The University of Iowa is one of the nation's premier public research universities with 32,948 students from 114 countries and all 50 states. Founded in 1847, it is the state's oldest institution of higher education and is located alongside the picturesque Iowa River in Iowa City. A member of the Association of American Universities since 1909 and the Big Ten Conference since 1899, the UI is home to one of the largest and most acclaimed medical centers in the country, as well as the famous Iowa Writers' Workshop.