Public land-grant research university in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota. It is the flagship institution of the University of Minnesota System, and is organized into 19 colleges, schools, and other major academic units.

The Twin Cities campus comprises locations in Minneapolis and Falcon Heights, a suburb of St. Paul, approximately 3 miles (4.8 km) apart. The Twin Cities campus is the oldest and largest in the University of Minnesota system and has the ninth-largest main campus student body in the United States, with 51,327 students in 2019–20.

The university is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity".

Minnesota is a member of the Association of American Universities and is ranked 17th in research activity, with $954 million in research and development expenditures in the fiscal year 2018.

In 2001, the University of Minnesota was included in a list of Public Ivy universities, which includes publicly funded universities thought to provide a quality of education comparable to that of the Ivy League.