Colorado Mesa University

Colorado Mesa University is the biggest higher education institution in the West of the state.

Established as a junior college in 1925, CMU is a public university in Grand Junction, in Colorado’s Mesa County. Grand Junction State Junior College, Mesa College and later Mesa State College, it acquired its current name in 2011, the year it was granted university status.

CMU has two campuses in Grand Junction, 40 miles from the Colorado-Utah border, and located in the western foothills of the Rocky Mountains. Its third campus is in Montrose, around 60 miles south east. Grand Junction’s name is down to the Colorado River meeting the Gunnison River in the city. The surrounding area and the city itself facilitate an extensive range of outdoor recreation activities, including skiing, mountain biking, golf, white water rafting, swimming, rock climbing, tennis and baseball. The 10,000-foot Grand Mesa, which overlooks the city, is the largest flat-topped mountain worldwide.

CMU has offered master’s courses since 1996. These include business administration, the first postgraduate degree it offered, and nursing. The majority of students own cars on campus.

Its students, which have topped 10,000 in number, are able to choose from more than 70 undergraduate programmes. Courses with the most applicants include criminal justice, biological sciences and business.

CMU’s list of alumni is particularly full of sports stars, including numerous National Football League and baseball players. Pitcher Sergio Romo has won the World Series twice.