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Why CU-Boulder?

Top Reasons Why CU-Boulder Should Be Your First Choice for Graduate Education

CU-Boulder is transforming research and graduate education for the 21st century.

As one of the nation's premier comprehensive research universities, CU-Boulder receives consistently high rankings among its peers. It is also one of only 34 public U.S. research universities in the prestigious Association of American Universities.

Andrew Poppe, President of the United Government of Graduate Students, is a graduate student at CU-Boulder's Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, which has recently been selected by NASA to lead a $485 million orbiting space mission.

Highly regarded programs of study

Choose between 100 highly regarded graduate and professional programs—including 19 specialty programs ranked in the top 50, and four in the top 10, according to U.S. News & World Report. You'll not only be in such a program but will meet other smart, motivated, and innovative people.

Graduate students assist in developing new genetic tools in CU-Boulder's Molecular Biotech-nology Laboratory.

Innovative research

A long, rich tradition of innovative research:

  • 93 research institutes and centers, some conducting research for over 60 years
  • Initiatives in emerging fields such as renewable energy, biotechnology, space sciences, engineering, and geosciences
  • Close working relationships with several federal labs

Professor Lucy Pao atop awind turbine as she works to improve the reliability and efficiency of wind power. Pao is one of over 40 CU-Boulder faculty members, who—with their research teams—are part of the Colorado Renewable Energy Collaboratory, research partnership between the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and three Colorado universities.

Distinguished faculty

  • Produce groundbreaking research
  • Address critical issues facing our world

Work and study with the best. CU-Boulder faculty includes four Nobel laureates, four recipients of the National Medal of Science, 15 Guggenheim Fellows in the past 10 years, 20 recent MacArthur, Packard, and Fulbright Fellows, and 58 members of the national academies of arts and sciences, education, engineering, and sciences.

Graduate students work with Professor Kristi Anseth, named one of the "Brilliant 10" by Popular Science magazine, to design biomaterials for medical applications.

Education beyond the basics

  • One of the finest Graduate Teacher Programs in the nation
  • Numerous interdisciplinary and professional certificate programs

Graduate ready for your next step by taking advantage of CU-Boulder's many teaching and professional development opportunities.

Anthropology Professor Dennis Van Gerven is a beloved CUBoulder teacher and a frequent speaker at Graduate Teacher Program events. He has received the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching Colorado Teacher of the Year Award, among a number of other awards.

Versatile degree options

  • Dual master's degrees
  • Concurrent bachelor's/master's degrees

In an environment where there is a rapidly increasing desire for interdisciplinary and professional skills, receiving multiple master's degrees in complementary fields, or concurrent bachelor's and master's degrees, can be a real asset.

Marco Kuhlmann graduated with two master's degrees in December 2008, one in Telecommun-ications and one in Engineering Management. Despite the economic downturn, he was offered, and accepted, employment in Denver, Colorado, prior to graduation.

Track record of successful job placement in academia, industry, and government

Prepare for the right work environment for you by considering all of your options. CU-Boulder has unique relationships with a number of industry partners and federal labs as well as academic institutions. In a Fall 2005 survey, 85 percent of graduate students indicated that their expected position was directly related to their respective graduate degrees.

Becoming an astronaut may not be an ordinary career path, but Steve Swanson is not alone; he is the 17th CU-Boulder alumnus to fly in space. Swanson flew on NASA's space shuttle Atlantis in June 2007 on an 11- day construction mission to the International Space Station and is preparing to fly on a second NASA shuttle mission, the STS-119.

Intellectual partnerships between faculty and students

Help produce new knowledge while honing your skills. With $454 million in sponsored research awards for fiscal year 2010, CU-Boulder faculty and graduate students are able to conduct world-class research together, with access to state-of-the-art equipment.

A graduate student works with Professor Cortlandt Pierpont to define the properties of transition metal complexes, with implications ranging from understanding Parkinson's disease to converting water into hydrogen, an environmentally-friendly fuel.

An unmatched location in Boulder, Colorado

The Graduate School
University of Colorado Boulder
303-492-8220 
gradinfo@colorado.edu