About

Strategic Priorities

CU Boulder Research

We are globally recognized for our research—as well as the comprehensive breadth and impact of our innovation, public scholarship and creative work—and we will continue to lead.

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

We, as a campus community, must continue the hard and ongoing work of ensuring CU Boulder is a diverse, inclusive and welcoming place for all who live, work and study here.

Student-centered Campus Community

Our core public mission is centered on the belonging, well-being and success of our undergraduate and graduate students.

Sustaining, Supporting and Inspiring our Community

CU Boulder is committed to supporting your health and wellness. We will get through this together. We must destigmatize asking for help.

Campus Success

Achieving our future success also depends on aligning our university's physical, digital and financial resources.

Values

What it means to “Be Boulder.”

The work of our faculty, staff, students and alumni contributes to a campus experience where we lead, innovate, and impact.

Lead

Shape tomorrow’s leaders by caring for our students and fostering shared approaches to belonging, inclusion, academic success and civic engagement.

4,300+

academic courses offered across 150 fields of study

20

CU Boulder students have received the Rhodes Scholarship

Top 3%

among world universities

(Academic Rankings of World Universities, 2021)

7,000+

degrees awarded each year, the most of any university in Colorado

Group of students participating in the spring 2023 Experiential Leadership Intensive

Experiential leadership intensive: Using the outdoors to practice leadership

At the CU Boulder Center for Leadership, experiential learning aligns with our philosophy of developing leaders—the best way to learn to lead is to practice leading, and the spring experiential leadership intensive provided just that. Read more

Snowy trees and mountains frame the top of a campus building

9 students honored as Student Leaders of the Year

The Center for Leadership is pleased to present the 2023 Student Leaders of the Year Award, recognizing outstanding students and highlighting the impact of leadership education at CU Boulder. Read more

Panel of Polaris crew members and CU Boulder researchers talk at a campus event

Before the crew of Polaris Dawn heads to space, they came to campus

Ahead of the historic space mission, crew members joined CU Boulder researchers Allie Anderson and Torin Clark to talk about how the eye changes in space, experiencing "space motion sickness" and more. Read more

Innovate

Be a top university for innovation by cultivating a courageous culture of innovation and entrepreneurship that stems from our world-class research and creative work.

Top 3

town for entrepreneurs

(Crowdspring, 2020)

13

years of the New Venture Challenge, an entrepreneurial startup competition

136

new startups based on university technologies

$1.9 billion

impact on the national economy (from 2014-2018)

First place team CLD-9 poses for a photo

5 startups poised to make pitches a reality, thanks to annual New Venture Challenge

What if improving one’s athletic performance through supplements was simpler and more affordable? What if instead of producing emissions, airplanes could take carbon out of the air? And what if learning a new language was as fun as listening to music? New Venture Challenge judges awarded $100,000 to help see these innovations through. Read more

Full Tilt Motion Labs entrepreneurs pose with their $5000 check at the 2022 New Venture Challenge championships at the Boulder Theater on April 12, 2022. Clockwise from bottom left: Jamie Voros, Christen Malloy, Robert Olson and Glenn Holzhauer. (Photo by Glenn Asakawa/University of Colorado)

New Venture Challenge finals set for April 12

CU Boulder’s top student and faculty startups will pitch their business ideas to a panel of esteemed judges and you, a live audience, at the 16th annual New Venture Challenge. Come support the next big innovation, and see which startups walk away with funding. Read more

New Buff Venture Fund makes landmark investments in CU Boulder startups

Five promising startups comprise the first cohort of companies to receive investments from the Buff Venture Fund. The fund is the newest opportunity for CU Boulder startups to access critical funding on the path to success. Read more

Impact

Positively impact humanity through our faculty, staff, students and alumni—and through the positive outcomes we achieve in Colorado, the nation and the world.

5th

all time in the nation for graduates serving as Peace Corps volunteers

8,000+

students serve each year through CU Boulder Volunteer Resource Center programs

300+

campus and community organizations take part in the Be Involved Fair

$3.85 billion

annual economic impact on the state economy

Tribal language in film speaks history out loud

Joseph Dupris, a visiting assistant professor at CU Boulder, is a linguist and “maqlaqsyals” user who helped integrate the Modoc language into the short film This Is Their Land. It was recently screened on campus, and a 150th anniversary remembrance is set to be held in Tulelake, California. Read more

New laser-based breathalyzer sniffs out COVID, other diseases in real-time

A new “digital nose” created with Nobel Prize-winning CU technology can provide COVID-19 test results in less than one hour with excellent accuracy. It could ultimately be used for on-the-go virus testing, diagnosis of cancer and lung diseases and more. Read more

An astronaut working with one of the experiments aboard the International Space Station.

Heart experiments to help astronauts live better in space

Astronauts aboard the International Space Station are hard at work on research guided by students and researchers from CU Boulder. Read more

Our Extended Community

Our students join our alumni Forever Buffs Network, an extended family of hundreds of thousands of CU Boulder alumni, students, faculty and staff worldwide that encourages lifelong connection, engagement and celebration of the extended life and impact of our university.

Forever Buffs

Ralphie and her handlers running on Folsom Field

CU Buffs Athletics

CU Presents

Outreach & Engagement

Research Focus Areas

Discover how research at CU Boulder is changing the world. Our faculty and students are pioneering innovations in aerospace, biosciences, energy, Earth and environmental sciences, fundamental sciences and other major areas.

Aerospace & Space Sciences

Aerospace Research

#1 public university recipient of NASA research awards

The University of Colorado Boulder has created an environment in which our aerospace engineering and Earth and space sciences faculty, students and industrial researchers work together to solve complex problems, envisioning and creating the future for space and Earth systems.

Bio/Health Sciences

Biosciences Research

Translating science into healthier living

Biosciences at the University of Colorado Boulder aim to understand processes underlying behavior, function, disease and health at the molecular, cellular and whole-systems levels to develop interventions that improve human health.

Climate, Energy & Sustainability

Energy Research

Transforming energy through discovery and innovation

Energy research at the University of Colorado Boulder aims to advance basic and applied energy science, engineering and analysis through research, education and partnerships.

The Value of a CU Boulder Education

A degree from CU Boulder not only provides our students with promising career potential, it also expands their worldview, influences their social network and adds to their life experiences. And because college is so valuable, we believe all students should enter college knowing the cost of their education and what steps we’re taking to reduce those costs.

Best Value

university every year since 2009

(The Princeton Review)

87%

of graduates are employed, in grad school or in the military within six months of graduation

Be Boulder Pact

saves students $8.4 million a year in fees

$111,000

median midcareer salary for students with a CU Boulder bachelor’s degree

(Payscale, 2019)

Innovation & Entrepreneurship

Research

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