University of Miami

The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida, United States. As of 2025, the university enrolled 20,104 students in two colleges and eight schools across over 350 academic majors and programs, including the Miller School of Medicine in Miami's Health District, the law school on the main campus, the Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science on Virginia Key, and additional research facilities in southern Miami-Dade County.

The University of Miami offers 154 undergraduate, 150 master's, and 70 doctoral degree programs. With over 21,000 faculty and staff as of 2025, the University of Miami is the second-largest employer in Miami-Dade County. The university's main campus in Coral Gables spans 240 acres (0.97 km2), has over 5,700,000 square feet (530,000 m2) of buildings, and is located 7 miles (11 km) southwest of downtown Miami, the heart of the nation's eighth-largest and world's 70th-largest metropolitan area. As of 2024, the university had annual research expenditures of $520 million, making it the 61st-largest university for research in the nation.

As of 2025, the University of Miami has 240,769 alumni from all 50 states and 174 foreign nations. University of Miami faculty include a number of notable academics across nearly all disciplines, including four Nobel Prize recipients. The university is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity" and is a member of the Association of American Universities (AAU).

The University of Miami's intercollegiate athletic teams are collectively known as the Miami Hurricanes and compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association. Its football team has won five national championships since 1983, and its baseball team has won four national championships since 1982.

History

Bowman Foster Ashe (1926 to 1952)

In 1925, the University of Miami was founded by a group of citizens who sought to offer "unique opportunities to develop inter-American studies, further creative work in the arts and letters, and conduct teaching and research programs in tropical studies", according to the university's founding charter. They believed that a local university would benefit the Miami metropolitan area and were optimistic that the university would be a beneficiary of future financial support, especially since South Florida was benefiting from the historic 1920s land boom. During this era of Jim Crow laws, there were three large state-funded universities in Florida for white male students, white female students, and black students: the University of Florida in Gainesville and Florida State University and Florida A&M University, both in Tallahassee. Like most private universities of the time, the University of Miami was founded as a coeducational institution but not yet open to Black students.

In 1925, George E. Merrick, founder of Coral Gables, granted 160 acres (0.6 km2) and nearly $5,000,000 ($91.8 million, adjusted for current inflation) for the university's founding. The contributions included land contracts and mortgages on real estate that had been sold in the city. The university was formally chartered April 8, 1925 by the Circuit Court for Dade County. But by 1926, as the first class of 372 students enrolled at the new university, the land boom had collapsed and hopes for a speedy recovery were dashed by the Great Miami Hurricane of 1926. For the next 15 years, the university struggled financially, bordering on insolvency. The first building on campus, now known as the Merrick Building, was left half built for over two decades due to the economic difficulties, requiring that classes be held off-campus at the nearby Anastasia Hotel in Coral Gables. Partitions separated the classrooms, giving the university the early but long since discarded nickname Cardboard College.

In 1929, University of Miami founding member William E. Walsh and other members of the university's board of regents resigned following the widespread collapse of Florida's economy. The university's plight was so severe that students went door to door in Coral Gables collecting funds to keep it open. A reconstituted ten-member board chaired by the university's first president Bowman Foster Ashe included Merrick, David Fairchild, James Cash Penney, and others. In 1930, several faculty members and more than 60 students entered the University of Miami when the University of Havana closed amidst political unrest in Cuba. While helpful to the University of Miami's early development, it still was not enough, and the university was forced to seek bankruptcy protection two years later, in 1932.

Campus

Coral Gables campus

The University of Miami's main campus spans 240 acres (0.97 km2) in Coral Gables, 7 miles (11 km) southwest of Downtown Miami. Most of the university's academic programs are based on its main Coral Gables campus, which houses eight schools and two colleges, including the Frost School of Music, Herbert Business School, and the University of Miami School of Law. The campus has over 5,900,000 sq ft (550,000 m2) of building space valued in excess of $657 million. Lake Osceola, a man-made freshwater lake developed in the late 1940s, is located at the center of campus.

The university's campus theater, Jerry Herman Ring Theatre, is named for University of Miami alumnus Jerry Herman, a composer and lyricist responsible for some of Broadway's most successful productions, including Hello Dolly!, La Cage aux Folles, and other Broadway hits.

