Our Land-Grant Mission

Colorado State University is a land-grant institution, which is “a uniquely American idea built on the belief that anyone who wants a college or university education should have the opportunity to get it.” This foundational belief underlies our Principles of Community and drives the mission and values of our university. It is also important to acknowledge that CSU’s land-grant status is tied to the history of land dispossession, as the university exists on land taken directly from Native American nations who inhabited it for centuries. Learn more about the history of the land-grant tradition.

CSU Mission: Inspired by its land-grant heritage, CSU is committed to excellence, setting the standard for public research universities in teaching, research, service and extension for the benefit of the citizens of Colorado, the United States and the world.

CSU Land Awknowledgement

Colorado State University acknowledges, with respect, that the land we are on today is the traditional and ancestral homelands of the Arapaho, Cheyenne, and Ute Nations and peoples. This was also a site of trade, gathering, and healing for numerous other Native tribes. We recognize the Indigenous peoples as original stewards of this land and all the relatives within it. As these words of acknowledgment are spoken and heard, the ties Nations have to their traditional homelands are renewed and reaffirmed.

CSU is founded as a land-grant institution, and we accept that our mission must encompass access to education and inclusivity. And, significantly, that our founding came at a dire cost to Native Nations and peoples whose land this University was built upon. This acknowledgment is the education and inclusivity we must practice in recognizing our institutional history, responsibility, and commitment.