Metropolitan State University of Denver history

In 1967, the Colorado legislature created CCD, with classes commencing three years later in a renovated auto showroom close to the Civic Center.

Metropolitan State University was founded in 1971 as an upper-division university offering bachelor's degrees for working adults.

Thankfully, in 1975, the College moved to the 150-acre Auraria Higher Education Center campus in downtown Denver.

In 1976, MSU Denver opened a South Campus in Greenwood Village, Colorado.

Among Palmer’s greatest achievements during his six years as president was his management of MSU Denver’s move to the Auraria Campus in 1977.

Men’s basketball returns to MSU Denver after its disbandment in 1978.

In 1983, the first graduate students enrolled in the Master of Management and Administration program.

In 1994, Metropolitan State welcomed freshmen students for the first time, offered graduate programs in nursing and business administration, and celebrated its 10,000th graduate.

In 1995, Metropolitan State won the prestigious Hesburgh award for its continuing focus on improving teaching.

He took the 50-meter freestyle championship again in 1996 and ended his career named First Team All-American four times.

In 1997, the university won the Quality-of-Life award from the Greater Minneapolis Chamber of Commerce for conducting 25 community service projects to celebrate its 25th anniversary.

Actor, director and author Ossie Davis gave a lecture titled “Black Creativity and the Human Experience” at MSU Denver for the 1999 Rachel B. Noel Distinguished Visiting Professorship.

Under Kaplan, MSU Denver achieved independence in 2002, breaking from the State Colleges in Colorado to form its own governing board.

Following Delgado’s death in 2004, the University instituted the annual Lalo Delgado Poetry Festival.

Angelou would visit with the MSU Denver community again when she spoke on campus in 2005.

As of 2007, $417,000 in displaced Aurarian scholarships had been awarded.

Metropolitan State was selected in 2008 for community engagement classification by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.

In July 2010, MSU Denver received final approval and accreditation from the Higher Learning Commission to proceed with three planned master’s degree programs, the University’s first-ever graduate-level offerings.

MSU Denver’s Precision Flight Team won the Loening Trophy at the May 2011 Safety and Flight Evaluation Conference (SAFECON). The only other Colorado school ever to have won the 82-year-old award to that date was the Air Force Academy.

On July 1, 2012, MSU Denver took over operation of the Colorado Center for Medical Laboratory Science.

The complex opened with eight tennis courts in August 2013.

MSU Denver earned the Campus Compact of the Mountain West 2014 Engaged Campus Award for its commitment to civic engagement and service learning.

The university was selected for reclassification in 2015 by the Carnegie Foundation, citing evidence that community engagement had become deeper, more pervasive, better integrated, and sustained.

In a step toward transforming their dreams into reality, members of the Students for the Exploration and Development of Space organization nearly won a spot for their research project on the 2018 Mars One mission.

CollegeNet's 2020 "Social Mobility Index" places Metropolitan State in the top 3 percent nationwide, and first in Minnesota, in enabling students to move from lower income strata into the middle class.