Facts & Figures

 

Facts & Figures

Enrollment Fall 2026

 

10,660
Total students

 

6,935
Undergraduates

 

2,388
Master's

 

1,008
Doctoral

Undergraduate Retention

90%

Second fall retention rate in Engineering

71%

Graduation rate in Engineering within six years

Post-Graduation Career Outcomes

$85,918

Undergraduate Alumni Median annual income 1-5 years post-graduation

Most Common Undergraduate Employers

Lockheed Martin • Kiewit • SpaceX 
Mortenson • Sierra Nevada Corporation 
Medtronic • Raytheon • Northrop Grumman 
AECOM

(Senior Survey 2023-2026)

Most Common Graduate Employers

University of Colorado Boulder 
Apple • Lockheed Martin 
Amazon • BAE Systems • Intel
QualComm • NASA

(Grad Survey 2023-2026)

Research

 

$218.7 Million

Research Expenditures reported to ASEE (FY 2025)

 

Top 10%

of Public Engineering Schools for 
Total Research Expenditures (USNWR, 2026)

Rankings

Undergraduate Public Rankings

U.S. News & World Report 2026 Best Undergraduate Engineering Programs

#15 Best Undergraduate Engineering Program

#6 Aerospace Engineering  
#8 Environmental Engineering
#11 Chemical Engineering  
#15 Civil Engineering
#14 Computer Science


Graduate Public Rankings

U.S. News & World Report 2026-27 Best Graduate Engineering Schools

#10 Best Graduate Engineering Schools

#5 Aerospace Engineering
#7 Environmental Engineering
#11 Chemical Engineering
#14 Computer Engineering
#14 Mechanical Engineering
#15 Computer Science (Best Computer Science Schools)

#15 Civil Engineering
#17 Electrical Engineering
#19 Biomedical Engineering
#20 Materials Science and Engineering
#26 Biological Engineering


The rankings, published annually by U.S. News and World Report, are based on a survey of more than 200 engineering schools nationwide that grant doctoral degrees. Specialty rankings are not available in all disciplines at the undergraduate level, and not all disciplines are ranked every year. 

Inclusion

A few highlights on our progress:

  • Undergraduate students of color have more than doubled over the past decade and now represent 35% of undergraduate enrollment.
  • Women now represent 38% of doctoral students, reflecting continued growth in female doctoral enrollment over the past decade.
  • Programs such as the Campos Student Center, the Lattice Scholars program, and Engineering Connections support student engagement, student success, and retention. 

Faculty

500

Total
faculty

230

Tenure/tenure-track
faculty

102

Teaching
faculty

168

Research
faculty

National Recognition

 

6

National Academy of Inventor Faculty

 

77

Current tenure/tenure-track faculty have received prestigious early-career awards*

*Includes NSF CAREER and other federal early-career awards from DoD, NASA, DOE and EPA. 

About the Data

Data Collection Values, Definitions and Limitations

In the College of Engineering and Applied Science, we strive to think critically about how to communicate data about our students, faculty and staff. We acknowledge that our collection methods are limited, and we may not have data to represent all identities within our diverse community. As often as possible, we will disaggregate our data to better understand the variation of experiences within our college and the university. To ensure that data is not identifiable, we will not share data on groups with fewer than 10 students where data could be attributed to a specific person. Statistically, methods for analyzing small populations are limited, but it is important to not disregard them. We utilize this data internally, although it may not be published. 

As of Jan. 30, 2020, in alignment with Colorado driver license and identification card policies, CU Boulder systems include three sex designations: male (M), female (F) and nonbinary (X). CU Boulder recognizes that your legal information doesn't always align with how you identify. To foster diversity, equity and inclusion, CU systems allow you to indicate your gender identity, name pronunciation, preferred name, pronouns and/or sexual orientation within the Buff Portal. We are currently limited in the data that we can report because the information in the student portal may not be complete (data is self-reported and optional to report). For more information visit the Office of the Registrar. While the unique identities of our students, faculty and staff may not always be reflected in the data we have available, we seek to acknowledge and support all community members and to continue improve our data collection efforts.

Student demographic information initially comes from the Common Application that a student submits when they apply for admission. The Common Application includes Hispanic/Latino, American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, Black or African American, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, and White (including Middle Eastern) as race/ethnicity options. At this time the demographic information we are able to report on is limited to these categories.

While the unique identities of our students, faculty and staff may not always be reflected in the data we have available, we seek to acknowledge and support all community members and to continue improve our data collection efforts.

We strive to use terms that the people in our community self-identify with whenever possible. We acknowledge that the term “underrepresented minority” is not a term that students, faculty or staff generally use to identify themselves. We use this term to compare our data to national data on STEM education when disaggregated data by race/ethnicity is not available. Acronyms and terms can be convenient when describing data, but they are imperfect and problematic at times. We strive to use person-first language and to understand the unique experiences of individual students and groups. We are always open to feedback from our community as we continue to learn more and enhance the experience for all students, faculty and staff.

For questions contact Vanessa Dunn, Director of Analytics, Assessment and Accreditation. 

Visit the CU Boulder Public Factbook to explore interactive dashboards featuring enrollment and outcomes data.