The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities is a public land-grant research university located in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul in the state of Minnesota. The Twin Cities campus spans both Minneapolis and Falcon Heights, which is a suburb of St. Paul and is located around 3 miles (4.8 kilometres) apart from one another. With 52,376 students enrolled at the beginning of the 2021–22 academic year, the Twin Cities campus of the University of Minnesota is the oldest and biggest campus in the University of Minnesota system. It also boasts the ninth-largest main campus student population in the United States. It is the primary campus of the University of Minnesota System and contains 19 colleges, institutions, and other key academic divisions. The University of Minnesota is the system's flagship institution.
In 1851, seven years before Minnesota was officially accepted as a state, the Minnesota Territory Legislature established a charter to establish the Institution of Minnesota as a territorial university. The institution is now considered to be among those that are categorised as "R1: Doctoral Universities - Very high research activity." The University of Minnesota is a member of the Association of American Universities and is currently rated 20th in research activity. In the fiscal year 2020, the University of Minnesota will spend $1.04 billion on research and development. A list of colleges that are publicly supported and are considered to give an education of a quality that is equivalent to that of the Ivy League was compiled in 2001, and one of the institutions that was featured on this list was the University of Minnesota.
Researchers, faculty members, and graduates of the University of Minnesota have been awarded a total of 27 Nobel Prizes and three Pulitzer Prizes. The institution has produced 134 grantees of the Fulbright programme in addition to having 25 Rhodes Scholars, seven Marshall Scholars, and 21 Truman Scholars among its graduates. In addition, the university boasts alumni and faculty members who are members of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Medicine, and National Academy of Engineering, as well as recipients of Guggenheim Fellowships, Carnegie Fellowships, and MacArthur Fellowships. Furthermore, the university has produced recipients of the Carnegie Fellowship, MacArthur Fellowship, and Guggenheim Fellowship. Bob Dylan, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2016, is one of the notable graduates of the University of Minnesota. Other notable alumni include Hubert Humphrey, who served as vice president of the United States, and Walter Mondale.
The University of Minnesota Golden Gophers are a member of the NCAA Division I Big Ten Conference and play in 21 different college sports. They have won a total of 29 national titles. As of the year 2021, present and previous students of the state of Minnesota have brought home a combined total of 76 Olympic medals.