“Flagship R1 research university in Missoula and the second-largest campus in the Montana University System.”
The University of Montana (UM) — known affectionately as 'UM' or 'Montana' — is Montana's flagship public research university, sitting at the foot of Mount Sentinel in Missoula, a mountain town of roughly 75,000 at the convergence of five valleys in western Montana. Founded in 1893, UM enrolls about 10,800 students across five colleges and five schools: the College of Humanities & Sciences, W.A. Franke College of Forestry & Conservation, Phyllis J. Washington College of Education, College of Health, College of the Arts & Media, Davidson Honors College, Alexander Blewett III School of Law, School of Business Administration, Missoula College (two-year), School of Journalism, and the Graduate School. Fall 2024 total enrollment of 10,811 marked UM's highest since 2018, signaling a strong regional rebound. UM is best known for three things: one of the oldest and most respected forestry and conservation colleges in North America (accredited by the Society of American Foresters since 1934); an award-winning School of Journalism that produced numerous Pulitzer-track reporters and one of the few standalone undergraduate journalism schools remaining in the U.S.; and the Davidson Honors College, a nationally recognized honors program offering funded Provost's, Presidential Leadership, and Dean's Leadership scholarships. The university's research strength in ecology, wildlife biology, public policy, and creative writing (UM's MFA is regularly ranked among the top programs in the country) underpins its R2 Carnegie classification. Student life is inseparable from the Montana landscape: weekend access to Glacier National Park (~2.5 hours north), 4,000 miles of public-land trails within an hour of campus, the Clark Fork River running through Missoula, and a vibrant downtown arts and food scene. Grizzly athletics in the Big Sky Conference — particularly the FCS-powerhouse Griz football program at Washington-Grizzly Stadium — provide a weekend-long community ritual. UM's international community is small but well-supported, and its English Language Institute runs one of Montana's few full-service intensive English programs, letting UM offer conditional admission pathways for students below direct-admit English thresholds.
Visa, OPT, H-1B alumni outcomes, and acceptance rates by country — sourced from FOIA, USCIS H-1B Hub, and DHS SEVIS.
Top Public Schools
US News 2026
Research Activity
Carnegie Classifications (2021)
Research activity
Carnegie Classification (2022)
Test Optional — You can submit scores if they help your case, but they're not required.
Official SourcePriority (Fall)
Priority scholarship consideration
Regular Decision (Fall)
Regular decision deadline
Final Fall Deadline
Rolling/space-available after May 1
International (Fall)
Earlier submission recommended for I-20 processing
The deep admissions playbook beyond the headline acceptance rate — round-by-round breakdowns, nationality data, requirements, and contact paths.
Domestic
$8,552
/yr
Out-of-State / Intl
$33,671
/yr
Beyond the sticker price — every named scholarship, the financial aid policy, need-aware notes, and a personalized net-cost estimate.
How life on campus actually feels — clubs, sports, traditions, housing realities, and how the school integrates with its city.
One of the oldest and most respected forestry schools in the western U.S., accredited by the Society of American Foresters since 1934; home to ten degree programs spanning forest management, ecosystem science, and recreation management.
One of the few standalone undergraduate journalism schools in the U.S.; alumni include Pulitzer winners and major newsroom editors. Integrates print, photo, broadcast, and digital in a single curriculum.
UM's largest academic unit; home to the top-ranked MFA in Creative Writing, strong natural sciences, and the Maureen & Mike Mansfield Center for Asian Studies.
AACSB-accredited business school with strong regional recruiting, entrepreneurship programming (Blackstone LaunchPad), and a management-information-systems concentration.
Houses nursing, pharmacy, physical therapy, public health, and integrative physiology; the Skaggs School of Pharmacy is the only PharmD program in Montana.
4 years
Society of American Foresters-accredited (since 1934) program with extensive field study in Montana's Bitterroot and Lolo National Forests; prepares graduates for U.S. Forest Service, BLM, and private conservation careers.
4 years
Integrated multimedia journalism curriculum with Montana Kaimin student newspaper and UMTV production studios; alumni include Pulitzer winners and national reporters.
3 years
Regularly ranked among the top 10 MFA programs in the U.S.; fully funded TAships and a storied faculty rooted in the western-American literary tradition.
Where alumni go after graduation — top industries, grad-school continuation, and the qualitative outcomes story.
Sticker price (annual, out-of-state): $33,671
Net-cost estimate is US-resident-only — international applicants are typically excluded from need-based aid at most schools and should treat the sticker price as the planning baseline.
