THE COLORADO COLLEGE
Colorado Springs, Colorado
The College
A private, four-year liberal arts and sciences college enrolling 1,900 students, the Colorado College (CC) is located on a 90-acre campus in downtown Colorado Springs near the base of the 14,110-foot Pikes Peak and about an hour from Denver. Consistently ranked in the top tier of national colleges and universities by U.S. News & World Report, CC is the only college of its kind in the Rocky Mountain region. The College is also one of only a handful of prestigious liberal arts and sciences colleges located in a metropolitan area.
The College's curriculum is as varied as its landscape. Best known for the innovative Block Plan, in which students take and professors teach only one course at a time, Colorado College offers first and foremost an excellent education in the liberal arts and sciences. The College encourages a spirit of intellectual exploration, critical thinking, hands-on learning, and personal responsibility within an environment of small learning communities where education and life intertwine.
Students come from every state in the nation and about twenty-five countries, and from many ethnic, religious, and socioeconomic backgrounds. The students are independent-minded adventurers who love a challenge. At Colorado College, they find the encouragement, opportunities, and inspiration they need to reach their greatest potential.
Students at Colorado College devote energy and effort not only to academics but also to interests outside the classroom. The small size of the campus community encourages and enables students to get involved. Most students participate in at least one extracurricular activity and many hold leadership positions, setting graduates up for success in their future careers. There are more than eighty clubs covering topics from athletics to the arts, media to debate, and community service to religious life. If students can't find a club that fits their interests, the Office of Student Life often has the resources and support they need to start their own.
CC feels that its community is integral to the learning process. This is why CC requires all students to live on campus for the first three years and guarantees housing for all four years. In the residential campus community, students form friendships and make connections that last a lifetime.
Location
A Colorado College education is made even more distinctive because of its location.
The College contributes actively to a city of about 500,000. Near the foot of Pikes Peak, the campus is located in a residential area near historic downtown Colorado Springs. Students enjoy being within walking distance of a variety of eclectic cafs, coffee shops, movie theaters, restaurants, clothing stores, and mountain outfitters. Colorado Springs is also the largest U.S. city within 20 miles of a national forest or wilderness area, so great outdoor adventures are close at hand.
Being in a metropolitan area allows students to take advantage of many amenities, such as sporting and cultural events. The World Arena is home to Colorado College Tiger hockey. Events ranging from the circus to rock concerts to a preseason Denver Nuggets basketball game are also held at the arena. The 2,000-seat Pikes Peak Center hosts more than 200 performances annually, including Broadway musicals, popular recording artists, and music and dance performances of all kinds. Collections of twentieth-century, Native American, and Hispanic art are on display at the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center. The city also has a philharmonic orchestra, a 100-voice chorale, an annual opera festival, a dance theater that presents nationally and world-known ballet companies, art galleries, and several theater companies.
Denver (metropolitan population of 3.5 million), the state capital, is an hour's drive from the campus. Students can also drive south about 5 hours to Santa Fe, one of the nation's great cultural centers.
Majors and Degrees
Students have more than thirty formal majors from which to choose, twelve of which are interdisciplinary. A student may also choose to double major, take a thematic minor, or even design an independent major. The College also offers a number of special programs for students to complement their liberal arts education. Preprofessional advising programs are available in law, business, medicine, and other health professions. Teacher certification is available through the Education Department, regardless of the student's major. The College also has 3-2 engineering programs with Washington University in St. Louis, the University of Southern California, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and Columbia University.
Academic Programs
The Block Plan, established in 1970, is one of the most innovative aspects of a Colorado College education. Unlike most small liberal arts colleges, Colorado College permits faculty members and students to pursue their interests at their own pace and in their own way. Students take eight courses between early September and mid-May (the same as at any semester-based institution), but take only one course at a time. Each course lasts for 3 weeks and is called a block. While class schedules vary, many classes run from 9 a.m. until noon each day, with labs scheduled in the afternoons, but there's no bell to bring discussion to a sudden haltand it often spills out of the classroom, across the quad, and into the dining halls and dorm rooms.
