CU Boulder (University of Colorado) is dealing with increased crime, students accosted or groped, and recently a girl being pulled into a car at gunpoint, another - the night safe ride driver - being attacked. Now a security detail has been added to safe ride, but the waits to get a ride are so ling, kids are taking Uber instead. more $$$. Two weeks ago 21 students were drugged at a Wednesday night wine party - the wine spiked by the host fraternity with Xanax. CU’s response? Not on campus, not a CU issue. TWO girls ended up in the hospital. It’s published news so feel free to verify. CU feels unsafe right now. A few weeks prior, girls drinks were drugged at a football game. And these are just the ones published the newspaper. You won’t see the bulk of crime in University reports because much of student life happens off campus, so CU is not required to report those crimes. In fact, they tell students and parents they can’t help with crime in the students’ areas surrounding campus because they are “off campus.” CU advertises Bear Creek apartments for students, but you can’t get in - there is inadequate housing at CU, and yet they keep admitting more and more freshman each year. Is it to combat the high attrition rate? Why is retention so low? Is it because the classes are taught predominantly by grad students and instructors not on tenure track? Housing is so limited: after freshman year, students are no longer guaranteed housing and getting a campus spot is almost impossible. It’s October and many places are already FULL for NEXT fall. So we are forced to pay astronomically high rent rates (12 month leases at $1200pp and more) because housing is at a premium, and CU just last week replied to a parent complaint: secure housing in Superior (next town over 15 miles away) where rents are cheaper. I want my student to have college experience that is not a commuter school experience. HOW is living 20 minutes away from campus a viable solution if CU wants to foster community? Much of campus life happens off campus on The Hill and Pearl Street and beyond. So when looking at this school, look at crime for the broader area. CU Boulder could be such an awesome place, but the cloud of crime, subpar teaching in many entry-level classes, housing problems, and “it’s not our problem” attitude of the CU Boulder administration will likely prevent it from being what it could be. And when you re assessing the cost to attend, calculate in ALL of the many “fees” tacked on to the bills each semester plus the cost of housing after year 1. Sad my kid could have gone ANYWHERE, and now she Ubers to get across campus after dark, and walks with pepper spray in her hand - that is the new normal at CU.
Momtwo2, yes CU Boulder can’t do anything about the Frats. They were kicked out of the system years
ago for their behavior. Any incidents should be reported to Boulder Police!
I did a reply post on this, “Types of People Who Attend.” for those interested, go to page 4 - half way down.
Students should pay attention to the RA’s, when told to stay away from “Parties on the Hill.” I know, easier
said than done!
As to Student Housing; there is a multilevel new dorm going up in Williams Village right now. It is to be
designated for Upper Classmen. It should house over 500 students. I know, that does not solve all the
housing issues. That requires the State of Colorado to provide the funds for additional campus housing,
which takes many years for the University to receive funding, they request.
The police are investigating because it is a police matter, not a university matter.
Fraternities are not a student sponsored activity at CU. The school set up a list of rules that the frats would have to comply with in order to be readmitted as student organizations, but the frats decided not to comply and to stay independent organizations. They have no right to meet on campus or use university facilities.
CU has NEVER had housing for more than freshman year. I went there in the 1970’s and there was no housing after freshman year. We lived in sorority and fraternity houses, on the hill, in houses and apartments. I lived close to Williams Village but I couldn’t ride the buses so hoofed it up the hill every day. I think this is the same problem you would find in Madison or East Lansing or Gainesville or Berkeley, except it is not helped by Boulder housing codes and restrictions on the number of people who can live in each structure. Everyone wants to live near campus and the closer you live, the more it costs.
I don’t feel sorry for kids who won’t wait for a free ride so take an Uber. I wouldn’t have been able to afford that, so I walked.
I was a non tenure track instructor at CU Boulder for a semester. It was a low paying job for me,
and I found other employment quickly! So yes, this is correct in Chemical Engineering, and many other
departments instructors with PhD degrees are instructing elective and sometimes core classes.