The John C. Gifford Arboretum, a campus arboretum and botanical garden, is located on the northwest corner of the main Coral Gables campus. The Jorge M. Perez Architecture Center at the University of Miami's School of Architecture holds periodic architecture and design exhibitions.

Transportation to the Coral Gables campus is provided by Miami Metrorail, whose University Station stop is within walking distance of the campus. The Metro connects the University of Miami to Downtown Miami, Brickell, Coconut Grove, Civic Center, Miami International Airport, and other Miami neighborhoods. The University of Miami's Coral Gables campus is about a 15-minute train ride from Downtown and Brickell. The Hurry 'Canes shuttle bus service operates two routes on campus, including to University Station, and weekend routes to various off-campus stores and facilities during the academic year; an additional shuttle route provides service to the Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science campus on Virginia Key and Vizcaya Station. The university also has a Zipcar service.

In February 2018, rap artist Drake filmed substantial portions of the music video for his song "God's Plan" on the University of Miami campus.

Student housing

The University of Miami's main campus in Coral Gables houses 4,590 enrolled students, 89 percent of whom are freshman. The university's on-campus housing consists of five residential colleges and one apartment-style housing area available only to undergraduate degree-seeking students. The residential colleges are divided into two dormitory-style residence halls and three suite-style residence halls: The first, McDonald and Pentland Towers of Hecht Residential College (demolished in 2022) and the Walsh and Rosborough Towers of Stanford Residential College, (demolished in 2024) are commonly referred to as the "Freshman Towers". The removal of these two dorms makes way for Centennial Village, which opened its first phase to students in the fall of 2024. Phase 2 is set to open in the fall of 2026. The second, Eaton Residential College, which originally housed only women, and Mahoney/Pearson Residential Colleges have suite-style housing with double-occupancy rooms connected by a shared bathroom.

Academics

The University of Miami currently employs 2,850 full-time faculty members with 99 percent of them holding either doctorates or terminal degrees in their respective specialties. The university's student-faculty ratio, as of 2024, was 12:1.

Accreditations

The University of Miami is a broadly accredited academic institution, including by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and the Florida Department of Education and 26 additional programmatic accrediting bodies, including Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, American Bar Association, American Dental Association Commission on Dental Accreditation, American Physical Therapy Association Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education, American Psychological Association, Association of MBAs (AMBA), Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (ACSB International), Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Management Education, Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education, Council on Education for Public Health, EQUIS, Liaison Committee on Medical Education, National Association of Schools of Music, and Society for Simulation in Healthcare.

The university is a member of American Association of Colleges and Universities, American Association of University Women, American Council of Learned Societies, American Council on Education, Florida Association of Colleges and Universities, Independent Colleges and Universities of Florida, and National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities.

In September 2022, Miami Herbert Business School was awarded AMBA accreditation, securing triple crown accreditation status, which includes accreditation by each of the nation's three business-oriented academic accrediting bodies: ACSB International, AMBA, and EQUIS. Less than one percent of the world's business schools have been recognized with accreditation from all three of these academic accrediting bodies.

Undergraduate admissions

Admission to the University of Miami is highly competitive, and, among Florida's 171 universities and colleges, the most selective. As of fall 2024, 37% of incoming freshman graduated in the top 5% of their class and 58% graduated in the top 10%.

For the Class of 2027, enrolled in fall 2023, the University of Miami received 48,286 applications and accepted 8,940, or 18.5% of its applicants. Of those accepted, 2,328 enrolled for a yield rate, or percentage of accepted students who choose to attend the university, of 26.0%.

Among the Class of 2028 enrolled as of fall 2024, the mean SAT score was 1400 and the mean ACT score was 31. The average GPA was 3.8 on a 4.0 scale.

Student life

The University of Miami is affiliated with 31 social fraternities and sororities. Multicultural fraternities and sororities include six of the nine historically African-American organizations that are collectively known as the Divine Nine, Latino, and Asian-interest fraternities and sororities.

The University of Miami has over 300 registered student organizations, including Amnesty International, Habitat for Humanity, the Ibis yearbook, UMTV (an award-winning cable television channel with nine programs broadcast on Comcast Channel 96), UniMiami (a Spanish cable television broadcast), the student-run Distraction Magazine, and the campus radio station WVUM, which has broadcast to the Miami metropolitan media market continuously since 1967. Since 1929, students have published The Miami Hurricane, which is currently published weekly and has been named to the Associated Collegiate Press Hall of Fame.

