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Denver, also known as the Mile-High City, is the most populous city in the state of Colorado and the 19th most populous city in the United States. While Colorado is known for its many ski resorts, Denver has over 300 days of sunshine every year. Denver has a lot going on including three major sports stadiums, seven professional sports teams, the second-largest performing arts center in the U.S., a wide array of art and history museums, and over 300 restaurants. There is always something going on in Denver.
Denver can also boast one of the highest educated populations in the United States. There are five four-year colleges and universities located in the city, as well as others located in the metropolitan area. Below are some colleges in the Denver area to consider.
Colleges Located In Denver
Johnson & Wales University
Type: Private, not-for-profit
Established: 1914
Enrollment: 1,258 undergraduate students (Fall 2016)
Student-to-faculty ratio: 16 to 1 (Fall 2016)
Acceptance rate: 85% (Fall 2016)
In addition to the Denver campus, Johnson & Wales University also has locations in Providence, Rhode Island, North Miami, Florida, and Charlotte, North Carolina. Students can start taking classes in their major starting their first year. JWU offers degree programs in arts & sciences, business, criminal justice, culinary arts, education, health sciences, hospitality, and technology. Internships are a core part of the JWU academic program. Students have completed internship at companies such as Heinz, Marriott, Nordstrom, Disney Culinary Program, and the Denver Broncos.
Metropolitan State University of Denver
Type: Public
Established: 1965
Enrollment: 19,940 undergraduate students (Fall 2016)
Student-to-faculty ratio: 19 to 1 (Fall 2016)
Acceptance rate: 64% (Fall 2016)
MSU Denver offers the lowest tuition of the state’s largest four-year colleges and universities. Students have the opportunity to choose from over 200 degree options. Popular majors include Biology, Business, English, Criminal Justice, and Psychology. An interesting major MSU Denver offers that cannot be found at many colleges is Craft Brewing and Pub Operations. MSU Denver is also one of the leaders in diverse enrollments among Colorado’s four-year colleges and university with nearly 40% of the student population identifying as a student of color.
Regis University
Type: Private, Not-for-profit
Established: 1877
Affiliation: Roman Catholic (Jesuit)
Enrollment: 4,070 undergraduate students (Fall 2016)
Student-to-faculty ratio: 14 to 1 (Fall 2016)
Acceptance rate: 57% (Fall 2016)
While Regis is grounded in their Jesuit Catholic tradition, students of all faith backgrounds attend Regis. Students can choose majors from the College of Business and Economics, College of Contemporary Liberal Studies, College of Computer & Information Sciences, Rueckert-Hartman College for Health Professions, and Regis College. Some of the unique programs Regis offers students include Travel Learning (faculty-led, short-term, traveling learning courses), Father Woody’s Service Projects, Engaged-Scholars Activists Program, and Living-Learning Communities.
University of Colorado Denver
Type: Public
Established: 1912
Enrollment: 14,622 undergraduate students (Fall 2016)
Student-to-faculty ratio: 15 to 1 (Fall 2016)
Acceptance rate: 61% (Fall 2016)
CU Denver is the largest research institute in Colorado with over $375 million in research grants annually. CU Denver shares it’s campus with Metropolitan State University of Denver and the Community College of Denver. CU Denver offers more than 100 academic degree and programs. Some of the most popular majors include Biology, Business, Speech Communication and Rhetoric, Nursing, and Economics. Students from other western states can participate in the Western Undergraduate Exchange (WUE) program and pay 150 percent of what Colorado residents pay for tuition, which saves them more than $6,000 a year.
University of Denver
Type: Private, not-for-profit
Established: 1864
Affiliation: Nonsectarian, but founded by Methodists
Enrollment: 5,754 undergraduate students (Fall 2016)
Student-to-faculty ratio: 11 to 1 (Fall 2016)
Acceptance rate: 53% (Fall 2016)
DU offers more than 100 undergraduate programs, including traditional majors and compelling dual degree programs that span a variety of disciplines, including business, education, social work, art history, geographic information science, international studies, public policy, and engineering. Students can choose to follow a broad base of foundational courses and choose between individual, interdisciplinary, and dual undergraduate programs. Nearly 70 percent of undergraduate students study abroad during their time at the university at more than 150 destinations across the globe. DU offers living and learning communities based on themes (Creativity & Entrepreneurship, Environmental Sustainability, International, Social Justice, and Wellness) allowing students to live with other students with the same interests and providing for a lot of community engagement.
Outside Denver
Colorado Christian University
Location: Lakewood
Distance from Denver: 7 miles west of Denver’s downtown business district
Type: Private, not-for-profit
Established: 1914
Affiliation: Interdenominational
Enrollment: 1,306 traditional undergraduate students (Fall 2016)
Student-to-faculty ratio: 13 to 1 (Fall 2016)
CCU is all about building a community of students, faculty, and staff united by their commitment to Christ. CCU offers over 50 programs in business, liberal arts, music, sciences, and pre-professional programs. The college offers hundreds of student activities, Division II NCAA sports, intramural sports, student-led ministries, and overseas missions. CCU has consistently had a high freshman retention rate with at least 90% of freshman returning for their sophomore year.
Colorado School of Mines
Location: Golden
Distance from Denver: 15 miles west of Denver’s downtown business district
Type: Public, Research University
Established: 1874
Enrollment: 4,610 undergraduate students (Fall 2016)
Student-to-faculty ratio: 15 to 1 (Fall 2016)
Acceptance rate: 40% (Fall 2016)
Mines is a public research university devoted to engineering and applied science. Students and faculty are doing research in areas such as unconventional natural gas, solar materials, fuel cells, biofuels, and advanced water treatment (just to name a few). Mines boasts the largest collegiate section of the Society of Women Engineers and has over 180 student organizations on campus. Traditions on campus include the “M Climb” where incoming freshman carry a rock from campus to the M on Mt. Zion and retrieve it when they are graduating seniors.
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JLV College Counseling 
You have shared an outstanding list of information that I wanted to know about colleges in the Denver area. There are so many developers working on this part but, this is one of the best innovative post ever. Thanks for such post.