In CU’s defense, the core curriculum is almost always taught by tenured or tenure track professors
in engineering. CU is trying to hire permanent teaching staff too, with PhDs from top schools that
do not do research work but focus on teaching. That will help a lot!
Fraternities all over the USA do spike drinks, drinkers beware. Our kids brought sealed water bottles to parties
in Georgia and Ohio where they attended college to avoid drugs !
Sorry about the sub par teaching I TOTALLY AGREE With
@Momtwo2 about the lackluster teaching in some departments of arts and sciences due to a variety of factors
including tenure track professors focusing on their research work over teaching.
However, Music, mechanical engineering, chemical engineering, chemistry, physics, biology and a few others, including fine arts and ceramics, are the strongest departments at CU Boulder.
I hope more CU students and parents chime in. Its a shame that girls are being drugged, but its
just a common problem all over the USA and I am happy that someone is finally talking about tit.
On CU housing, I agree 100% with the details in @MomTwo2 yes, the vast majority of students do move off campus as sophomores, or parents even BUY a condo for their kid to have good housing in Boulder, but there
are a few on campus options such as Global Engineering Housing that is all four years and Honors Engineering.
We know upper classmen in this dorm thats suitable for freshman through seniors, but
the student needs to be an engineering major:
http://globalengineeringrap.org
I do not agree that the city of Boulder or CU Boulder feel unsafe now. I go to campus every day to use libraries
and I go into Boulder at night. We are talking about a small town, not a city. Boulder is 100,000 residents.
Its very very safe compared to any city in the USA if your child is considering an urban campus in Los Angeles,
Atlanta, Chicago etc.
I agree with @Coloradomama that Boulder, as a small, wealthy city, is safe.
Not sure about frat parties however.
Here is the report on the spiked drinks:
https://www.9news.com/article/news/crime/5-women-tell-police-they-were-drugged-at-parties-near-cu-boulder-campus/73-607241889
Spiking girl’s drinks has been a problem since at least 2013, according to my son’s friends who graduated from CU in 2017. i hate to say it colors the entire campus experience, but its good to be aware that fraternities are not part of the CU Boulder campus and I believe should not be advertising parties on campus especially for freshman this is unsafe.
I was uncomfortable with Boulder for my 17.5 year old sons and sent them out of state. I just did not think
they had the maturity to avoid all the adult behaviors over at CU and that includes a lot of early sex, drinking
and this spiked drink problem that needs to be investigated and some kids need to go to jail who are doing that.
I hope that the Boulder police get busy ! But it may just not result in any arrests I bet.
MIT CLOSES DOWN OFF CAMPUS FRATERNITIES by the way. CU Boulder needs to get busy doing that today.
If MIT can do it so can CU Boulder.
I am talking about fraternities in Boston, no where near MIT’s campus. MIT forced every undergraduate to vacate
an off campus house and move on campus, when there were complaints about sexual assault and a girl fell out
of a window. She was not an MIT student, as these crazy MIT frats are close to Boston U, but MIT guys live in them.
Boys will be boys, girls beware. I would never set foot into any fraternity on the Hill in Boulder, unless I was
looking for group sex, drugs and alcohol. So far I don’t look for those things in life or a party ! 
CU Boulder can be a safe experience if one avoids these types of group sex, drinking and drug parties. I believe
there are safer parties to be had in Boulder. One needs to be smart about parties!
All of the problems you cite are real, but not one of them is “new.” The situation has been the same since the 80s. I started as a student there in 1982 and I never walked alone! We always used the buddy system. I am sorry it is stressing out your kid, that really sucks.
