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University Relations

UM Highlights

Updated Oct. 29, 2008

On this page:

Enrollment (fall 2008):
14,207 total
12,421 undergraduates
1,786 graduate students

Enrollment by Academic Units (fall 2008)
College of Arts and Sciences, 5,986
College of Forestry and Conservation, 694
College of Health Professions and Biomedical Sciences, 843
College of Technology, 1,641
School of Business Administration, 1,763
School of Education, 1,340
School of Fine Arts, 774
School of Journalism, 508
School of Law, 248
Davidson Honors College (cross-discipline), 410

Student Profile (fall 2008):
54 percent female; 46 percent male
80 percent attend full time; 20 percent part time
75 percent Montana residents
25 percent out-of-state and international students
386 international students (from 65 countries)

Faculty (fall 2008):
645 full-time
323 part-time
19:1 student-faculty ratio

Staff including faculty (fall 2008):
1,550 (full-time equivalency)

Estimated semester costs for freshmen (2008-09):
Montana resident
Tuition and fees, $2,689
Room and board, $3,129
Books and supplies, $425
Total costs, $6,243

Non-resident
Tuition and fees, $8,509
Room and board, $3,129
Books and supplies, $425
Total costs, $12,063

UM Facts
Marks of Distinction
UM Media Recognition
Missoula Facts
Missoula Media Recognition
UM's 28 Rhodes Scholars

UM Facts

Location: Missoula, Montana
Founded: 1893
Affiliation: Public unit of the Montana University System
Classification: Coeducational, doctoral university

Academic calendar: Fall and spring semesters with a three-week winter session in January and two five-week summer sessions.

Accreditation: Regionally accredited by Northwest Association of Schools and Colleges. Professional schools and departments are approved by specialized accrediting organizations.

Degrees offered: Associate, bachelor’s, master’s, first-professional and doctoral degrees, and technical certificates.

Campus: 156 acres at the base of Mount Sentinel and next to the Clark Fork River; includes 64 buildings and a 23,500-seat football stadium. UM's 180-acre South Campus offers housing, a golf course and soccer, softball and track fields. The College of Technology occupies two sites in central and west Missoula.

Housing: Nine residence halls; three apartment complexes for students with dependents; and one apartment complex for single junior, senior and graduate students.

Campus organizations: One-hundred and fifty clubs dedicated to academics, volunteer service, diversity, recreation, Greek life, politics, religion and many other interests.

Varsity sports: Men — football, basketball, indoor and outdoor track, cross-country and tennis. Women — volleyball, basketball, indoor and outdoor track, cross-country, tennis, golf and soccer.

Club and intramural sports: Eighteen club sports and more than 30 intramural sports.

Athletic conference: Big Sky Conference, National Collegiate Athletic Association, Division I Football Championship Subdivision.

Football wins against MSU-Bozeman: 66

Football losses against MSU-Bozeman: 35

Marks of Distinction

Two English faculty members, Judy Blunt and Debra Magpie Earling, were awarded coveted Guggenheim Fellowship Awards worth more than $30,000. (2006 and 2007)

UM senior Hilary Martens was named one of Glamour magazine's "Top 10 College Women." (June 2007)

For the first time, a UM student was awarded a Jack Kent Cooke Graduate Scholarship, worth up to $50,000 per year. The prestigious award went to Dawson Dunning, a 2005 wildlife biology graduate from Otter. (July 2006)

UM radio-television students swept first-place awards at the Region 10 convention of the Society of Professional Journalists, placing first in every broadcast category in which awards were given for the society's Mark of Excellence Competition. (April 2006)

A UM photojournalism student, Mike Greener, won first place and $2,000 in the picture story/series category of the national Hearst Journalism Awards Program. (April 2006)

Two UM students, Hilary Martens and Elizabeth Morton, won Goldwater Scholarships, worth up to $7,500 per year. (April 2006)

UM has produced 11 Truman Scholars, 14 Goldwater Scholars and 28 Udall Scholars. (2007)

UM has produced more Udall Scholars (28) than any other school in the nation since the award's inception in 1996. The 2006 scholarship winners are Kelly Hopping and Michael O'Brien.

