How do Arizona State and Notre Dame compare in overall reputation?

Notre Dame has the stronger national prestige in the broad, everyday sense most people mean by “reputation.” It is widely seen as a highly selective private university with a strong academic brand, a powerful alumni network, and unusually high name recognition across the country. Arizona State is also very well known, but its reputation is different: people tend to associate it with size, access, innovation, and a huge public university footprint rather than elite prestige.

For employers and people outside higher education, Notre Dame usually carries more instant weight as a signal of selectivity and traditional academic status. Its name is recognizable even to people who do not follow colleges closely, partly because of its long history, national alumni presence, and prominent athletics brand. In many professional settings, “Notre Dame” reads as polished and high-status right away.

Arizona State has much broader enrollment and a more mixed public image. A lot of people know ASU because it is one of the country’s largest universities and has invested heavily in research, online education, and entrepreneurship. That makes it visible and respected in a practical sense, but not usually in the same prestige category as Notre Dame.

In real life after graduation, that difference matters most in first impressions, networking, and settings where school brand gets used as a shortcut. Notre Dame is more likely to prompt an immediate “that’s impressive” reaction. ASU is more likely to be viewed as a major, established public university with strong reach and opportunity, but not with the same across-the-board cachet.

That said, ASU is far from being seen negatively by most employers. For many jobs, work experience, internships, and skills will quickly matter more than the general reputation gap. But if the question is purely overall reputation, especially outside the college bubble, Notre Dame is viewed as distinctly more prestigious, while Arizona State is viewed as well-known, credible, and large-scale rather than elite.