University of Montana

Missoula

Top rated for combining academic quality and outdoor recreation, The University of Montana boasts one of the most scenic campuses in America. A number of unique programs combine academics with experiential learning in the surrounding outdoors. Ranking seventeenth in the nation, and fifth among public universities in producing Rhodes Scholars, UM also boasts eight Pulitzer Prize winners and several Truman and Goldwater Scholars. It has been named the top university for Udall Scholars, receiving the most in 2005 and the most since the award’s 1996 inception. CPA candidates continue to achieve among the highest first-time pass rates. Seventy-eight percent of all UM pre-med students are admitted to various medical schools (well above the national average of 40 percent). UM boasts a number of unique programs: Radio-TV student documentary program; Entertainment Management Program; and Wilderness and Civilization (campus courses and wilderness fieldwork), among others. UM Journalism students have established the first student chapter of the Native American Journalists Association. UM was honored among 81 “Colleges with a Conscience” and ranks sixth in the nation in producing Peace Corps volunteers. Two NASA Earth Observing System satellites currently monitor the planet with software designed at UM. The UM ROTC program has been ranked ninth (out of 271) in the nation. Sports Illustrated ranked UM in its top twenty-five best college sports towns (UM was the only I-AA Football school on the list). Monte, UM’s mascot, was the 2005 and 2003 Capital One National Mascot. The Grizzly football team has reached the NCAA Division I-AA national playoffs fourteen consecutive years and been to the national championship five times, winning it in 1995 and 2001. Street & Smith’s magazine, the bible of college hoops, named the women’s Lady Griz basketball program seventh among the all-time best women’s basketball programs in the country (its sixteen regular season conference championships and fifteen conference tournament titles rank second in the nation).