Four UM students were among 24 in the nation named 2005-06 Doris Duke Conservation Fellows. (February 2006)

UM's College of Health Professions and Biomedical Sciences is ranked fourth nationally out of 92 schools and colleges of pharmacy in biomedical research funding. (2006)

UM’s Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library houses the earliest authorized edition of the Lewis and Clark journals.

UM’s grizzly mascot, Monte, was named 2004 (and 2002) Capital One National Mascot of the Year.

Marketing Professor Jakki Mohr was named the 2005 Montana Professor of the Year. The award is presented by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching in conjunction with the Council for Advancement and Support of Education. Mohr is the sixth UM professor in a row to earn the statewide recognition, joining History Professor Harry Fritz, 2004; retired English Professor Gerry Brenner, 2003; retired music Professor Esther England, 2002; economics Professor John Photiades, 2001; and history Professor Mehrdad Kia, 2000.

For the seventh consecutive year, UM's School of Journalism placed in the top 10 of the 2004 Hearst Journalism Awards Program. (2005)

Fourteen student reporters and photographers participating in UM's Native News Honors Project won a Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award. The prestigious award, which recognizes outstanding reporting on the disadvantaged, is often called the "poor people's Pulitzer." (2005)

UM Radio-Television students swept the television categories in the Region 10 Society of Professional Journalists Mark of Excellence Awards. With 19 awards, the students took first place in nine of 45 categories. (2005)

The University's Epsilon Mu chapter of Pi Sigma Alpha earned a Best Chapter Award for 2004-05 from the National Political Science Honor Society. (2005)

UM President George Dennison has served longer than any other president in the University's history, surpassing the previous record of 13 years and eight months in April 2004.

UM's Ethics Bowl Team reached the "final four" of the 10th annual Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl. (2004)

Touting top mascot Monte garnered UM the "Best of Show" in the national Admissions Marketing Report competition. (2004)

UM's Reserve Officer Training Corps was ranked ninth out of 271 ROTC programs in the nation. (2004)

With 41 alumni volunteers serving in the Peace Corps, UM is No. 10 on the organization's list of "Top Producing Colleges and Universities." The ranking, earned three years in a row, puts UM ahead of other medium-sized institutions such as Notre Dame, Yale and Harvard. (2005)

UM ranks 17th in the nation and fifth among public universities in producing Rhodes Scholars (28; see list below).

The Grizzly football team won the Division I-AA National Championship in 1995 and 2001 and was national championship runner-up in 1996, 2000 and 2004.

Seventy-eight percent of all UM pre-med students are admitted to various medical schools. The national average acceptance rate is 40 percent.
UM journalism graduates have won eight Pulitzer Prizes.
On May 21, 2003, UM student Jess Roskelley became the youngest American to summit Mount Everest.
In June 2003, UM journalism student Danielle Cross placed first in the radio news competition of the Hearst Journalism Awards Program, known as the “College Pulitzers.”
The School of Law’s moot court team won the 2000 national championship.
UM’s institutional theme, “The Discovery Continues,” earned the Virginia Carter Smith Grand Crystal award from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education District VIII. (2001)
UM’s Griz Gear line of clothing earned the 2001 Synergy Award from the National Collegiate Licensing Association.
UM’s graduate program in creative writing tied for 10th place in U.S. News and World Report’s list of America’s best graduate programs.
President George W. Bush’s first two nominees for U.S. District Court judgeships were UM law alumni Richard Cebull of Great Falls and Sam Haddon of Missoula, sworn in in 2001.
UM political science Professor Peter Koehn was one of 12 nationwide named a Fulbright New Century Scholar in 2001.
The School of Business Administration had the highest first-time pass rate in the nation in the 2000 Uniform Certified Public Accountant Examination.
UM biologist Doug Emlen received a 2001 Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, one of the highest honors bestowed by the U.S. government.
“A University Stands,” a UM promotional video remembering the Sept. 11 attacks, earned a Gold Award from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education. (2002)
UM’s athletic program was named No. 75 among the top 200 Division I programs. (2002)

