Graduate Education Updates

CU Denver campus

This page provides some background related to graduate education at CU Denver and its governance, including answers to frequently asked questions.

Background

The structures that have governed CU Denver graduate education have varied over the years. Between 2021 and 2022, many (but not all) CU Denver graduate programs were administered through a Graduate School shared with CU Anschutz graduate programs.

In 2022, CU Denver exited the dual-campus graduate school and transitioned to a new model to serve CU Denver students exclusively. Since 2022, many graduate education functions (such as admissions, recruitment, and academic planning) have been managed by each graduate program or by schools and colleges. Other functions have been managed by a central Office of Graduate Education, with a faculty Graduate Council advising the provost on matters of significance. 

This more (but not fully) decentralized graduate education structure has led to some improvements in consistency, service delivery, and cost efficiency. However, gaps in policy clarity and process coordination, along with insufficient central funding, have impeded the overall competitiveness and success of our graduate education programs.

It’s critical that we set up our 4,000 graduate students across 75+ degree programs for success. That means providing a reliable cross-campus foundation of funding, policy, and services, while helping each unique program thrive in ways tailored to their student populations and academic disciplines.

For this reason, in the Spring 2025 semester we engaged the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS), a national organization providing resources and support to graduate education leaders, to assess graduate education at CU Denver. CGS consultants reviewed our operations and made recommendations for how to best move CU Denver graduate education forward. In late April, CGS delivered its final report.

The report can now be viewed here:

Campus constitutents are welcome to provide feedback on this report via email.

The report includes 35 recommendations in four categories:

  1. Organization and administration of graduate education
  2. Competitive funding of graduate students
  3. Professional development and support services
  4. Best practices for enrollment management

Notable among these recommendations is that they do not recommend the re-creation of a broad Graduate School at this time, based on CU Denver’s institutional history and budgetary circumstances, though their report noted it may be advisable at some point.

The recommendations are comprehensive, interrelated, and worthy of deep consideration, though some have budget implications. To address these recommendations and other issues affecting graduate education, we will soon convene faculty and administrators for further discussion. Campus constituents will be apprised of progress and will be able to engage and provide feedback starting in Fall 2025.

Selected Graduate Education Communications and Announcements

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