The University of Utah boasts an academic reputation that rivaled only by its breathtaking location. It is a beautiful 1,500-acre campus with native and exotic trees, fountains, flowering malls and pedestrian walkways, nestled between the 11,000-foot peaks of the Wasatch range and bustling downtown Salt Lake City. The studentbody totals over 26,000 students, almost 5,000 of which are graduate students. All fifty states and 111 foreign countries are represented in these totals. The University of Utah offers 68 undergraduate degree programs and 92 graduate majors. The University has 3,702 faculty members, 98% of whom hold the highest terminal degree in their respective fields. Founded in 1850, the University of Utah has established itself as a recognized research institution—one that ranks in the top 25 among American colleges and universities in funded research. From a field of 3,400 U.S. schools, the Carnegie Foundataion recently classified the U. as a one of 50 comprehensive research universities. The first totally artificial heart was developed and implanted in a human at the University Medical Center. The University's Human Toxicology Laboratory is known world-wide, and its graduate programs in the various sciences have also been cited. The University of Utah has one of the region's foremost research libraries, as well as a 320-acre Research Park located adjacent to campus. The Health Sciences Center is a major referral, research, and health professions training center for the six-state intermountain region.

The U. provides great entertainment as well. More than a million people enjoy the University of Utah's athletic, entertainment, and cultural offerings each year. Campus arts organizations include orchestras, bands, jazz combos, an opera ensemble, and several choral, chamber, dance, and theater groups. Pioneer Theater Company, a professional equity troupe that performs on campus, offers dramatic and musical productions. The state's Museum of Fine Arts, Museum of Natural History, and Arboretum, all located on the campus, provide a wide range of programs. The U. has championship basketball, football, gymnastics, and ski teams. It features a 211-meter indoor track, 5 tennis courts, 18 handball/racquetball/squash courts, a weight room, fitness equipment, jacuzzis, and saunas at the Nelsen field House; 2 swimming pools, 8 basketball courts, 6 racquetball courts, and a weightroom at the HPER complex; and a 9-hole golf course, a covered playing field, 22 outdoor tennis courts, an 8-court indoor tennis stadium, bowling, billiards, and a movie theater located elsewhere on campus.