Colorado State University Guide
Overview of this Fort Collins, CO School
If you're looking for a large, laid-back university in a sunny climate, check out Colorado State University in Fort Collins, CO.
Where is Colorado State University? CSU is located in Fort Collins, Colorado (population 120,000), about an hour and fifteen minutes north of Denver and an hour south of Cheyenne, Wyoming. Northern Colorado is a booming area, and Money Magazine recently named Fort Collins the best place to live in the U.S. It's a pretty place that's sunny for about 300 days out of the year. Foothills loom over the city from the west, and you can drive for about an hour and be in the Rocky Mountains, ready to ski. Fort Collins is kind of a quiet place, but not sleepy. Close to campus is the quaint downtown area-- known as Old Town--filled with interesting shops, restaurants, and lots of student friendly bars. There's also a great trail system in town.
What basic information should I know about CSU?
- Enrollment: About 20,000 undergraduate and graduate students
- Type of school: State university
- Student/Faculty Ration: 18:1
- In-state tuition: $3466 annually. With room, board, and fees, about $11,000.
- Out-of-state tuition: $14,994 annually. With room, board, and fees, about $23,000.
What's life at CSU like?
- CSU is big, so expect the lecture hall experience and the occasional feeling that you're a number. However, you'll find that professors are more accessible on this campus than at many big universities, and there's an effort to keep class sizes down. Seek out your professors and you'll get to know them.
- Campus is pretty laid back, and people are pretty friendly and helpful. Some students choose CSU over nearby UC Boulder because CSU is less "Abercrombie."
- Academically, there's a mix of students who study all the time and students who love to party--and lots of students somewhere in between! Thursday nights in Old Town can get pretty wild. However, the library's usually pretty busy as well. The Greek scene is fairly large, although not as dominant as it is on some big university campuses.
- Politically, you'll find a mix of students. The campus leans a little more to the right than the left, but it's pretty middle of the road. You'll often find a wide mix of opinions in your classes and in the student newspaper. There's not a lot of campus activism, but you'll find some if you look for it.
- CSU is not a very diverse place. However, there are very active campus organizations of minorities and GLBT students.
What areas of study is CSU best known for? Although there's an excellent College of Liberal Arts, CSU is known as a science campus. The veterinary school is one of the best in the country and includes a world class animal hospital. The College of Natural Resources is well known and recently received a huge endowment. Another department of note is philosophy, especially if you're interested in environmental ethics.
What's special about CSU?
- From campus, look to the west and you'll see a huge letter A in the foothills. This is from the days when the university was called Colorado A & M. Every year the football team paints the A with a fresh coat of white.
- Fort Collins isn't exactly hurricane central, but one of the world's foremost hurricane experts is here-- Emeritus Professor Bill Gray. Look for him on CNN next time there's a major hurricane.
See also:
University of Northern Colorado Guide
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