Colorado State University student guide: cost, food, housing & tips

Colorado State at a glance

25,538

undergrads

89%

of applicants admitted

86%

come back for year 2

68%

graduate

17 : 1

students per teacher

$66,947

typical pay 10 years in

Source: U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard.

What a year really costs

After grants and scholarships, by family income. Average: $22,247.

Under $30k $12,291

$30k–$48k $12,331

$48k–$75k $16,009

$75k–$110k $21,777

Over $110k $32,378

Tuition, in state

$13,774

Tuition, out of state

$36,113

Typical debt at graduation

$18,750

24% of students get a Pell Grant

Free stuff most students miss

Academics & admin

TILT Tutoring - free drop-in help

Free tutoring in the Great Hall on the second floor of the TILT building on the Oval.

Getting around

Around the Horn Shuttle

Free cross-campus shuttle running every 10 minutes M-F with Saturday service connecting to MAX rapid transit

Places

Annual Flower Trial Garden

CSU's horticulture test garden across from the University Center for the Arts, open to the public every day during daylight hours, free.

Academics & admin

Writing Center

Free one-on-one feedback on any writing project (papers, applications, personal statements, resumes) for CSU students, staff and faculty.

Eat

Dining halls, quick bites and coffee on campus.

21 places

The Foundry Dining Center

Dining hall

All-you-care-to-eat dining in Corbett-Parmelee, open the SAME hours all seven days - but it closes between meals.

Corbett Hall (the building connecting Corbett and Parmelee Halls)

Durrell Dining Center

Dining hall

All-you-care-to-eat dining in the Durrell Center, straight through from breakfast to dinner with no closures in between.

Durrell Center

Ram's Horn Dining Center

Dining hall

All-you-care-to-eat dining at the Academic Village Commons, same seven-day pattern as The Foundry and it also closes between meals.

Academic Village Commons, 820 W Pitkin St

Aspen Grille (student-run restaurant)

Restaurant

A full-service, sit-down restaurant on the top floor of the Lory Student Center, run by CSU student employees and used as a working classroom for…

Lory Student Center Room 399B (northwest corner of Level 300), 1101 Center Avenue Mall

Market

Braiden Hall Mini Market

Market

Grab-and-go mini market inside Braiden Hall on the south side of campus, open 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Braiden Hall, 500 W Pitkin Street

Convenience

Cam's Lobby Shop (convenience store)

Convenience

The LSC's convenience store since 1999: snacks, coffee and drinks, grab-and-go sandwiches and salads, Consuelo's breakfast burritos, hot dogs…

Lory Student Center, Level 100 near the North Entrance, 1101 Center Avenue Mall

Where to live

Residence halls, apartments and help finding a place.

9 places

Braiden Hall

Residence hall

Home to 590 students on the south side of campus by the academic core, a short walk to the Lory Student Center and Morgan Library.

500 W Pitkin Street

Durward Hall

Residence hall

12-story north-side tower for about 450 students, next to the Durrell Center

1001 W Laurel St

Off-Campus Life

Living off campus

Lory Student Center room 281, Monday to Friday 9 to 5.

Lory Student Center Room 281

Summit Hall

Residence hall

Home to 535 students on the south-west side of campus near Ram's Horn Dining Center and the Campus West restaurants and shops on Elizabeth Street.

963 W Pitkin Street

Westfall Hall

Residence hall

12-story north-side tower for about 500 students, renovated for 2023-24

1009 W Laurel St

Corbett & Parmelee Halls

Residence hall

Connected north campus halls housing 1,475 students with The Foundry dining center and residential learning communities

Get around

Shuttles, parking and accessible rides.

5 ways

Around the Horn Shuttle

Transit

Free cross-campus shuttle running every 10 minutes M-F with Saturday service connecting to MAX rapid transit

Around the Horn North stop at the CSU Transit Center (north side of the Lory Student Center)

Transfort city buses - free with your RamCard

Transit

Fort Collins' city bus network is free for every CSU student with a RamCard, and it reaches well beyond campus.

