Should I go to Arizona State or USC for entrepreneurship?

For entrepreneurship, USC tends to be the more natural fit if you want to be surrounded by a dense startup network, strong alumni access, and a campus culture where business, tech, media, and venture connections overlap constantly. USC’s location in Los Angeles matters here, and the university has well-known entrepreneurship resources through the Marshall School of Business and cross-campus programs that make it easier to meet ambitious collaborators. If you want a place where networking can directly feed into internships, mentors, early customers, or investors, USC has a real edge.

ASU makes more sense for the student who wants entrepreneurship to be practical, accessible, and action-oriented without as much pressure around prestige or competition. ASU has invested heavily in innovation and venture support, including university-backed startup spaces, mentorship, and programs designed to help students actually test ideas. It is a school where it can be easier to stand out, take initiative, and get involved quickly rather than waiting for access.

ASU can be especially appealing if you are entrepreneurial in a scrappier way: you want room to experiment, you care about building something real more than impressing people, and you like the idea of a large university that puts resources behind student innovation. The lower-friction environment can be a real advantage for someone who wants to try, fail, iterate, and keep going.

If cost is anywhere close, USC is the stronger entrepreneurship environment because the network effect is hard to replicate. If ASU is much more affordable, that changes the equation a lot, because avoiding heavy debt is often the smarter entrepreneurial move. For a student choosing purely on startup ecosystem and connections, I’d lean USC; for a student choosing on value, flexibility, and hands-on access to opportunities, ASU is a very credible option.