Location, Location, Location!

Working at the University of Colorado will allow you to immerse yourself in the Colorado lifestyle and all it has to offer. Whether you like a vibrant city atmosphere or a breathtaking hike in solitude, there is space for you. Living here, you will quickly discover what makes Colorado a popular destination. The University of Colorado’s four campuses and its system office are located in some of the most active and exciting areas of Colorado.

Picture yourself in one of CU’s home cities:

Comprehensive Benefits: Value Beyond your Paycheck

Benefits are an important part of your total compensation, so it’s important to know exactly what your package includes. One great feature of CU’s benefits package is that the university contributes 85 percent to 90 percent of your medical premiums. 

Although the types of benefits vary depending on whether you’re faculty, university staff or classified staff, the general offerings typically include the following:

  • Insurance
    • Medical
    • Dental
    • Vision
    • Short-term and long-term disability
    • Life
  • Tax-advantaged savings and spending accounts
  • Retirement plans with very generous matches, as well as voluntary savings options
  • Family Medical Leave
  • Paid Parental Leave
  • Tuition assistance on CU-offered classes for yourself or a dependent
  • Vacation and sick days

Find out more by reviewing our benefits.

By enrolling in one of our health plans, you will also receive access to health and wellness programs.

Select an employment type to see how these benefits factor into your total compensation:

University Staff and 12-Month Faculty - 401(a) University Staff and 12-Month Faculty - PERA
9-Month Faculty - 401(a) 9 Month Faculty - PERA

Classified Staff

Paid Time Off: Make R&R More Relaxing

Taking time off is good for your mind, body and spirit. That’s why CU employees may receive up to 22 days of paid vacation each year, or 14.7 hours each month. Better yet, you don’t have to wait forever to accrue your vacation – it starts when you start.

In addition, if a CU-recognized holiday lands within the span of your paid time off, you won’t be charged vacation time for that day. As a way to encourage you to take advantage of every single vacation day you’ve earned, we don’t offer pay in exchange for time off.  You deserve a break. Enjoy it.

Retirement: It's Never Too Early (or Late) to Begin

Happy lives include secure retirements. CU helps you save for your retirement by offering core plans that eligible employees are required to choose from, as well as several voluntary savings options. All of these options are designed to bolster your retirement income so you can look forward to the future.

Core Plans: So Good, Almost Everyone is Enrolled in One

  • The University 401(a) Retirement Plan. The 401(a) is what’s known as a defined contribution plan. This is a hands-on plan that allows you to help manage your investments if you’d like. With this plan, you commit to investing 5% of your salary in the plan and CU automatically contributes an amount equal to 10% of your salary to your plan.  For example, if your pre-tax earnings are $25,000 per year, you would contribute $1,250 per year to your 401(a) account and CU will automatically contribute double that amount – $2,500 – to your account.
  • Public Employees' Retirement Association Retirement Plan (known as PERA). PERA is a defined benefit plan with hands-off investment management. You contribute 8% of your annual salary to this plan and CU contributes an amount equal to 18.35% of your annual salary. When you retire, you’ll get a regular monthly payment you can rely upon.

If you would like to save even more money for retirement, CU also offers several voluntary retirement programs. This benefit is open to all employees.

Learn more about CU retirement plans

Employee Tuition Assistance: Putting Our Money Where Our Minds Are

Do you dream of earning a degree? Do you crave more learning in your career field? Is it almost time to send your child to college? Whatever your goals, CU’s Tuition Assistance benefit is here to support you.

We provide qualified employees and dependents with tuition assistance for up to 9 credit hours per aid year, offer dependents of CU Boulder employees a 30 percent discount and provide intercampus options as well.

Learn More

Career Advancement & Learning: Knowledge Is Power ... but you already knew that

As a university, we strive to foster a culture of learning for all employees, not just the student body. There’s personal and professional momentum that comes with continued learning, and it’s in this spirit that we offer several ways to access training. With on-site and online options:

  • Tuition Assistance
  • Online learning through Skillsoft and Lynda.com
    • Topics include communication, work/life balance, teamwork, Microsoft Office and more.
  • More than 25,500 professional titles in Skillsoft Books
  • Leadership development and programs
  • Training and certification courses
  • Performance management

Employee Assistance Program: How are you doing?

For more than 30 years, the Colorado State Employee Assistance Program has been improving the quality of life and work for state employees through organizational and individual assistance. Services include counseling services, organizational management and development and more. See what EAP can do for you. 

State of Colorado Benefits Hub: The One-Stop Spot for Super Savings

Every employee in our CU system has automatic access to the State of Colorado Benefits Hub.  Check it out and start taking advantage of amazing savings and special offers on everything from shopping, dining, sporting events, concerts and theme parks to movies, car rentals and cell phone plans, just to name a few.

Visit BenefitHub

Guaranteed Ride Home: The Cure for Common Commuting

When we learned that a big obstacle to taking the bus or carpool to work was concern about having transportation during unexpected situations, we knew we had to help. Our Guaranteed Ride Home program, which all employees and faculty have access to, soon followed. This program provides CU-Boulder and CU System Eco Pass smart card holders with a FREE taxi ride home in the event of an emergency or work schedule change.

Just show your RTD Eco Pass Smart Card and your Buff One Card to the taxi driver, and your fare is free to you (although you may want to tip your driver). There are a few conditions to using the program so have a look.

Learn more

Wellness Programs: Improve your Health, Earn Incentives and Save Money

To help keep our workforce healthy, the University of Colorado offers eligible employees access to many free and lost-cost wellness programs. You can use these programs to improve your health, earn incentives and save money.

Move.
Move. is a downloadable app that tracks physical activity on a smartphone or activity-tracking device. Participants who record either 30 minutes of activity or 10,000 steps a day, for 12 days a month, earn a $25 monthly incentive.

Discounts at fitness centers
From yoga to CrossFit, Boulder, Denver, Colorado Springs and surrounding areas have a variety of fitness centers that offer our employees exclusive discounts.

Zipongo
Zipongo is a digital nutrition platform that takes the guesswork out of healthy eating. With meal planning tools, a hearty recipe library, pointers for ordering food at restaurants and more, this tool makes it easier to eat healthier at home and on the go.

To learn more about these and many other wellness programs, click here.