CU-Boulder Facts

CU-Boulder by the Numbers

• 3,400 courses in 150 fields of study in architecture, arts and sciences, business, education, engineering, journalism, law, and music
• 80 majors at the bachelor’s level, 70 at the master’s level, and 52 at the doctoral level
• 23 NCAA championships 
• One of only 34 U.S. public research universities in the prestigious Association of American Universities
• 17 astronaut alumni who have flown in space
• Over 2,100 alumni Peace Corps volunteers since the program’s founding in 1961, including the second-most among all colleges and universities 
• 54 distinct master’s degree programs and 51 doctoral degree programs pursued by more than 5,100 enrolledgraduate students in fall 2010 
• Over 4,600 students from minority and underrepresented backgrounds 
• Over 335,000 Coloradans served in 2010 through an array of CU-Boulder community and faculty outreach programs 
• Ranked first among the 25 “smartest cities in America” for the second year in a row, according to Forbes. The magazine placed Boulder at the top of its list of smartest cities based on data compiled from the largest metropolitan areas in the country that the magazine ranked based on percentage of population age 25 and older with at least a bachelor’s degree.

Research Highlights

• $454 million in new sponsored research projects during fiscal year 2009-2010
• About 90 research centers, institutes, and laboratories
• One of 34 US public universities invited to join the Association of American Universities
• 22 members of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
• 6 members of the National Academy of Education
• 16 members of the National Academy of Engineering
• 24 members of the National Academy of Sciences
• 120 U.S. Fulbright Student awardees since 1977-1978
• 79 U.S. Fulbright Scholars since 1998-1999
• 12 Packard Fellows
• 7 MacArthur Fellows
• 4 Nobel Laureates
• 16 Guggenheim Fellows since 1998
• 4 National Medal of Science awardees

Notable Alumni

• Academy Award-winning actor and director Robert Redford
• U.S. Supreme Court Justice Byron White
• big band trombonist Glenn Miller
• South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone
• world-class runner Kara Grgas-Wheeler Goucher
• opera singer Cynthia Lawrence
• astronauts Scott Carpenter, Marsha Ivins, and Kalpana Chawla
• Christine Arguello, U.S. District Court judge for the District of Colorado
• Marlene Yu, pioneer in the environmental green movement in art