University of Tennessee at Knoxville

The University of Tennessee (also referred to as the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, UT Knoxville or UT) is a public land-grant university headquartered at Knoxville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1794, it is the flagship institution of the statewide University of Tennessee system with nine undergraduate colleges and eleven graduate colleges and hosts almost 28,000 students from all 50 states and more than 100 foreign countries. In its 2011 ranking of universities, U.S. News & World Report ranked UTK at 104th of all national universities and public institutions of higher learning. Its ties to Oak Ridge National Laboratory, established under UT President Andrew Holt and continued under the UT-Battelle partnership, allow for considerable research opportunities for faculty and students. Also affiliated with the University are the Howard H. Baker, Jr. Center for Public Policy, the University of Tennessee Anthropological Research Facility, and the University of Tennessee Arboretum, which occupies 250 acres (1.0 km) of nearby Oak Ridge and features hundreds of species of plants indigenous to the region.