Facts and Figures

  • In fall 2020, the total student headcount enrollment among CU’s four campuses was 66,872. CU Boulder, 35,411; UCCS, 11,747; CU Denver, 15,162; the CU Anschutz Medical Campus, 4,522.
  • CU awarded 17,099 degrees in the 2019-20 fiscal year.
  • In fall 2019, CU had 4,150 tenured/tenure track faculty and 4,84 non-tenure track instructors.
  • In fiscal year 2019-20, CU garnered $1.41 billion in sponsored research awards to conduct research in economic sectors critical to the state and nation, including energy, bioscience, aerospace and health care. 
  • CU's operating budget for the 2020-21 fiscal year totals $4.1 billion. Contracts and grants and tuition and fees account for nearly half of the university's revenues. The majority of CU's budget is spent on instruction, research and health services. This reflects the institution's role as a university that emphasizes classroom instruction, research training and community outreach.
  • CU boasts 490,000 living alumni, nearly 285,000 of whom call Colorado their home.
  • CU employs about 37,000 people.
  • Universitywide, awards to students for academic excellence include seven Marshall Scholarships, 79 Fulbright Fellowships, 21 Rhodes Scholars, nine Truman Scholarships, 27 Goldwater Scholarships and seven Udall Scholarships.
  • CU ingenuity has fostered 190 startups in the past 25 years, landing it in the top 5 percentile nationally for university business startups at No. 18 out of 349 reporting institutions. 

Noteworthy honors and awards earned by CU faculty include:

  • Five Nobel Laureates—David Wineland, physics, 2012; John Hall, physics, 2005; Eric Cornell and Carl Wieman, physics, 2001; Thomas Cech, chemistry, 1989
  • Nine MacArthur fellowships; and the Carnegie Foundation’s Professor of the Year awarded to Carl Wieman in 2004 and Steven Pollock, U.S. Professor of the Year 2013-14

Additional Resources