General Info:
The Upper Peninsula of Michigan is the northern of the two
major land masses that comprise the U.S. state of Michigan.
It is commonly referred to as simply "the Upper Peninsula",
"the U.P.", or "Upper Michigan", and more
casually as the land "Above the Bridge". It is sometimes
called "Northern Michigan" by non-Michiganders,
but that term is more commonly applied within the state to
the northern half of the Lower Peninsula. Residents are colloquially
known as Yoopers, (from "U.P.ers"), and many consider
themselves Yoopers before they consider themselves Michiganders.
(People living in the Lower Peninsula are commonly called
"trolls" by Upper Peninsula residents, as they live
"Below the Bridge.")
Studying in the Upper Peninsula of
Michigan
Featured University:
Northern Michigan University, Marquette MI Northern was founded in 1899 as a place to educate future
teachers. It was originally called the Northern State Normal
School. In the following years it changed names several
times as the institution grew, and it finally became Northern
Michigan University in 1963.
The NMU campus is located on the south shore of Lake Superior
in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. It features nine computer
labs; the Glenn T. Seaborg Center for Teaching and Learning
Science and Mathematics; The Berry Events Center; two on-campus
radio stations; a public TV station; and the Superior Dome,
an 8,000 seat stadium and the largest wooden dome in the
world. Underground and raised tunnels connect many of the
buildings on campus to protect students from the harsh winter
conditions.
Enrollment as of 2003 was 9,016. Northern's main recruitment
base is the Upper Peninsula; approximately 60 percent of
students were residents of the Upper Peninsula before attending
NMU. As part of the Teaching, Learning, and Communication
Intiative, each incoming student is equipped with a notebook
computer as a part of tuition and fees. NMU was the first
Michigan public university to implement such a program in
fall 2000. Eighty percent of NMU's faculty hold doctorates
or the highest degrees in their fields. The student-faculty
ratio is 20:1. The average class size is 23, the average
lab size is 16, and the average seminar size is 10. Ninety-three
percent of entry-level courses are taught by career faculty.
NMU is home to the United States Olympic Education Center
(USOEC). The school's sports teams are called the Wildcats.
They compete in the NCAA's Division II Great Lakes Intercollegiate
Athletic Conference in all sports except hockey. The hockey
program competes in Division I as a member of the Central
Collegiate Hockey Association.
