MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a conserved class of small, endogenous, non protein-coding RNA molecules that are capable of regulating gene expression at post-transcriptional levels and are involved in diverse cellular processes, including cancer pathogenesis. It has previously been reported that miRNA-96 (miR-96) is overexpressed in human colorectal cancer (CRC). However, the underlying mechanism of miR-96 regulation in CRC remains to be elucidated. In the present study, miR-96 was confirmed to be upregulated in CRC tissues by reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction. MTT assay, colony formation assay and cell cycle analysis revealed that miR-96 overexpression led to increased tumor cell viability, colony formation ability and cell cycle progression. By contrast, inhibition of miR-96 resulted in the suppression of cell proliferation. It was also demonstrated that miR-96 reduced the messenger RNA and protein expression levels of tumor protein p53 inducible nuclear protein 1 (TP53INP1), forkhead box protein O1 (FOXO1) and FOXO3a, which are closely associated with cell proliferation. A luciferase reporter assay indicated that miR-96 inhibited luciferase intensity controlled by the 3'UTRs of TP53INP1, FOXO1 and FOXO3a. In conclusion, the results of the present study demonstrated that miR-96 contributed to CRC cell growth and that TP53INP1, FOXO1 and FOXO3a were direct targets of miR-96, suggesting that miR-96 may have the potential to be used in the development of miRNA‑based therapies for CRC patients.