trade, and technological innovation, Phoenix enjoys a warm desert climate and is surrounded by wonders of the natural world as well as popular travel destinations. Thunderbird’s Phoenix headquarters is approximately a six-hour drive from Los Angeles and San Diego, California and under five hours to Las Vegas, Nevada. Life at Thunderbird also includes short but unforgettable adventures to places such as the Grand Canyon, Sedona, Monument Valley, and Antelope Canyon, just to name a few.

Outside the classroom on a typical day on campus, students can take advantage of events, speakers, and culturally enriching activities while networking with Thunderbird’s robust alumni network. Their learning journey is full of opportunities to participate in hands-on entrepreneurial and public service opportunities, contributing to the economic, cultural and overall health of a diverse community while gaining skills and experience for careers that can take them anywhere in the world after graduation.

Through a wide range of student clubs, student life at Thunderbird is built around social, professional and cultural activities. Take Regional Nights Thunderbird’s global tradition for example, or the Student Leadership Organizations.

Thunderbird students also have full access to ASU’s Sun Devil Fitness facility, where they can optimize health through a variety of recreational, fitness and sport opportunities.

Thunderbird’s Career Management Center provides on-site visits to local companies such as Honeywell and On Semiconductor, oversees career development, and student mentorship by Thunderbird alumni.

1. There is a $115 application fee 

2. Thunderbird will be looking at the following admissions criteria:

• Academics (grades, GMAT, any additional schooling)
•  Employability/Success Factors (years and quality of work experience/professional skills, leadership/managing teams, communication skills, prior business knowledge)
•  T-bird Fit
•  Overall quality of your application

Thunderbird’s Career Management Center offers one credit professional development course. All students are paired with an alumni mentor, a student liaison, a career coach, and a faculty advisor. The entire Thunderbird community cares about students’ success and we are all here to support T-birds throughout their Thunderbird journey.

Many Thunderbird programs including the Master of Global Management, require both applied learning and internship experiences. The Global Challenge Lab sends teams of students to complete consulting projects for organizations in the US and abroad.

Thunderbird’s global alumni network includes 45,000 from 143 countries, with almost one-quarter living abroad.