The University of Colorado at Boulder (also known as UCB or CU-Boulder) is a public research university in Boulder, Colorado. It is the flagship campus of the University of Colorado system and was founded in 1876. The university has nine colleges and schools and offers over 150 undergraduate programs and more than 60 graduate programs. The university has an enrollment of over 33,000 students, making it one of the largest universities in the state of Colorado.
UC Boulder is a member of the Association of American Universities (AAU), a select group of 62 leading public and private research universities in North America. The university is also classified as a Doctoral/Research University-Extensive by the Carnegie Classification system, meaning that it conducts extensive research activity and awards doctorates in many fields.
UC Boulder’s faculty includes four Nobel laureates, nine MacArthur Fellows, 20 astronauts, and numerous Fulbright Scholars. The university has produced numerous notable alumni, including two U.S. Senators, eight NASA astronauts, and four Nobel laureates. In 2018, U.S News & World Report ranked UC Boulder tied for 75th place among “National Universities”, 10th place among public universities, and 1st place for its ratio of top-ranked students to total enrollment size.
Founded in 1876 asColorado Territorial Normal School inthe then-territory’s capital cityof Denver,the school moved to its current location atop oneof the largest natural green spacesin America,Boulder Basin(now knownasCentral Campus)in September 1877.The first classes were held on September 5,and consisted solelyof freshmenand sophomoresinitially; upperclassmenbegan arriving campusin January 1878.”Normal” referred to instruction methodologically oriented toward development offull individual potential through harmonious develop offaculties mentaland physical.:7–8:2–4 By 1890 about298 studentsenrolled annually:the curriculum had diversified into liberal arts studies by this time as well).:5 At that time theranged from 15to 23 years old, with twoyears college coursework or equivalent experience required prior tomove onto advanced study leading toreceiptof adegree:a Bachelorof Arts(ABA),Science(BSC),orLiterature(LITT).[23():3 For example:the ABA track could be elected by completing two years’coursework atthe Normal School—one year beingequivalenttofreshmanyear elsewhere—plus three additional years either atNormalor elsewhere;converselyBSCrequired two yearsatNormal plustwo yearselsewhere plus an additional year back atNormal while LITT demanded all fiveyearsattheNormaltogether followedby another elsetwoorthreeyears’coursework wherever desired beforedegree could bereceivedwhichwould have read something like: “A Bachelor degree conferred after successful completionof atleastfive academicyears’ work consistingoftwoyears ateither collegelevel or above OR highschool levelwith goodgrades PLUS threemoreyears’college.”[24()A variation existed whereby those not quite readyforprimarily collegiate work might instead electtoundergo whatwaspreparatory trainingfora period oftentimes specified lengthoftimebefore permit totransferinto advancedstudy undereither BSor BAoptions.”Preparation”[25():52 began eitherimmediatelyupon matriculationinto freshman classornonetheless sometime duringfirst twoyearsand entailedcompletion somecourses which would not count towards eventual degree but rather only servetoprepare student forcollege-level work still ahead suchasEnglish grammarand basic algebraamong others althoughsometimes even included littlereview material alreadymastered duringhigh school days just toraise proficiency up par withwhatexpected fromgraduating seniorselsewhere who might have been betterprepared overall.[26()Once satisfactorily completed PREP courses precluded any further need take them when transferred into fullfledged collegiate study under BA or BS options where they presumably would not have been needed anyway so credit receivedforPREPs wouldnot applytowards number hours necessary receive eventual degree; conversely if later decided transfer out BSC option PREPs taken used meet one part requirement foreventual receiptthat diploma since thosecourses hadbeen part regularcurriculum right along.[27()