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THE WASATCH FRONT. THE REIGNING CHAMPION.

University of Utah

The University of Utah is the state's flagship public research university, with about 29,000 undergraduates on a foothill campus on the east side of Salt Lake City. The athletics department counts seven resorts within a 30-minute drive, the ski team trains at Snowbird, Snowbasin and Park City, and home races run on the 2002 Olympic venues. The Utes won the 2026 NCAA title on that snow, their 18th national championship.

Salt Lake City, UT

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UtahUtes · Ski team

Photo: Klubbit, via Wikimedia Commons, Public domain

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NCAA divisionRMISA · NCAA skiing
D1
UndergraduatesFall 2025
29,335
Acceptance rateFall 2025 · 27,076 of 30,036
90%
Nonresident tuition & fees2026-27 · resident $10,480
$32,932
Resorts within 30 minAthletics facilities page
7
National titlesThrough 2026
18
Roster athletes2026-27
15
NCAA power rankscore 28.34
#1

Why Utah?

Home snow.Home titles.

Utah pairs a large research university with the densest ski access of any NCAA program. The trade is scale: big classes, a big department, and a business model that changed in 2026.

  • Snow-covered slopes at Snowbird in Little Cottonwood Canyon

    Seven resorts, 30 minutes

    The athletics facilities page lists Snowbird, Snowbasin and Park City as training and competition venues and counts seven resorts within a 30-minute drive of campus.(static.utahutes.com)

  • Utah Olympic Park in Park City with ski jumps and mountain slopes

    Olympic race hills

    The 2026 NCAA alpine races ran at the Spencer F. Eccles Olympic Mountain Center at Utah Olympic Park; Utah is scheduled to host the championships again in 2028.(utahutes.com)

  • Eagle Race Arena giant slalom hill at Park City Mountain Resort, the 2002 Olympic GS venue

    The reigning champion

    Utah won the 2026 NCAA title by 10.5 points over Colorado, its second in a row and sixth in the last seven years, with 15 All-America citations at the meet.(utahutes.com)

  • Buildings along Presidents Circle on the University of Utah campus in autumn

    A flagship with a hospital

    An AAU member with more than 100 undergraduate majors, $781M in FY25 research funding and the state's only academic medical center, 10 miles from the airport.(about.utah.edu)

About the school

The honest version.

What the school is, what it is known for, and what a family should weigh before committing.

The University of Utah is the state's flagship public research university, with about 29,300 undergraduates on a 1,534-acre campus in the foothills on the east side of Salt Lake City. It is an AAU member and runs the state's only academic medical center; engineering, computer science, business and the health sciences carry the most weight, and downtown is a short light-rail ride away. For a ski racer the geography is the point: the university counts seven resorts within a 30-minute drive, the team trains at Snowbird, Snowbasin and Park City, and home races run at the Utah Olympic Park (alpine) and Soldier Hollow (nordic). The Utes have become the dominant program in college skiing, winning the 2026 NCAA title on home snow for an 18th national championship and six of the last seven. Skiing competes in the RMISA; the school as a whole joined the Big 12 in 2024. It is a large, commuter-heavy urban campus with big introductory classes, but the ski access is hard to match anywhere in the country.

Know before you commit

  • Utah Athletics closed a first-of-its-kind private-equity deal with Otro Capital in June 2026, spinning commercial operations (sponsorships, licensing, ticketing, media) into a for-profit company, Crimson Brand Partners. The department says Olympic and non-revenue sports are protected, but this is an untested model driven by the $20.5M annual revenue-share bill.(ksl.com)
  • The transition came with a 'reduction in force' of athletics staff effective June 30, 2026; the university would not say how many positions were cut.(deseret.com)
  • It is a very large public university (29,000-plus undergraduates) with big introductory classes, and the nonresident sticker price is $68,330 for 2026-27.(financialaid.utah.edu)

Feel the campus

From first tracks to final exams.

Credited archive photographs of the campus, the town and the hill; not current team photography.

5 of 5 photos shown

Ski team experience

Eighteen titles.One postcode.

Utah skis in the RMISA under director of skiing Fredrik Landstedt, with JJ Johnson as head alpine coach and Mary Joyce as assistant. The 2027 roster lists 15 alpine skiers (seven women, eight men) alongside 13 nordic athletes. Training runs at Snowbird, Snowbasin and Park City; home alpine races use Utah Olympic Park and nordic races Soldier Hollow.

View official roster
Team athletes
15
Men / women
8 / 7
International athletes
10
National titles (17 NCAA + 1978 AIAW)
18
Conference
RMISA
Alpine disciplines
SL + GS

Where Melanie fits today

Not a selection or admission prediction.

  • SLScorer
    38.07 · 3rd of 8

    Scoring line 38.07.

  • GSScorer
    40.91 · 3rd of 8

    Scoring line 40.91.

  • SGNo comparison
    — · —

    Scoring line 125.99.

  • DHNo comparison
    — · —

    Scoring line 200.61.

Clear · Back to Melanie's profile

Academics

What you can study.

Utah runs a semester calendar: spring semester 2027 begins January 11, so the entire RMISA and NCAA season sits inside one term. With about 29,000 undergraduates and an average class size of 37, first-year courses are large, but the university reports an 86% first-to-second-year retention rate and a 66% six-year graduation rate.

