The College Tour to air ASU episode, produced entirely in Spanish

By Javier Arce, AZ Central I October 7, 2023

Since 2020, The College Tour has taken aspiring students and their families to college campuses across the U.S., allowing them to “tour” universities through the stories of students and alumni. This fall, Arizona State University is on that list of campuses with its own episode. Unlike the majority of its episodes, however, this one is produced entirely in Spanish and is narrated through the experiences of Latino students. The episode, dubbed “The College Tour en Español,” was screened at the Glendale ASU West campus on Saturday, where, according to ASU, hundreds of students and their family members were present.

The episode highlights the experiences of at least 10 students, like Pedro González Ochoa, a 22-year-old pursuing a master’s degree in biomedical engineering at Barrett, The Honors College of ASU, a child of Mexican immigrants and a first-generation college student. And that of Sandra Pérez, who is pursuing a master’s degree in program evaluation and data analysis.

“I knew immediately that I wanted to participate in The College Tour en Español. I just hope that this film reaches audiences around the world,” she said in an ASU news release.

The College Tour en Español

The episode, which is scheduled to air on Prime Video later this year, is not the first produced entirely in Spanish.

That honor, however, does remain in Arizona.

In September 2022, Maricopa Community Colleges was the first college system to be featured in an all-Spanish-language episode, spotlighting the experiences of Latino and Spanish-speaking students. ASU’s episode is the sixth to be produced in Spanish, according to The College Tour website, and the second produced in Arizona. The episode offers an extensive visual tour of ASU facilities — in Tempe, Glendale, Mesa and downtown Phoenix — where thousands of Latino students from various Latin American countries, as well as U.S. and Arizona natives, pursue their careers.

In 2022, Arizona State University was designated a Hispanic Serving Institution, when at least a quarter of its student population identified as Latino. ASU Online has also seen growth among Hispanic students, who represent nearly 23% of the total of online undergraduate students.

Following the premiere of College Tour en Español, ASU Executive Vice President and Provost Nancy Gonzales presented each participating student with a $1,000 scholarship to continue their studies, courtesy of ASU and the Helios Foundation.

Reach La Voz reporter Javier Arce at javier.arce@lavozarizona.com or on X, formerly Twitter, @JavierArce33.