Northern Arizona University Campus

The campus that became Northern Arizona University opened in 1899 as a teacher-training school with 23 students, two faculty members, and two dictionaries bound in sheepskin. It endured the Depression, sent enrollment to 161 during World War II, and grew into a public research university sitting at 6,950 feet — high enough that Olympic athletes train here for altitude. Six NCAA cross country national championships have come out of this place. The mountain campus is the reason to come; the elevation makes everything feel slightly more serious than you expected.