About Ann Arbor
The University
Ann Arbor is best known as the home of the University of Michigan. It hosts a diverse international student body representing 120+ to 150 countries. As of Fall 2025, over 8,000 international students are enrolled, making it one of the largest populations of international students among U.S. public research institutions. The university also has campuses in Flint and Dearborn, Michigan
The university has national football champions (2024) and Basketball (2023). It sponsors 29 varsity sports teams, known as the Wolverines, competing in NCAA Division I (Big Ten Conference). Key teams include nationally recognized football, men’s/women’s basketball, ice hockey, softball, and soccer, plus a wide range of Olympic sports.
University of Michigan Health (Michigan Medicine) is a massive academic medical center, featuring 1,043 licensed beds and almost 3 million outpatient visits annually. The main campus in Ann Arbor includes three primary hospitals—University Hospital, C.S. Mott Children's Hospital, and Von Voigtlander Women's Hospital—along with over 150 clinics.
Major cultural institutions at the University of Michigan include the University of Michigan Museum of Art (UMMA), the University Musical Society (UMS), and the Kelsey Museum of Archaeology, offering extensive art, performance, and historical collections. Other key venues include the Museum of Natural History, the Stearns Collection of Musical Instruments, and the Matthaei Botanical Gardens
The Town
Ann Arbor has a population of about 122,000 in the city proper and 341,000 in the greater metropolitan area. The city is governed by a mayor and 10 city council members who serve 4 year terms. Ann Arbor has been strongly democratic in the last presidential elections, with 68%, 72%, and 71% voting with the democratic presidential candidate in the last 3 presidential election years.
Ann Arbor boasts a highly educated workforce, an abundance of parks and recreational opportunities, and a politically active and aware citizenry.
Since Ann Arbor is located near the largest concentration of Arab Americans in the United States, there are a large number of establishments that cater to Arab Americans or to Ann Arborites who have learned to appreciate Arab culture, cuisine, and services.
The large number of international students and professionals give Ann Arbor a very cosmopolitan atmosphere. Many of the students who hailed from different parts of the world stay in Ann Arbor, put down roots and start local businesses.
There are an abundance of private and public schools catering to the International community resident there.
While no one business dominates Ann Arbor’s diverse population, it has been the place where many nationally known businesses received their start including Dominos Pizza, Border’s books. Google’s founders, Eric Schmidt and Sergey Brin attended the University of Michigan.
Many national cultural icons such as film documentarian (starting upper right, clockwise) Ken Burns, producer of “The Big Chill” Larry Kasdan, Lucy Lui, Madonna, and James Earl Jones all have had Ann Arbor connections or are university graduates.
