The university has the only schools of law and medicine in the state of North Dakota. Its best known college is perhaps its John D. Odegard School of Aerospace Sciences, the first in the country to offer a degree in unmanned aircraft systems operations, and programs in aviation and aerospace. Several national research institutions are on the university's campus including the Energy and Environmental Research Center, the School of Medicine and Health Sciences, and the USDA Human Nutrition Research Center. It is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity".