Boulder Values Education
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K-12 Education
The Boulder Valley School District is a highly rated, public school district headquartered in Boulder and serving residents in a 500-square-mile region that includes nine major urban, suburban and rural communities from the peaks of the Continental Divide to the suburbs of Denver. Fifty-six schools in the district serve 31,000 students, with a student-teacher ratio of 19 to 1. The Boulder Valley School District (BVSD) consistently ranks among the top three districts in Colorado – often as the top district – as measured by state and national academic rankings.
The other major school district in the Boulder MSA is the St. Vrain Valley School District (SVVSD), which incorporates 53 schools serving 31,000 students in communities surrounding the Boulder Valley School District. SVVSD is a leader in innovative educational programming. It won one of the original Investing in Innovation (i3) grants under the U.S.
Department of Education’s Race to the Top program and was one of 16 recipients of a follow-on grant awarded to create a $16.6 million Innovation Center. The SVVSD Innovation Center prepares students for successful STEM careers by partnering with industry to provide real-world work experiences, fostering analytical and problem-solving skills, encouraging entrepreneurial ambitions and creating mentorships with experts in the STEM fields.
The Boulder Valley School District (BVSD) consistently ranks among the top three of Colorado’s large Front Range school districts – and often as the top district – as measured by state and national academic rankings. The District includes:
- 56 schools over 500 square miles
- approximately 30,000 students
- more than 4,000 employees
- coverage for Boulder, Gold Hill, Jamestown, Lafayette, Louisville, Nederland, Superior, Ward, and parts of Broomfield and Erie
Each year, BVSD's graduates are awarded millions of dollars in scholarships and score well above the state and national averages on the ACT and SAT college entrance exams. BVSD stands as a leader in academic excellence with outstanding classroom teachers, exemplary schools, and programs that support student achievement.
Neighboring school districts to Boulder County include:
University of Colorado Boulder
The University of Colorado Boulder, the state's flagship university, is a world-class research university that offers many nationally recognized programs. CU-Boulder has over 90 research centers, institutes and laboratories and offers 3,400 courses in 150 fields of study. CU-Boulder is one of only 34 US public research universities invited to join the prestigious Association of American Universities and has the Rocky Mountain region’s largest library collection. Among the University's faculty are five Nobel Laureates and four National Medal of Science winners.
Notable CU-Boulder programs include:
Metro Denver Higher Education
The Metro Denver region provides a wide range of higher education resources:
- Eleven, four-year public and private colleges and universities
- 145,000+ total enrollments in the Metro Denver area
- World-class research institutions
- Graduate and professional schools
- Broad spectrum of undergraduate programs
- Five, two-year public community colleges and 300+ private occupational and technical schools
Other highly ranked colleges and universities near Boulder include:
- University of Colorado Denver and Anschutz Medical Campus
- Colorado State University in Fort Collins
- Colorado School of Mines in Golden
- Metro State University in Denver
- University of Northern Colorado in Greeley
Some stand-out Colorado educational statistics include:
- The Aerospace/Aeronautical/Astronautical Engineering program at the University of Colorado Boulder is ranked the 9th best in the nation. (EMSI Analyst, 2014.2)
- The Atomic/Molecular/Optical Physics Program at the University of Colorado Boulder is ranked as the best in the nation. (US News & World Report, Best Colleges and Universities 2014)
- During 2012, more than 8,200 Business Administration and Management degrees were awarded. (EMSI Analyst, 2014.2)
- During 2012, nearly 18,200 degrees in health professions were awarded. (EMSI Analyst, 2014.2)
- More than 2,500 degrees in the field of computer and information sciences were awarded to Colorado students during 2012. (EMSI Analyst, 2014.2)
- In 2012, Colorado awarded 12.5% of degrees in STEM fields. (EMSI Analyst, 2014.2)
Many of Metro Denver's colleges and universities offer non-traditional or adult education programs including evening and weekend options. Distance learning programs are available for those seeking degrees or certifications.