This information was excerpted from the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor web site.
The University of Michigan (U of M) was founded in 1817 as one of the first public universities in the nation. The school moved from Detroit to Ann Arbor in 1837, when Ann Arbor was only 13 years old.
Today, U of M is one of only two public institutions consistently ranked in the nation's top ten universities, with over 51,000 students and 5,600 faculty at three campuses. Over 5,500 undergraduate courses are taught each term in over 100 programs. Undergraduate, graduate and professional students have a choice of 17 separate schools and colleges, 588 majors, over 600 student organizations.
The students at the University of Michigan come from all 50 states and over 100 foreign countries from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe. Almost 50% come from the top five percent of their graduating high school class and 66% are in the top tenth of their class.
Michigan's teaching and research staff include an astronaut, distinguished world authorities, Pulitzer Prize winners, internationally acclaimed performing artists and composers, Supreme Court Justices, best-selling novelists, artists, and filmmakers. Michigan has more than 100 named endowed chairs.
Michigan receives over $374 million in research expenditures annually, the largest research expenditure for any university in the country. The diversity of the University's research activities, from medical to social to cultural, is a major contributor of Michigan's capacity for growth and development.
