Colorado School of Mines

Colorado School of Mines is a public research university in Golden, Colorado, founded in 1874 to train engineers for the mining economy of the Rocky Mountains. It remains a specialist institute focused on earth, energy, materials, and applied science rather than a comprehensive arts-and-sciences university. The campus stands at the foot of the Front Range, west of Denver.

Instruction is organized through engineering and applied-science departments rather than a full set of professional schools. Signature fields include mining and petroleum engineering, geology and geophysics, metallurgical and materials engineering, chemical and biological engineering, and computational and applied mathematics. Graduate students use campus laboratories and work with nearby partners such as the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden.

Enrollment is about 7,500 students, most of them undergraduates, with roughly 1,500 in graduate programs. International students account for more than 10 percent of enrollment and a larger share of the graduate population. The faculty is a few hundred strong. Alumni work mainly in mining, energy, minerals, and materials industries.

Graduate degrees include M.S. and Ph.D. programs in engineering and applied science, along with professional master's degrees in fields such as engineering and technology management. Study is departmental, with coursework, qualifying examinations, and thesis or dissertation research. The calendar is the semester system. Research and teaching assistantships are the usual support for doctoral students. Golden is a small city on the Denver metro edge, with mountain access and energy-sector employers nearby.

In the Grad School Navigator directory, Colorado School of Mines lists 61 graduate programs across 19 subjects: 36 master's programs and 25 doctoral programs, with the widest choice in earth & environmental sciences, energy & petroleum engineering and materials science & engineering.