CU Boulder reports record-breaking enrollment
Enrollment at CU Boulder is up 3.4% from last fall, driven by record-breaking retention rates at the university. For the fall semester, 38,428 students are enrolled at CU Boulder.
The school points to new support strategies for students to complete their degrees, with more focus on underrepresented and first-generation students. Second-year student retention rates were 90.2%, surpassing 90% for the first time in school history. Enrollment of students from historically marginalized backgrounds increased from 26.9% to 27.7%, but retention of these students still remains an area for improvement.
Only 82% of Black and African American students and 86% of Hispanic/Latine students returned for their second fall on campus. Overall, second-year retention for non-white students was 88%.
“While we still have work to do in addressing recruitment and retention gaps among minoritized populations, it’s evident that CU Boulder remains a destination of choice for thousands of students across Colorado and beyond,” Chancellor Justin Swartz said in a university press release.
After the U.S. Supreme Court ruled it as unconstitutional to weigh a student’s race and ethnicity in admissions to higher education institutions in 2023, universities across the country have seen a decrease in minority student enrollment. This is not the case at CU.
“One of the main reasons we’ve not seen that dip in enrollment is that we actually did not use race [and] ethnicity as part of our admission process prior to the SCOTUS ruling,” Associate Vice Chancellor of Enrollment Management Amy Hutton said during a Sept. 19 press conference.
The school also welcomed 5,063 new Colorado residents to its student body, the most for a fall term in school history.
Student residents at Ash House permitted to stay
A district court judge blocked the City of Boulder’s attempt to dissolve a temporary restraining order that prevents students from being forced out of their apartments once again.
Last week, 60 student residents at Ash House, 891 12th St., were temporarily displaced after the City of Boulder issued a closure notice over bedrooms that were illegally subdivided after a building inspection.
The owners of Ash House sued the city in response to the closure, claiming the actions were taken with no immediate threat to student safety. After the court issued a temporary restraining order preventing the city from forcing students to vacate their homes, the city promptly appealed the order.
Judge Chris Larson upheld the restraining order during a hearing on Friday, Sept. 20, finding the city did not provide the required information detailing the evidence of “imminent” danger to building residents.
“We believe the current conditions at this building present an immediate life-safety risk to the people living there,” the city wrote in a Friday press release. “While we are disappointed in today’s outcome, the city will be complying with the court’s ruling.”
The property owner agreed to correct the violations and restore the building up to code. Construction will take approximately two weeks, Andrew Peters, a lawyer representing the property, told the judge.
Students are permitted to remain in their apartments, but the ongoing construction may force them to temporarily relocate to empty rooms — now vacant after several tenants terminated their leases —while property owners get everything up to code.
Judge Larson extended the order to Oct. 8, the day of the next hearing on the issue.
In other news…
- Police responded to reports of shots fired at Louisville’s Monarch High School on Monday, Sept. 23 according to a city press release. Fireworks detonated in a bathroom were determined to be the source of the noise. The school was placed on hold status, in which classroom doors are closed and locked, for approximately one hour. There were no reported injuries.
- On Saturday, Sept. 29, RTD will temporarily close the Niwot Park-n-Ride lot and permanently close the north and southbound CO 119 bus stops as construction on the CO 119 Bus Rapid Transit Project begins. The project is designed to improve safety and optimize travel between Boulder and Longmont. Construction is scheduled to be completed in May 2027, bringing bypass lanes along Diagonal Highway, improvements to bus stops in Boulder and Longmont and a new bikeway along the corridor.
- The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is adopting new Flood Insurance Rate Maps for Longmont this fall. Properties in the 1% annual chance (100-year flood) floodplain are required by federal law to have flood insurance. The changes will affect many properties located near St. Vrain and Left Hand Creeks. Residents can check their property’s floodplain status by entering their address into Longmont’s Flood Inquiry Map. Longmont participates in the Community Rating System, which qualifies residents for a 25% discount on flood insurance premiums.