of Minnesota, not an independent institution.
=== Modern history ===
The University of Minnesota Duluth has established itself in a number of research areas including ocean, sea and freshwater sciences. It is the primary sea-grant university for the state of Minnesota and operates the Minnesota Sea Grant Program offices on campus. In addition, in 1972 a two-year school of medicine was founded at the university to provide the first two years of medical education in a small urban and rural setting. The medical school was reorganized in 2000 to be a direct component of the University of Minnesota Medical School from the Twin Cities campus and now operates semi-independently from the University of Minnesota Duluth.
Today, the University now educates around 9,500 students each year. The University colors are maroon and gold which are the same colors of one of the two public high schools in the city of Duluth.
== Campus ==
The UMD campus consists of more than 50 buildings on 244 acres (99 ha) overlooking Lake Superior. …
