Colorado State University
Colorado State University
Established:
1870
Type:
Public
Endowment:
US$193 million
President:
Dr. Tony Frank, Interim
Faculty:
1,403
Staff:
3,990
Undergraduates:
26,884
Location:
Fort Collins, Colorado, United States
Campus:
Urban[1]
Colors:
Green and Gold
Nickname:
Rams
Mascot:
Cam the Ram
Website:
www.colostate.edu
Coordinates:
40°34′29.41″N
105°4′51.52″W
/
40.5748361°N 105.0809778°W / 40.5748361; -105.0809778
Colorado State University is a public institution of high-
er learning located in Fort Collins, Colorado in the Un-
ited States. Colorado State University is the state’s land
grant university and the flagship campus university of
the Colorado State University System. The current en-
rollment is approximately 25,000 students. The uni-
versity has approximately 1,400 faculty in eight colleges
and 55 academic departments. Bachelor’s degrees are
offered in 62 fields of study, with Master’s degrees in 59
fields. Colorado State confers doctoral degrees in 38
fields of study, in addition to a professional degree in
veterinary medicine.[2]
History
Colorado State University is a land-grant institution
classified as a Carnegie Doctoral/Research University-
Extensive. CSU was founded as Colorado Agricultural
College in 1870, six years before the Colorado Territory
gained statehood. It was one of 68 land-grant colleges es-
tablished under the Morrill Act of 1862. Doors opened to
a freshman class of 5 students in 1879.
The university has operated under four different
names:
• 1879:
• 1935: (Colorado A&M)
• 1944: (Colorado A&M)
• 1957:
Early years
The act to create the university was signed by Colorado
Territory governor Edward M. McCook in 1870 arising
from the Morrill Act. During the first years of its official
existence, the university existed only on paper. A board
of 12 trustees was formed to "purchase and manage
property, erect buildings, establish basic rules for gov-
erning the institutions and employ buildings." But the
near complete lack of funding by the territorial legis-
lature fo