Colorado State University

Colorado State University (also referred to as Colorado State, State, and CSU) is a public research university located in Fort Collins, in the U.S. state of Colorado. The university is the state's land grant university, and the flagship university of the Colorado State University System.

The current enrollment is approximately 33,058 students, including resident and non-resident instruction students[5]. The university has approximately 2,000 faculty in eight colleges and 55 academic departments. Bachelor's degrees are offered in 65 fields of study, with master's degrees in 55 fields. Colorado State confers doctoral degrees in 40 fields of study, in addition to a professional degree in veterinary medicine.[6]

In fiscal year 2012, CSU spent $375.9 million on research and development, ranking 60th in the nation overall and 34th when excluding medical school spending.[7][8] CSU graduates include Pulitzer Prize winners, astronauts, CEOs, and two former governors of Colorado.
Early years
Arising from the Morrill Act, the act to create the university was signed by the Colorado Territory governor Edward M. McCook in 1870. While a board of 12 trustees was formed to "purchase and manage property, erect buildings, establish basic rules for governing the institutions and employ buildings," the near complete lack of funding by the territorial legislature for this mission severely hampered progress.

The first 30-acre (120,000 m2) parcel of land for the campus was deeded in 1871 by Robert Dazell. In 1872, the Larimer County Land Improvement Company contributed a second 80-acre (320,000 m²) parcel. The first $1000 to erect buildings was finally allocated by the territorial legislature in 1874. The funds were not, however, and trustees were required to find a matching amount, which they eventually obtained from local citizens and businesses.


Colorado Agricultural College Campus, 1920 with the Oval, Physics Building, and Guggenheim Hall showing.
Among the institutions which donated matching funds was the local Grange, which was heavily involved in the early establishment of the university. As part of this effort, in the spring of 1874 Grange No. 6 held a picnic and planting event at the corner of College Avenue and West Laurel Street, and later plowed and seeded 20 acres (80,000 m²) of wheat on a nearby field. Within several months, the university's first building, a 16-foot (4.9 m)-by-24-foot red brick building nicknamed the "Claim Shanty" was finished, providing the first tangible presence of the institution in Fort Collins.[9]

After Colorado achieved statehood in 1876, the territorial law establishing the college was required to be reauthorized. In 1877, the state legislature created the eight-member State Board of Agriculture to govern the school. Early in the 21st century, the governing board was renamed the Board of Governors of the Colorado State University System. The legislature also authorized a railroad right-of-way across the campus and a mill levy to raise money for construction of the campus' first main building, Old Main, which was completed in December 1878. Despite wall cracks and other structural problems suffered during its first year, the building was opened in time for the welcoming of the first five students on September 1, 1879 by university president Elijah Evan Edwards. Enrollment grew to 25 by 1880.[10]

During the first term at Colorado Agricultural College in fall 1879, the school functioned more as a college-prep school than a college because of the lack of trained students. Consequently, the first course offerings were arithmetic, English, U.S. history, natural philosophy, horticulture and farm economy. Students also labored on the college farm and attended daily chapel services. The spring term provided the first true college-level instruction. Despite his accomplishments, Edwards resigned in spring 1882 because of conflicts with the State Board of Agriculture, a young faculty member, and with students.[11] The board's next appointee as president was Charles Ingersoll, a graduate and former faculty member at Michigan State Agricultural College, who began his nine years of service at CAC with just two full-time faculty members and 67 students, 24 of whom were women.