The Rocky Mountain Showdown has been a tradition for many years, with CSU and CU football teams facing one another in the state’s greatest rivalry game.
While the 90 minutes of game time is fierce, off-the-field the contest has become an opportunity to highlight Colorado’s two great public research universities, and their collaboration and collective impact on the state.
For more than a century and a half, the state’s flagship universities have been educating Coloradans, preparing a highly skilled workforce, fostering the discovery and innovation that improves quality of life, and serving as catalysts that drive the economy and keep Colorado competitive.
CSU + CU = Impact
- Research funding: CSU and CU account for $1.9 billion in research funding every year
- Degrees: CU and CSU System campuses deliver about 70% of the undergraduate degrees earned in Colorado
- Advanced degrees: more than 90% of the graduate and professional degrees come from CSU and CU system campuses
- Call the doctor: CSU and CU educate 100% of the doctors and veterinarians earning their credentials in Colorado, and 34% of the nurses.
- Alumni: CSU and CU have 700,000 alumni, 380,000 of whom live and work in Colorado.
- Jobs: Directly and indirectly, CSU and CU systems support more than 100,000 jobs for Coloradans.
CU and CSU partnership outshines rivalry
This weekend marks the return of what is arguably Colorado’s greatest college rivalry: the Rocky Mountain Showdown between our state’s largest public research universities, Colorado State and the University of Colorado.
While football is in the spotlight this weekend, the occasion allows us to celebrate all that CU and CSU have to offer our great state year-round.
It also provides us a chance to showcase Colorado’s rich higher education ecosystem overall, which offers affordable, accessible opportunities for anyone who wants to improve their lives through learning.
And while our students are competing on the field this weekend, CSU and CU are united in sending a strong message that higher education in Colorado is accessible and within reach of anyone who wants to earn a degree.
Most people in the U.S. continue to believe that a college education offers a great return on investment – one that goes far beyond increased earnings – and yet, many young people today are hesitant to make that investment in themselves because of misperceptions about what it actually costs to go to college.
But the reality is that if you want a college education in Colorado, there are resources and support to make it happen without taking on overwhelming debt. At both CU and CSU, students who qualify for Pell Grants typically don’t have to pay any tuition and fees at all. There are generous scholarships available for military veterans, rural students, and those who are the first in their families to go to college.
And once you enroll, you’ll have a support system of advisers, counselors, and faculty who are invested in helping you succeed.
We want every member of our campus communities to find connections that allow them to feel a strong sense of belonging. That is why our universities work hard to reach out and stay connected to every corner of our state, and why we invest significantly in pre-collegiate programs so that students at a young age can begin to think about their career and education options.
And it’s why we’re deliberately working to reduce what students pay out of pocket by providing grants and scholarships, expanding transfer opportunities, encouraging concurrent enrollment during high school, and providing alternative pathways to a degree to meet the needs of individual students.
Supporting those students who want to earn a four-year or advanced degree in Colorado matters to the future of our state. Together, the campuses of the CU and CSU System deliver around 70% of the undergraduate degrees earned from public institutions in Colorado and around 80% of the graduate and professional degrees.
We educate 100% of the doctors and veterinarians earning their credentials from public schools in Colorado, and 34% of the nurses. We account for $1.9 billion in research funding every year, which equates to the creation of 54,000 jobs.
Combined, the CSU and CU campuses graduated nearly 30,000 students last year – graduates who will go on to rewarding and diverse job opportunities made possible through their college education. They’ll become scientists, engineers, medical providers, teachers, and other professionals.
They’ll drive Colorado’s economy for generations to come and improve the quality of life for our entire state and nation.
Unlike this weekend’s game, where one team will ultimately triumph over the other in the spirit of friendly competition, CU and CSU will continue working together – and in partnership with our great system of colleges and universities statewide – to ensure all have the access and opportunity to pursue their educational dreams.
That’s where Colorado really wins.
