The University of New Orleans (UNO) is a public research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. First opened in 1958 as Louisiana State University in New Orleans, it is the largest public university and one of two doctoral research universities in the Greater New Orleans region. UNO is a member of the University of Louisiana System and is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity". The university consists of 8 schools and colleges offering 40 bachelor's, 45 master's and 17 doctoral degrees. Among its academic offerings are the only civil, mechanical and electrical engineering programs in New Orleans, the only graduate hospitality and tourism program and PAB-accredited urban planning program in the state of Louisiana, and one of the few schools of naval architecture and engineering in the United States.

The New Orleans metropolitan area, designated the New Orleans–Metairie metropolitan statistical area by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, or simply Greater New Orleans, is a metropolitan statistical area designated by the United States Census Bureau encompassing seven Louisiana parishes—the equivalent of counties in other U.S. states—centered on the city of New Orleans. The population of Greater New Orleans was 1,271,845 in 2020, up from 1,189,166 at the 2010 United States census. Greater New Orleans is the most populous metropolitan area in Louisiana, and the 45th most populous in the United States. According to 2017 census estimates, the broader New Orleans–Metairie–Slidell combined statistical area (CSA) had a population of 1,510,562.