Beautiful Boulder, Colorado, home of the University of Colorado with 35,000 students, is a bustling community of just over 100,000 people with 200,000 in the surrounding county. It has been ranked on many “Best Of” lists over the years including:

(Photo by Glenn Asakawa/University of Colorado)

• Best College Town – American Institute for Economic Research, 2016
• Brain-Concentrated Metro Areas (#1) – Bloomberg, December 2016
• The Healthiest Cities in America (#1) – Niche, August 2016
• The Best Places to Live in Colorado – Livability, May 2016
• The Best Cities for Outdoor Recreation Enthusiasts (#1) – Storage, Nov. 3, 2015
• Great Places in America: Public Spaces (Pearl Street Mall) – American Planning Association (APA), October 2015
• The Country’s Best July 4 Celebrations (#4) – Travel + Leisure , June 30, 2015
• 10 Best: Bike-friendly Cities (#2) – USA Today , July 1, 2014.
• And more!

As the list above might suggest, Boulder residents are active and engaged in their community and in the world at large. Boulder is home to some of the world’s largest natural and organic food companies including Celestial Seasonings, White Wave, Whole Foods, Justin’s and scores more. Additionally, Boulder can boast an enormously successful tech start up industry as well as a hub for numerous large tech companies including IBM, Google, and Qualcomm.  Several government scientific centers including the National Center for Atmosphere Research (NCAR), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration(NOAA), National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) are also located here.

Boulder is also a highly spiritual community. It is home of Naropa Institute, the only accredited Buddhist College in the U.S., the Institute for Integral Consciousness and a plethora of churches, synagogues, mosques, temples and spiritual centers.

Living expenses are comparable to most major cities. Because there is such a large student population, housing and jobs must be planned for. The school will aid you, when and where possible, in securing housing and work, but this must remain your responsibility.