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![]() Seal of University of Houston | |
Other names | UH, U of H, or Houston |
---|---|
Former names | Houston Junior College (1927–1934) University of Houston–University Park (1983–1991) |
Motto | In Tempore (Latin) |
Motto in English | "In Time" |
Type | Public research university |
Established | March 7, 1927 |
Founder | Edison E. Oberholtzer |
Parent institution | University of Houston System |
Accreditation | SACS |
Academic affiliations | |
Endowment | $785.77 million (2023) (UH only)[1] $1.02 billion (2023) (system-wide)[1] |
Budget | $1.47 billion (FY2024)[2] |
President | Renu Khator |
Provost | Diane Z. Chase[3] |
Academic staff | 3,263 (Fall 2023)[4] |
Students | 46,676 (Fall 2023)[4] |
Undergraduates | 37,356 (Fall 2023)[4] |
Postgraduates | 8,612 (Fall 2023)[4] |
Other students | 708 (Fall 2023)[4] |
Location | , , United States 29°43′08″N 95°20′21″W / 29.7189°N 95.3392°W |
Campus | Large city[5], 894 acres (362 hectares) |
Other campuses | |
Newspaper | The Cougar |
Colors | Scarlet Red Albino White[6] |
Nickname |
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Sporting affiliations | NCAA Division I FBS – Big 12 |
Mascot | Shasta and Sasha |
Website | uh |
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The University of Houston (/ˈhjuːstən/ ; HEW-stən) is a public research university in Houston, Texas. It was established in 1927 as Houston Junior College, a coeducational institution and one of multiple junior colleges formed in the first decades of the 20th century.[7][8] In 1934, HJC was restructured as a four-year degree-granting institution and renamed as the University of Houston. In 1977, it became the founding member of the University of Houston System. Today, Houston is the fourth-largest university in Texas, awarding 11,156 degrees in 2023.[4] As of 2024, it has a worldwide alumni base of 331,672.[9]
The university consists of fifteen colleges and an interdisciplinary honors college offering some 310-degree programs and enrolls approximately 37,000 undergraduate and 8,600 graduate students.[10][11][12] The university's campus, which is primarily in southeast Houston, spans 894 acres (3.62 km2), with the inclusion of its two instructional sites located in Sugar Land and Katy.[13] The university is also the founding campus of the University of Houston System.[14]
The university is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity"[15][16][17][18] and spends approximately $240 million annually in research. The university operates more than 35 research centers and institutes on campus[19][20] in areas such as superconductivity, space commercialization and exploration, biomedical sciences and engineering, energy and natural resources, and artificial intelligence.
The university has more than 500 student organizations and 17 intercollegiate sports teams.[21] Its varsity athletic teams, known as the Houston Cougars, are members of the Big 12 Conference and compete in the NCAA Division I in all sports. In 2021, the university received and accepted an invitation to join the Big 12 Conference.[22] The football team regularly makes bowl game appearances, and the men's basketball team has made 23 appearances in the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament—including six Elite Eight and Final Four appearances. The men's golf team has won 16 national championships—the most in NCAA history.[13] In 2022, UH's men's track and field team earned its seventh Indoor Conference Championship title, and its swimming and diving team defended its American Athletic Conference title for the sixth straight season.[23][24]
University of Houston: About
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