About the University of Minnesota

The University of Minnesota, established in 1851, is one of the top public research universities in the United States. Our campus is located in the beautiful and exciting cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul (the "Twin Cities") in Minnesota.

About 28,000 undergraduate students are enrolled at the University each school year, but our academic community is much larger. About 70,000 undergraduate students, graduate students, and professors gather at the University of Minnesota to teach and learn every day.

Students at the University of Minnesota learn from some of the world's top scholars, including eight Nobel Prize winners. They choose from over 140 fields of study, ranging from engineering to business to medicine to the liberal arts.

At the University of Minnesota, we have a vibrant multicultural community. We support an international population of more than 4,500 people from over 130 countries. We also have more than 250 exchange agreements with institutions around the world. We believe that having a diverse community on campus helps our students prepare to thrive in a global, multiracial, and multicultural world.

Facts about the University of Minnesota community

• The Twin Cities is home to flourishing downtowns, robust park systems, sophisticated educational and cultural institutions, and thriving entertainment and athletic scenes.
  
  
• Minneapolis is the cleanest city in the country according to Travel + Leisure (2004).
  
  
• There are 20 Fortune 500 companies based in Minnesota.
  
  
• We offer 140 majors and teach over 30 foreign languages on our campus.
  
  
• Minnesota has 124 state parks and forests, one national park, two national forests, nearly 12,000 lakes of 10 acres or larger, and numerous scenic river areas, including the Headwaters of the Mississippi River, that provide abundant opportunities for outdoor activities.
  
  
• At the University of Minnesota's Translational Research Facility, basic science discoveries will be developed into therapies for the prevention and treatment of diseases such as hemophilia, cancer, Alzheimer's, AIDS, seizure disorders, and diabetes.
  
  
• A nationally recognized private research company ranked Minnesota the "Most Livable State" in the United States for the fourth year in a row. The award was based on 43 factors, including job growth, education, income, health care, and more.
  
  
• There are more than 600 student-run clubs on campus. Over 100 of these have a multicultural focus.
  
  
• At last count, there were 347,925 University of Minnesota alumni.
  
  
• America's Best Colleges magazine names the University of Minnesota among the nation's top public universities. Furthermore, that publication's most recent ranking of engineering and business programs ranks several University of Minnesota programs among the top 10 nationwide:
  
  
  • Chemical engineering (1st)
    
    
  • Management information systems (4th)
    
    
  • Mechanical engineering (10th)
    
    
  Other highly ranked programs (evaluated in previous years) include applied mathematics, economics, education, forestry, geography, pharmacy, psychology, political science, and public health.