University of Colorado Denver/Anschutz Medical Campus

The University of Colorado Denver/Anschutz Medical Campus is a public research institution within the University of Colorado system, located in Denver and Aurora, Colorado. It operates as a consolidated two-campus university, with the Denver Campus situated on the Auraria Higher Education Campus and the Anschutz Medical Campus based in Aurora at the former Fitzsimons Army Medical Center site. The university offers a wide range of undergraduate, graduate, and professional programs, including medicine, nursing, pharmacy, dentistry, public affairs, business, engineering, and the health sciences. It attracts students interested in urban studies, public service, biomedical research, and clinical training, as well as those seeking interdisciplinary opportunities across academic and medical settings.

University of Colorado Denver/Anschutz Medical Campus traces its roots to 1912, when the University of Colorado established a Department of Correspondence and Extension in Denver to serve the city’s growing population. In 1973, a constitutional amendment formally created the University of Colorado Denver as an independent campus within the state system. Meanwhile, the medical programs began in 1883 with the founding of the Department of Medicine and Surgery in Boulder, later moving permanently to Denver in the early twentieth century. In 2004, the Health Sciences Center relocated to the former Fitzsimons Army Medical Center in Aurora, forming what became the Anschutz Medical Campus in 2006. The consolidated institution, known as University of Colorado Denver/Anschutz Medical Campus, now operates dual campuses in downtown Denver and Aurora, integrating urban academic programs with a major academic health center.