  • 29,335
    Undergraduates
  • 19:1
    Student-faculty ratio

7 featured fields · full catalog

  • Computer ScienceQuantitative
    Offered through the Kahlert School of Computing; listed in the university major maps.
  • Mechanical EngineeringEngineering
    A College of Engineering major with lab sequences to plan around the race calendar.
  • FinanceBusiness
    A David Eccles School of Business major; the business school publishes its own cost budget.
  • KinesiologyHealth
    A College of Health major that many athletes pair with sport-science interests.
  • NursingHealth
    Offered alongside the state's only academic medical center; clinical placements need early scheduling.
  • Environmental & Sustainability StudiesEnvironment
    An interdisciplinary major listed in the university major maps.
  • CommunicationArts & Humanities
    A College of Humanities major listed in the university major maps.
Explore majors

Source: data.utah.edu

Admissions

Your path here.

Testing
test-optional(admissions.utah.edu)
GPA
3.64 average (enrolled first-years, Fall 2025)(data.utah.edu)
Application deadline
December 1 (early action and merit scholarship priority); April 1 (final, fall entry)(admissions.utah.edu)
  1. Submit the Common Application, or the Beehive Application if you attend a Utah high school.
  2. Pay the $55 application fee ($65 international) or use an automatic waiver if eligible.
  3. Have your high school send an official transcript.
  4. Send ACT or SAT scores only if you want them considered; they are required only for non-accredited, home-school or GED/HiSET applicants.
Admissions details

Test scores

What admitted students scored.

Test-optional · enrolled submitters, Fall 2025

  • SAT total1120 – 1320
  • ACT composite22 – 29

Middle 50%: a quarter scored below the low figure and a quarter above the high one. Source: data.utah.edu

Acceptance rate

How selective it is.

90%Fall 2025 (27,076 admitted of 30,036)
  • Admitted
  • Not admitted

Utah admits nine in ten applicants, so the academic question is less whether you get in than which merit tier your GPA reaches by the December 1 date. Being recruited does not change the admissions standards or the test policy.

Source: data.utah.edu

Cost & financial aid

What a year costs.

2026-27 published figures.

Published costs
Tuition & fees (resident)$10,480
Tuition & fees (nonresident)$32,932
Housing (on campus)$11,300
Food$7,898
Total cost of attendance (resident, on campus)$45,878
Total cost of attendance (nonresident, on campus)$68,330

Official 2026-27 on-campus budgets; totals also include books ($1,600), transportation ($2,600) and personal expenses ($12,000). Business-school students have a separate budget. Merit scholarships for residents and non-WUE nonresidents run $3,000 to $10,000 a year by GPA (3.50 to 4.00), renewable four years, for applications by December 1. Athletic aid is allowed: Division I skiing now carries a 16-athlete roster limit with partial aid at the school's discretion.(financialaid.utah.edu)

Financial aid information

Location

Campus, hill, airport.

University of Utah campus

A 1,534-acre campus at 4,738 feet in the foothills east of downtown Salt Lake City, 10 miles from the airport.

Open in Maps · source

Salt Lake City skyline with the Wasatch Range behind
Salt Lake City skyline with the Wasatch Range; campus sits in the foothills to the east (2024)

Student life

Beyond the hill.

  • Guaranteed first-year housing

    First-year students who apply for housing by the May deadline are guaranteed a bed on campus; about 5,600 students live on campus and first-year communities include Chapel Glen, Kahlert Village and Sage Point.(housing.utah.edu)

  • Outdoor Adventures

    Campus Recreation's Outdoor Adventures shop rents downhill, cross-country and telemark skis, snowboards and avalanche safety gear, and runs snow-sport courses and student-only trips during the semester and breaks.(attheu.utah.edu)

  • Burbidge Athletics Academic Center

    A 15,500-square-foot academic center with tutor booths, computer lab and study classrooms for athletes; the department reported a record-tying 95% Graduation Success Rate in 2025.(static.utahutes.com)

Athlete voices

Real stories.

  • “I think that it's getting to a point where really the top young skiers, they want to come to Utah and ski, and I can understand that.”
    Fredrik Landstedt, director of skiing · source
  • “The boys fought hard despite challenging conditions due to the warmth. Johs skied well, securing another solid result in fourth place. We're excited to come home, get some rest, and see what we can do at home for the championships.”
    JJ Johnson, head alpine coach · source
  • “I'm very happy and I'm very proud of this team. I feel like we've been working hard to come to this point, and I feel like everybody is happy for it.”
    Erica Lavén, nordic skier · source

Alumni & outcomes

What came next.

National team titles(utahutes.com)
18
Individual national titles in skiing(utahutes.com)
91
Current and former Utes at the 2022 Olympics(static.utahutes.com)
12
Athletics Graduation Success Rate (2025)(utahutes.com)
95%
University six-year graduation rate (2019 cohort)(data.utah.edu)
66%

Related programs

You might also look at.

Sources, rights and updates

Where this comes from.

Every figure carries its reporting period and a link. Rosters and points come from official rosters and FIS or USCSA results. Photographs are Wikimedia Commons archive images under open licences, credited on each image.

31 source pages across 16 sites

Your future in skiing starts here

Ready to learn more about Utah?

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