University of Michigan
Public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States
About This School
How does this school stack up?
The flagship campuses of many of the state university systems have superb faculties and excellent academic reputations. However, setting aside Berkeley as a special case, by our criteria the University of Michigan’s Ann Arbor campus is the most distinguished of all these many fine institutions. That is, Michigan has a strong claim to be considered (after Berkeley) the best public research university in the US.
One thing in Michigan’s favor is its sheer size (more than 46,000 students and 6,000 academic staff members) and corresponding wealth (an annual research budget of around $1.5 billion). Administratively, the university is subdivided into 17 schools and colleges offering some 600 undergraduate and graduate major programs.
Another reason for Michigan’s research prowess is its truly astonishing library, containing more than 14 million individual items, including over 220,000 serials.
Michigan has some 25 Nobel Prize laureates associated with its name. Prize-winners in physics include:
- Wolfgang Pauli
- Charles Townes
- Samuel Ting
- Donald Glaser
while Robert Shiller and Lawrence Klein were Michigan-connected Nobelists in economics. In addition, the great Russian poet Joseph Brodsky, who taught at Michigan for many years after being expelled from the USSR, was a Nobelist in literature.
Many other famous people have been connected to the University of Michigan over the years, including:
- Clarence Darrow, the famed criminal attorney who defended Nathan Leopold, Richard Loeb, and John T Scopes
- Claude Shannon, the father of the modern theory of information
- Distinguished poet, W.H. Auden
- Celebrated playwright and author of Death of a Salesman, Arthur Miller
- Raoul Wallenberg, the Swedish diplomat who rescued tens of thousands of Jews from Nazi-occupied Hungary during World War II
- Gerald Ford, the 38th President of the US
- Distinguished stage and screen actor, James Earl Jones
- Legendary dramatic soprano, Jessye Norman
- Google co-founder, Larry Page
- Lori Lightfoot, the current mayor of Chicago
Admissions
What does this school look for?
Annual Applications
64,917
Acceptance
23%
Graduation Rate
91%
Median SAT Score
1420
Median ACT Score
32
Costs
How much does it cost to attend?
Tuition (in-state)
$15,897
Fees (in-state)
$328
After Graduation
Averages for 10 years after enrolling
Avg Earnings
$79,000
Employed
92%
Campus Life
What's it like to attend this school?
The People
Full time on-campus stats
Student Body
42K
Under-Grads
29K
Graduates
13K
The Campus
Where will you be attending?
Location
503 Thompson Street,
Ann Arbor MI
48109
On Campus Crime Rates
Property Crime
14k per 100k
Violent Crime
0k per 100k
City Crime Rates
Property Crime
17k per 100k
Violent Crime
2k per 100k
What is University of Michigan known for?
Our answer to this is to show you the disciplines in which a school's faculty and alumni have had the highest historical influence. A school may be influential in a discipline even if they do not offer degrees in that area. We've organized two lists to show where they are influential and offer corresponding degrees, and where they are influential through scholarship although they don't offer degrees in the disciplines.
Top areas of influence with degrees offered
Influential People
Who are University of Michigan's Most influential alumni?
University of Michigan's most influential alumni faculty include professors and professionals in the fields of Social Work, Computer Science, and Engineering. University of Michigan’s most academically influential people include Claude Shannon, Marshall Sahlins, and Arthur Miller.