UM Media Recognition

UM is one of the nation's 150 best-value undergraduate institutions, according to the Princeton Review's 2007 edition of "America's Best Value Colleges." The UM profile said "The University of Montana has all the ingredients of a happy college experience: friendly people, supportive faculty, a great sense of community and fantastic educational opportunities -- all served up with a side of lovely scenery .... The academics are solid, the location is astonishing, and the price is right."
The first official student chapter of the Native American Journalists Association was established at UM. (May 2006)
CosmoGIRL! teen magazine named UM one of the 50 best places for young women to go to college. (October 2004 and 2005)
UM is No. 1 among "Schools with the Top Fans of I-AA," according to I-AA.org, which wrote: "The 'Brawl of the Wild' versus Montana State simply shuts down the entire state. ... A must-see."
Upon earning a bachelor's degree in 2005, 64-year-old Diana Davey told the Missoulian newspaper: "The University of Montana is a wonderful treasure for the people of Montana, and a wonderful gift to Missoula. It's a priceless resource."
Street & Smith's magazine, the bible of college hoops, named UM seventh on its list of all-time best women's basketball programs. (2005)
Sports Illustrated On Campus ranked UM No. 25 on its top 25 list of best college sports towns. UM is the only I-AA school on the list. "In Missoula, site of 'A River Runs Through It,' fans sip Moose Drool and Trout Slayer ale while tailgating along the Clark Fork River," the article said. (Sept. 16, 2004)
UM is one of the 134 colleges named "Best in the West" by the Princeton Review. "Students at University of Montana-Missoula love the gestalt of their school, telling us that 'Missoula is one of the best places to be: friendly people, supportive faculty, a great sense of community, fantastic educational opportunities, and beautiful, beautiful scenery!" said the publication.
Forbes magazine called UM-Missoula one of the Top 10 "IQ Campuses" in the nation, praising its quality of life and mix of intellectuals, international students and immigrants. "Sawmill workers and University of Montana professors are next-door neighbors here, sharing the town's affordable housing and good health care," the article said. "Violent crime is low, and future job growth looks sunny. The cultural capital of Montana, Missoula has a long-standing reputation as the state's most progressive city. Intellectuals, East Coast transplants, international students and Russian and Tibetan immigrants join the locals to make Missoula their home." (August 2004)
UM and Montana Tech are two of the nation's 77 "best value" undergraduate institutions, according to "America's Best Value Colleges," a book published by the Princeton Review. (2004)
"The M Trail, which offers a stunning panoramic view of Missoula from the top of the M, is the most heavily used hiking trail in the state, more than even those in Glacier National Park," wrote the Chronicle of Higher Education about UM's Mount Sentinel. "'It's the original StairMaster,'" the article quoted UM's campus recreation director as saying. (2004)
"Defined by a prestigious faculty, red-brick architecture and expansive lawns, the century-old school is often referred to as the Harvard of the West," said Ski magazine. "Some 2,400 students graduate each year; far fewer actually leave." (2004)
Named among the top “schools with the most beautiful campus in an urban setting” by Kaplan’s “Unofficial, Unbiased Guide to the 328 Most Interesting Colleges.” (2004)
Named among the top “schools that attract high school class presidents” by Kaplan’s “Unofficial, Unbiased Guide to the 328 Most Interesting Colleges.” (2004)
USA Today said UM had the No. 3 Easter egg hunt in the nation. (2002)
UM was recognized by Spin magazine’s section, “College Life 101: Your Survival Guide.” The article said, “If you like bears in your city parks and full access to winter sports, welcome to Missoula (pop. 57,000), home of [UM].” (2002)
The New York Times singled out UM’s fight song, “Up With Montana,” in an article about humorous college fight songs, saying, “At [UM], fans expect their team to devour its enemies while still alive.” (2002)
In 2002, USA Today wrote about the joys of Grizzly football in an article titled “The Continental Divide: Montana games intimate yet vital.”
Outside Magazine rated UM among the top 10 nationally for combining academic quality and outdoor recreation.
Rolling Stone once deemed UM's campus the most scenic in America.
Included in America's Best 100 College Buys and Barron's Best Buys in College Education. (2003)
Listed in the book “How to Get an Ivy League Education at a State University,” by Martin Nemko, who called Missoula “ a Rocky Mountain Berkeley ... the kind of place many people hate to leave.” (1989)

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University Relations

UM Highlights

Updated Oct. 29, 2008

UM Facts

Marks of Distinction

UM Media Recognition

Missoula Facts

Missoula Media Recognition

UM’s 28 Rhodes Scholars

Text Only Options