University of Colorado President Todd Saliman
Colorado State University System Chancellor Tony Frank
Rivals on the field, partners in advancing Colorado
In many households across Colorado, this week is all about Ralphie versus CAM the Ram. The rest of the year, however, Ralphie and CAM are more partners than rivals, as our universities work together to advance our state and develop solutions to society’s most difficult problems.
Colorado State University and the University of Colorado Boulder team up each day to serve Colorado through groundbreaking research and exceptional education that sustain our state’s economy, health, climate and quality of life.
Last year, combined research expenditures by CU Boulder and CSU Fort Collins totaled more than $1 billion. The CSU and CU systems employ more than 56,000 people in Colorado, while spinoff companies created from our universities’ research have created thousands more private-sector jobs across the state.
Our alumni represent our most important contribution. Some are well-known, like CSU graduates astronaut Kjell Lindgren, Olympic champion Amy Van Dyken, and Tuskegee Airman and civil rights activist Lt. Col. John Mosley; and CU Boulder alums Matt Stone of Southpark fame, Supreme Court Justice Byron White, and Olympian Jenny Simpson. Our alumni include leaders in every field, with more than 417,000 graduates of CU and CSU systems living and working in Colorado.
A core purpose of a public institution is to support our state’s workforce and graduate tomorrow’s leaders. Last year alone, the CSU and CU systems delivered 67% of the bachelor’s degrees earned in Colorado; 76% of master’s degrees; 91% of doctoral and professional degrees; and 100% of MD and DVM degrees.
In addition to granting the majority of degrees in the state, CSU and CU Boulder are among the nation’s top public research universities. Outside the stadium, both are breaking ground on the most important challenges we face today, including sustainability, climate and health.
Over many decades, CU Boulder has established itself as a leader in translating climate research and data into meaningful climate solutions both across the globe and close to home. CSU has blazed a similar path, being the first university to earn a platinum ranking through the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment and Rating System while simultaneously developing and implementing impactful climate solutions across the world. Our universities have a prominent history of global leadership in climate research and sustainability, and we continue to accelerate this important work.
Today CSU and CU Boulder are engaged in dozens of collaborative research projects that protect our land, air and water. Together, CU Boulder and Colorado State University researchers have co-authored more than 1,900 published research articles across numerous fields, illustrating our commitment to working across campuses. Our researchers also work independently, using expertise unique to each university to achieve shared goals that aid all of Colorado.
A startup from CU Boulder, LongPath Technologies, harnesses Nobel Prize-winning technology to identify and stop methane leaks. CSU’s AgNext is slashing emissions in animal agriculture with the largest greenhouse gas emissions testing facility in the country. At CU, bioscience research is making advances in treating disease and developing vaccines, including recent discoveries into the origins of the neurodegenerative disease ALS. CSU’s College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences has a long tradition of moving discoveries from the laboratory to medical practice, creating new knowledge benefiting human and animal health, including breakthroughs in cancer treatment and orthopedics.
Our institutions are also dedicated to public service and to supporting prosperous and equitable communities around the world. In fact, the Peace Corps has its roots at CSU, where it was conceived and championed. And CU Boulder is recognized among the top five Peace Corps volunteer-producing universities. In all, CU Boulder and CSU count 4,339 alumni who have served as Peace Corps volunteers. Closer to home, CU Boulder coordinates hundreds of programs that engage communities around the state to address public needs, while CSU’s land grant mission includes on-the-ground outreach to residents in all 64 Colorado counties.
Leading up to Saturday’s Rocky Mountain Showdown, we will each enjoy favorite pregame rituals: one of us having a burger at “Grill the Buffs” in Fort Collins, and the other cheering at Boulder’s Pearl Street Stampede.
We anticipate a spirited clash of hooves and horns this weekend. But what’s most important isn’t what happens across four quarters on Saturday, but what our universities are accomplishing together across our 300 combined years of excellence in service to Colorado and beyond.
Go Rams and Sko Buffs!
Colorado State University President Amy Parsons
University of Colorado Boulder Chancellor Philip DiStefano