About UND
The University of North Dakota (UND) is the state’s most comprehensive intensive research university and the primary center for professional education and training. UND’s economic impact on the state and region is more than $1 billion a year.
Founded by the Dakota Territorial Assembly in 1883, six years before statehood, UND was intended to be, and has remained, a university with a strong liberal arts foundation surrounded by a variety of professional and specialized programs. UND is one of only 47 public universities in the nation with both accredited graduate schools of law and medicine. It is admired for its spacious, beautiful campus and extensive resources. The University has earned an international reputation for its academic and research programs.
Location
The University is located in Grand Forks, a college town of 50,000 on the Red River of the North separating North Dakota and Minnesota. The campus includes 240 buildings (over 6.4 million square feet under roof) on 550 acres.
Grand Forks is linked by Interstate 29 to Fargo, N.D., 70 miles to the south, and to Winnipeg, Manitoba, 150 miles to the north. The city is 300 miles northwest of Minneapolis and a day’s drive from Chicago, Milwaukee, and Des Moines. Commercial air service links the Grand Forks International Airport to Minneapolis and on to other destinations worldwide.
Academic Divisions
- College of Arts & Sciences
- College of Business & Public Administration
- College of Education & Human Development
- College of Engineering & Mines
- College of Nursing & Professional Disciplines
- John D. Odegard School of Aerospace Sciences
- Office of Extended Learning
- School of Graduate Studies
- School of Law
- School of Medicine & Health Sciences
Fields of Study
The University offers a total of 224 fields of study, with 90 undergraduate majors, 73 undergraduate minors, 54 master's programs, 27 doctoral programs, a specialist diploma, and professional programs in law (J.D.) and medicine (M.D.). Graduate enrollment totals 2,801, law students number 238, and medical students total 258. The four most popular areas include commercial aviation, elementary education, psychology, and nursing.
People
- 15,250 total enrollment (fall 2012)
- 11,953 undergraduate students
- 3,297 graduate and professional (law and medicine) students
- 52% men, 48% women
- 2.15% American Indian, 12.1% African-American, 2.4% Hispanic-American, and 1.5% Asian-American students
- 50 states and more than 50 countries are represented in the student body
- 39% of students come from North Dakota
- 3,146 live in UND’s 14 residence halls
- 823 faculty, of whom 95 percent hold the highest degrees in their fields
- 2,051 staff
- 121,634 degrees granted since 1889
- 98,683 living alumni
- More than 25,000 enrollment in online academic courses and programs, non-credit courses, workshops, and other professional development activities
Resources and Services
The Chester Fritz Library is the largest in the region, holding 2 million print and non-print items. UND’s library system also includes the Olaf Thormodsgard Law Library and the Harley E. French Library of the Health Sciences, serving the law and medical schools.
The Office of International Programs has international student advisors who support international students from the time they are admitted to UND, through their studies at UND, and beyond. The advisors provide an extensive orientation to incoming students, ongoing advising on immigration and personal issues, and serve as an access point to the many services within the university. International Programs works to build bridges between cultures and countries, serve the entire University in promoting and supporting international education, support the international population at UND, promote global cultural awareness, and provide resources and support for UND students studying abroad.
Cultural centers provide gathering places and specialized resources for American Indian, African American, women and international students. More than 250 student organizations provide opportunities for fellowship, service, and extracurricular learning. Students are involved in University governance at all levels.
The University meets student needs with a full range of services, including health, counseling, veterans, disability support, learning, and more. An outstanding career services office assists graduates in all majors with job placement.
Research and Entrepreneurism
UND has established an international reputation for research and scholarship, notably in the health sciences, nutrition, energy and environmental protection, aerospace, and engineering.
The University is an anchor of the Red River Valley Research Corridor. It operates a 55-acre Technology Park to host both emerging enterprises and established centers and units, and to facilitate the transfer of University research advances to applications in business and industry. Prominent facilities in this endeavor include the Center for Innovation and REAC 1.
The University enjoys a close relationship with the U.S. Department of Agriculture Human Nutrition Research Center on campus. Research, scholarly projects, and creative activity are conducted in all of the University’s 60-plus academic departments.
Culture and Entertainment
UND’s 2,300-seat Chester Fritz Auditorium is regarded as one of the finest performing arts facilities between Minneapolis and the West Coast. More than 60,000 people go to the Fritz each year to take in Broadway productions, concerts and lectures.
UND's own UND Art Collections includes works by well-known artists, such as Salvador Dali and Andy Warhol, as well as well as historical pieces extending back in time to ancient Egypt. The North Dakota Museum of Art hosts more than 40,000 patrons each year for exhibitions and concerts. The University’s Department of Theatre Arts stages productions, and numerous concerts and recitals are presented on and off campus by UND music groups. Grand Forks’ modern Alerus Center and Ralph Engelstad Arena are major concert venue.
Each spring the University hosts two particularly significant cultural events. The Writers Conference presents nationally prominent authors who give readings and lectures, and discuss their craft in panel sessions. The UND Indian Association’s American Indian Week features discussions of contemporary issues and a major regional powwow.
Athletics
UND's 18 athletics teams compete at the NCAA Division I level in football and baseball for men, soccer, volleyball, tennis and softball for women, and ice hockey, basketball, swimming and diving, track and field, cross country, and golf for both men and women.
Equally successful in the classroom, UND's 375 student-athletes combined for a 3.089 collective grade point average in 2010-11. For the second straight year, 13 of UND's 18 teams, including all 10 women's teams, achieved at least a 3.0 GPA during the academic year. UND placed 114 student-athletes on the GWC, WCHA and America Sky all-academic teams.
Home ice for UND hockey players is the $104 million, 11,634-seat Ralph Engelstad Arena. It is considered to be the finest collegiate hockey arena in North America. The men's hockey team has won the NCAA national crown seven times. The women's hockey team began varsity competition with the 2002-03 season and has developed into one of the top women's hockey programs in the country.
Basketball and volleyball are played in the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center, which opened in 2004. The home field for the football team is the Alerus Center, a community-owned multipurpose arena/convention center that ranks among the largest facilities of its kind in the Upper Midwest.
Wellness and Recreation
UND’s Wellness Center is a state-of-the-art facility that embraces the seven dimensions of wellness. This 106,000-square-foot building houses a three-court gymnasium, multi-activity court, cardiovascular and weight rooms, a 200-meter running track, a 28-foot-high rock-climbing wall, demonstration kitchen, and more.
The Intramural Program offers individual and team sports.
The Greater Grand Forks community boasts an extensive array of recreational attractions, including parks, biking/walking trails, golf courses, tennis courts, and fitness enterprises. The surrounding area offers numerous natural areas for hiking/bird watching, boating, and hunting.