More than 15,300 undergraduate and graduate students from around the world call UM home during the academic semesters. The University has grown from its main location in the City of Coral Gables to include the medical campus located in Downtown Miami, the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science on Virginia Key, the John J. Koubek Center in Little Havana, the James L. Knight Center in Downtown Miami, and the South and Richmond campuses in southwest Miami-Dade county. With more than 13,000 full- and part-time faculty and staff, UM is the largest private employer in Miami-Dade County.

The University was chartered in 1925 by a group of citizens who felt an institution of higher learning was needed for the development of their young and growing community. The inaugural class of 560 students enrolled in fall of 1926.