CSU Transit Center, north side of the Lory Student Center

MAX Bus Rapid Transit

Transit

Rapid transit line connecting campus to downtown Fort Collins along Mason Corridor

University Station (MAX), S Mason St at University Ave

Campus Parking

Parking

Parking permits for students, faculty, and staff with multiple lots across campus

Parking and Transportation Services, Lake Street Parking Garage, 1508 Center Ave

Biking

Spin E-Bikes & Scooters

Biking

500 e-scooters and 400 e-bikes available around campus and Fort Collins

Colorado State University

Majors that pay most at Colorado State

Typical pay 4 years after graduating. Top 6 of 47 bachelor's majors with published pay.

Computer Science $114,076

Information Science/Studies $102,765

Electrical Engineering $99,172

Fire Protection $98,019

Chemical Engineering $97,271

Construction Engineering Technology/Technician $94,921

Source: College Scorecard, field-of-study data.

Your Colorado State checklist

5 things worth doing early

Save campus police in your phone (970) 491-6425, 24/7.
Get a parking permit or skip it and ride the free bus.
Visit Attire Fund - up to $250 for interview clothes early, not the week of the career fair.
Find the Rams Against Hunger Food Pantry Free food, for when money runs short.
File next year's FAFSA Opens October 1. Questions: (970) 491-6321.

When you need help

CSU Police Department (970) 491-6425 Counseling Services (970) 491-7121 The Hub - Student Services (970) 491-6321

5 things Colorado State freshmen figure out too late

Watch the video

1 Stop going to class and it is still an F
"If a student discontinues attending a class and has not officially dropped or withdrawn through RAMweb or the Office of the Registrar, the grade of F (failure) is recorded." Ghosting a class does not remove it. If you are done with a course, drop or withdraw in RAMweb before the deadline.
CSU Catalog — grading
2 Waitlist seat opens? You get 24 hours
When a seat opens for a waitlisted student, "Students then have a 24-hour window to register for the class." "If the student does not register, they are taken off the waitlist, and a notification goes to the next student on the waitlist." Turn on the RAMweb alerts and register the moment the message comes in.
CSU Catalog — registration
3 CO 150 and math before 60 credits
"The AUCC 1A and AUCC 1B requirements must be completed within the first 60 credits (CSU and transfer) taken." Students past 60 credits without Category 1A "will have an AUCC 1A HOLD placed on their record." Take CO 150 and a 1B math or statistics course in your first year and the hold never comes up.
CSU Catalog — All-University Core Curriculum CSU Catalog — AUCC 1A requirement
4 There is no C minus, and an A+ is just 4.0
"Effective Fall 2008, C-, D+, and D- grades are not assigned at CSU." "Faculty use of +/- grading is optional." In the grade table an A+ and an A are both worth 4.000. Check each syllabus for how it grades: in a +/- class, landing just under a C is a D.
CSU Catalog — grading
5 Record the lecture — Gus makes the notes, flashcards and quiz
Gus is an AI college companion built around your actual classes. Record a lecture and it writes the notes, pulls out the key topics, builds a flashcard deck, and makes a practice quiz from what was actually said. The flashcards come back on a spaced-review schedule, so the thing you missed shows up again right before you would have forgotten it. It is free to try.
Try Gus free

One more thing

Placing out of math earns zero credits

"Completing the Math Placement Tool does not earn course credit." "Only earned credits count toward the three-credit AUCC 1B requirement, i.e. placement out of a course will not satisfy the CSU AUCC 1B requirement."

CSU Catalog — AUCC 1B requirement

A class somewhere else cannot raise your CSU GPA

Transfer credit grades "are not computed within the CUM GPA earned at CSU, so these grades can not improve the CSU GPA." To pull your GPA up, take the class through CSU.

CSU Catalog — scholastic standards