Our University

Ranked Among the Nation's Best

April 2013

CSU ranks as a top tier university among the nation's best in the U.S. News and World Report annual America's Best Colleges rankings. The 2013 rankings place CSU as 67th among public universities nationwide.

The magazine also listed the university as an A-plus school for students who want to be part of a university with a broad, engaged student body. Being named an "A-Plus Schools for B Students" and the national ranking are indications of the world-class quality of a CSU education and of CSU's continued commitment to make that education available to all students with strong potential to contribute and succeed. [read more]

More Academic Rankings and Accolades

Best Schools

• CSU ranked among the top 100 Best Buy Colleges in the Forbes' 2012 list, released in August, for overall quality, tuition and fees, and teaching, career prospects, graduation rates and levels of debt graduates amass while in school. The university also ranked in the top 125 research universities and the top 75 public universities lists. CSU came in at No. 311 in the Forbes list of the 650 top colleges.
• The Princeton Review featured Colorado State University in the 2013 edition of "The Best 377 Colleges." Only about 15 percent of America's 2,500 four-year colleges and three colleges outside the United States are profiled in the book.
  "We commend Colorado State University for its outstanding academics, which is the primary criteria for our selection of schools for the book,” said Robert Franek, Princeton Review's senior vice president, publisher and author of The Best 377 Colleges."
• Colorado State University has been named to the Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine list of "100 Best Values in Public Colleges" for 2011-12. The ranking features four-year schools that combine outstanding education with economic value.
• The 2013 Fiske Guide to Colleges focused on selecting universities with strong engineering, technical and environmental programs and emphasis, and featured CSU. According to Fiske, the guide includes 300 universities with an overview of the student body, academics, social life, financial aid, campus setting, housing, food and extracurricular activities.

Veterinary Medicine

• In March 2011, U.S. News and World Report ranked CSU's veterinary medicine professional doctorate program in the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences in the top three for programs of its kind throughout the United States.

Occupational Therapy

• The graduate program in the Department of Occupational Therapy in the College of Applied Human Sciences was ranked No. 6 in the country in 2012 according to U.S. News and World Report. It moved up two spots from No. 8 in 2011.

Atmospheric Science

• Colorado State's Department of Atmospheric Science is ranked No. 1 in the nation by the National Research Council for departments of atmospheric sciences, meteorology, and oceanography.

Military Friendly

• CSU is among the top military friendly schools in the nation, according to G.I. Jobs magazine. The 2013 Military Friendly Schools list honors the top 15 percent of colleges, universities and trade schools that are doing the most to embrace America's military service members, veterans and spouses as students.
  Recognized schools offer military students the best services, programs, discounts, scholarships, clubs, networking and staff. CSU's inclusion in the list demonstrates its committment to providing a supportive environment for military students and to ensure their success on campus.

Chemistry

• U.S. News and World Report recently named the graduate program in chemistry at Colorado State one of the top 50 programs in the country in the 2011 Edition of "America's Best Graduate Schools."

Ecology

• According to a 2010 report from the National Research Council, CSU's Ecology program is among the top doctorate programs in the nation.

Business

• CSU's College of Business offers one of the best MBA programs in the nation, according to an October 2011 announcement by The Princeton Review. CSU's MBA program also was ranked No. 4 in The Princeton Review's Top 10 "Most Family Friendly" category.
• The College of Business at CSU has been recognized for its outstanding leadership in integrating social, environmental and ethical issues into its Global Social and Sustainable Enterprise MBA program. The Aspen Institute's 2011-2012 edition of "Beyond Grey Pinstripes," an independent, biennial survey and global ranking of business schools, ranked the GSSE program at CSU number 27 on its list of the Top 100 MBA Programs in the world.

Engineering

• In its 2011 "Education" issue, Popular Science listed the Engines and Energy Conversion Laboratory in CSU's College of Engineering as one of the 25 Most Awesome College Labs.
• More than any other Colorado campus, 30 percent of all of the state's science, math, engineering and technology majors pursue degrees at CSU.

Agricultural Sciences

• The College of Agricultural Sciences consistently ranks in the top 10 in the country in terms of awards, grants and contracts received.

Writing

• The 2012 U.S. News and World Report "America's Best Colleges and Universities" edition named CSU in the top 20 for a university that makes writing a priority as a critical element of student success.
• In 2009, Poets & Writers Magazine ranked Colorado State's Creative Writing Master of Fine Arts as one of the nation's top 50 programs.

Sustainability

• CSU is ranked in the top four nationally for solar power at a major public research university according to an October 2011 report by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education, or AASHE.
• When CSU filed its STARS (Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Reporting System) report in September 2011, it had achieved the highest score among the 129 reporting universities participating in a national survey of higher education institutions dedicated to sustainability measures.
• The Princeton Review named CSU as one of the nation's top colleges with a strong commitment to sustainability initiatives and activities because of its green initiatives, including a new minor in sustainability, a 5.3-megawatt solar plant, and biomass boiler.
• In 2011, Wired magazine singled out CSU's Engines and Energy Conversion Laboratory as one of "The Emerging Epicenters" for innovation and high-tech job growth in green technology in Fort Collins.

International and Diversity in Higher Education

• CSU is ranked No. 2 in the United States in international student satisfaction with their educational experience according to a major world-wide survey of international students by International Student Barometer in 2013.

• CSU ranked highly in the summer of 2011 in multiple international rankings issued by such institutions as the QS World University Rankings and the Academic Ranking of World Universities by Shanghai Jiao Tong University.
• Diverse Issues in Higher Education listed CSU among the Top 100 Producers of Minority Degrees for 2011. The rankings include institutions that confer the most degrees to minority students.

Peace Corps

• The university ranks sixth in the nation for the number of graduate alumni serving in the Peace Corps and in the top 15 for undergraduates, according to the volunteer organization's 2012 rankings.

First-Generation Students

• "The Best Colleges" recently featured Colorado State among the best in the nation for first-generation college students. Recognized as ahead of its peers, CSU began offering assistance to first-generation students in 1984 when it created the First Generation Award. The award program, which is only available to eligible students who are the first in their family to attend college, was created to encourage high school students and incoming transfer students to further their education.