The University is distinctively western: from its enviable location in a high, mountain-rimmed valley to the individuality its students bring to their education. The U's greatest natural resource is its people: nearly 26,600 students from every state and 90 foreign countries, and 3,400 regular and auxiliary faculty who are among the nation's most prolific researchers. Founded in 1850, today the U has research ties worldwide and ranks consistently among the top 25 American public colleges and universities in funded research. The adjacent Research Park houses 45 companies, many of which grew out of faculty research. The U has majors in 65 undergraduate and 89 graduate subjects. Nationally recognized Liberal Education and Honors programs offer innovative, intellectually stimulating courses taught by select faculty. A special research program offers undergraduates the invaluable opportunity to collaborate with faculty on important investigations. The U's lush 1,500-acre campus, like the rest of Utah, invites students outdoors. A dramatic landscape of native and exotic trees, unique fountains, and flowering malls stretches toward the Wasatch Mountains. Away from school, students are drawn to Utah's unparalleled outdoor diversions: from skiing at eight world-class resorts in nearby canyons to backpacking, biking, rock climbing, and river running in the spectacular red-rock canyons of Southern Utah's deserts. More than two-thirds of the state is public land, including 14 national parks and recreation areas, making Utah uniquely accessible to recreation. Campus life is complemented by proximity to a vigorous urban center that offers advantages usually available only in much larger cities. Salt Lake City is home to professional symphony, ballet, modern dance, opera, and theater companies. Utah Grizzlies hockey, Salt Lake Buzz baseball and the NBA's Utah Jazz offer year-round professional sports entertainment.