Off-Campus Programs
Students wishing to spend an extended period of time pursuing their quest for knowledge beyond the boundaries of the campus find that Colorado College offers many opportunities. The College encourages the study of cultures and peoples throughout the world, and the Block Plan provides numerous opportunities to study abroad. About 56 percent of graduating seniors have studied abroad, and many others have participated in off-campus study in the United States.
Understanding other cultures and traditions often necessitates the study of other languages, so language programs in China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, and other countries are central to a CC liberal arts education. The study-abroad program also includes topical programs such as biology in Costa Rica. The College also cosponsors semester-long or yearlong study-abroad programs with its sister schools in the Associated Colleges of the Midwest (ACM). If a program isn't offered in the student's country of interest, the international programs office can help find other options. In many of these programs, tuition is the same as studying on campus. Financial aid follows students participating in CC or ACM programs. Study-abroad program locations include Costa Rica, France, Germany, India, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Sweden, the Netherlands, Tanzania, and Wales.
Academic Facilities
Colorado College has some of the most modern equipment and technology available across every discipline. The natural sciences facilities have an electron microscope, a 16-inch reflecting telescope, a computerized microscopic interface, greenhouses with various climates, extensive lab space, and graphics workstations. Facilities for the humanities and social sciences include a language lab with video disk technology, several theaters, and extensive art studios and gallery space. More than 200 computers (PC and Macintosh) are available for student use. Students across the campus enjoy high-speed wireless Internet access. Tutt Library has nearly 1,300 academic periodicals, more than a quarter of a million government documents, and numerous interlibrary loans. The College maintains two facilities for class retreats. The Gilmore-Stabler Cabin is situated in beautiful, rustic mountain surroundings, just 45 minutes from campus. The College also maintains the Baca Campus, which is located about 3 hours from the campus near the base of the Sangre de Cristo mountains in the San Luis Valley.
Costs
Tuition, room, board, and fees total $38,324 for the 200405 school year.
Financial Aid
Colorado College remains committed to the philosophy that cost should not deter a student from considering CC. The College administers a substantial financial aid program and uses financial need as the primary consideration in awarding aid. There is, however, a limited amount of financial aid available for non-U.S. citizens and transfer students. A financial aid award usually includes a combination of grants, federal loans (for U.S. citizens and permanent residents only), and possible work-study earnings. While the majority of college aid is need-based, some merit-based scholarships are offered as well. Students should contact the Financial Aid Office at 719-389-6651 for further details. In order to apply for aid, students must complete both the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and the CSS Financial Aid PROFILE form by February 15. (In order to do this, students need to register for the PROFILE by January 15.) Non-U.S. citizens applying for aid must fill out the International Student Financial Aid Application by January 15. For more information, students should visit the following Web sites: http://www.fafsa.ed.gov and http://www.collegeboard.com.
Faculty
The academic program at Colorado College is known for its extraordinary emphasis on teaching and learning. Outstanding faculty members, 97 percent of whom hold the highest degrees awarded in their fields, teach most classes, while others are taught by top-notch professionals as guest lecturers. There are no teaching assistants at Colorado College. With class sizes averaging 15 students, everyone has a chance to express opinions and be heard. The camaraderie that develops between students and professors often results in collaborative research projects and independent study projects.
Student Government
The Colorado College Campus Association (CCCA), the College's student government organization, probably has the highest profile among student clubs and organizations. The executive officers and the Student Senate fund student groups and events, discuss campus issues, and represent student opinion to the administration and community.
Admission Requirements
Every year, Colorado College enrolls an academically accomplished student body that encompasses a wide variety of interests, talents, and backgrounds. Its holistic evaluation process considers academic work, writing, letters of recommendation, test scores, extracurricular activities, personal interviews, and unique talents and personal qualities.
Application and Information
Regular action first-year applicants have a January 15 postmark deadline and receive a decision by early April. Early action first-year applicants have a November 15 postmark deadline and receive a decision by early January. First-year applicants may use the Common Application. Fall transfer applicants have a March 1 postmark deadline and receive a decision in mid-April. Spring transfer applicants have a November 1 postmark deadline and receive a decision by late December. The priority deadline for financial aid paperwork is February 15.
For more information, students should contact:
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