Athletics

The University of Miami's athletic teams are the Miami Hurricanes and are widely referred to as "The 'Canes" or "The U". The Hurricanes are members of NCAA Division I, the highest level of athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), and compete primarily in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). Prior to joining the ACC in 2004, the University of Miami competed in the Big East Conference. The Hurricanes maintain seven NCAA men's athletics teams (baseball, basketball, cross-country, diving, football, tennis, and track and field) and ten women's teams (basketball, cross-country, diving, golf, rowing, soccer, swimming, tennis, track and field, and volleyball).

The University of Miami's mascot, first introduced in 1957, is Sebastian the Ibis. The university's marching band, established in 1933, is called Band of the Hour.

Football

The University of Miami football team has won five national championships in 1983, 1987, 1989, 1991, and 2001 and has appeared in the AP Top 25 frequently since the 1980s. University of Miami football alumni include eleven members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, two Heisman Trophy winners, and dozens of players who have gone on to NFL careers. As of 2024, at least one University of Miami football player has been selected in the NFL draft in 49 consecutive NFL drafts, dating back to 1975. Among all colleges and universities, the University of Miami holds all-time records for most defensive linemen (49) and is tied with USC for most wide receivers (40) to go on to play at the NFL level.

Beginning in the 1980s with the arrival of former head coach Howard Schnellenberger, the University of Miami football became one of the nation's most high profile and elite college football programs and developed a large fandom. Its success has been accompanied with controversy, notably having three national championships in the 1980s followed by scandal-related damage to its recruiting capabilities, a subsequent comeback leading to its 2001 national championship, followed by a second scandal-plagued descent.

Much of the program's dramatic history from the 1980s is captured in a widely viewed December 12, 2009, ESPN documentary, The U, which drew 2.3 million viewers, then making it the most watched documentary in ESPN history. A 2014 sequel, The U Part 2, picked up where The U left off, covering the University of Miami as it launched a comeback from these 1980s scandals leading up to its 2001 national championship team, widely considered one of the best, and possibly the best team, in college football history, followed by yet a second series of widespread scandals that cost scholarships and inflicted multi-year damage on the program's competitiveness.

People

Notable alumni

Since its 1925 founding, several University of Miami alumni have gone on to globally-recognized accomplishment and influence in their respective fields. Among them are former Honduran president Porfirio Lobo Sosa, former Peruvian president Fernando Belaúnde, former Belize prime minister Dean Barrow, former Iceland prime minister Bjarni Benediktsson, economist and former Bahamas Central Bank governor Wendy Craigg, former Peruvian vice president and minister Mercedes Aráoz, Pulitzer Prize-winning poet and writing professor Donald Justice, actor Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Grammy Award-winning musicians Gloria Estefan, Bruce Hornsby, Enrique Iglesias, Jaco Pastorius, and Jon Secada, chief executive officers of various companies, public officials, heads of governmental agencies, scientists, academics, media personalities, authors and writers, and multiple professional athletes in Major League Baseball, the NBA, and the NFL, including eleven NFL Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees.

Notable faculty

University of Miami faculty include or have included a number of notable academics, including four Nobel Prize recipients and globally-recognized experts across nearly every academic discipline. Among them are physicist Paul Dirac, biochemists Robert F. Furchgott and Earl Wilbur Sutherland Jr., writers Paul Holdengräber and Juan Ramón Jiménez, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Peter Burleigh, sinologist Edward L. Dreyer, international affairs expert Leon Gouré, historians Mary Lindemann, Hermann Beck and Joan R. Piggott, economist Neil Wallace, finance and business management expert Henrik Cronqvist, former U.S. Secretary of Health and Services Donna Shalala, healthcare policy and management expert John Quelch, audio engineer Bill Porter, artist and architect Bonnie Seeman, architect Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, sociologist Lowell Juilliard Carr, constitutional law expert John Hart Ely, administrative law expert Paul R. Verkuil, musicians Jaco Pastorius and Pat Metheny, artist Walter Darby Bannard, and philosopher Colin McGinn.

Эх сурвалж: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)