But also, CU Boulder has always been a party school. It has lost rank on the party school lists in the past decade or so, but if you are looking for a quiet, intellectual campus, I have no idea why you would go to CU. I think one of the things that you need to keep in mind when you say “2 girls were drugged at a party,” which is absolutely horrible, is that you are talking about a campus with more than 32,000 students. So it’s anecdotal and does not give a statistic that is relevant. If you want to actually compare crime rates, look up the Clery Act reports for all of the campuses you are considering. You will get a bit depressed. Many colleges have far worse records than CU Boulder and are located in much more challenging areas.
Boulder is a relatively safe community, but it’s a bit of a stretch to expect it to be like a small college town. The university is not the only thing in Boulder; the population of 100,000 doesn’t count the transient student population. It is not crime-free and never has been. Compared to many other urban areas, though, I think it is very easy to deal with.
The cost of living/housing problem has been the same since the 80s, as well. CU has never guaranteed more than one year of housing. Ticket price in state with a scholarship is not that bad, but renting an apartment in Boulder is, and always has been, brutal. I have a hard time believing that people are not aware of this problem when they choose the school – it’s very well known. We live nearby and honestly it was a factor in our kid not choosing CU. I did not want her to feel like she needed to commute 15 miles when her dorm privileges ran out.
I will get in the corner with the faculty, though. CU is big, intimidating and impersonal. Yes, a fair number of the teachers are overworked grad students – also typical for schools of this size across the country. But having worked at CU for quite a while not long ago, I have to say that your student can have whatever academic relationship with the faculty that she wants. Go to office hours! As one Professor with 40 years of teaching there said to me, they don’t have the ability to micromanage all 32,000 students, but they LOVE to meet them! It’s not a pricey LAC with 12 students in class, and if you chose CU that’s obviously not what you were looking for. The onus is much more on the student to reach out and make those connections. Plenty of students manage to do this.
Bottom line: A big state university is not a small college. I’m very sorry to hear that your student is not having the experience that you expected.
CU Boulder lacks diversity in that it is about 70% white. Also, a significantly higher percentage of males (56%) than females & this imbalance may have some impact on undergraduate student behavior.
Lots of students we know, live in Longmont and commute to CU Boulder by the way, as rentals
are less in Longmont, and Longmont is closer than Superior to Boulder.
There are buses from Longmont to Boulder but a car would help. Yeah, the Boulder housing situation may not be ideal,
but there are group houses for rent over in Boulder too so your student can SHARE!
Look early for housing, and expect to pay a lot of money
if your student has to live in luxury apartments in the city of Boulder because they do not want to commute or they cannot stay in the RAP, where they lived as freshman,
but I know upper classman ON CAMPUS in RAP housing at least until sophomore year.
RAPS are the way to go if you want to attend CU Boulder as they welcome upper classmen is my understanding.
@MomTwo2 : Is your daughter considering transferring to another college or university ? The CU experience is different than at many universities with which I am familiar.
Wow. This is upsetting, and absolutely revolting to read about. Lots of kids in SoCal want to attend CU Boulder; I bet their parents don’t know how scary it is there for girls who go to frat parties.
@Coloradomama Since MIT was able to have some control over off campus frats, do you know why Boulder says it does not?
@ Ann of the Hill The State of Colorado provides roughly 5-6% of CU’s budget. I think it is safe to assume that the state is not going to fund a lot of new housing any time soon. Almost all of the construction you see on campus – stadium, research buildings, etc – is funded by private donations, federal research grants, and tuition $$.
@JenJenJenJen The frats have not had any connection or legal relationship to the CU Boulder administration for a couple of decades. The sororities are still affiliated with CU, but not the frats. They simply were not able to come to an agreement on standards.
I may be wrong, but I think that the state of Colorado is enjoying a surplus of funds due to tax on legalized pot. So if there is a severe housing shortage, the state could, and should, shoulder the financial cost of new student housing in my opinion.
I know Gainesville and Berkley well, and it is not at ALL the same housing situation. Gainesville is cheap - the newest Apartment across the street from campus with a rooftop pool and super posh accommodations is less than the run down buildings 1 mile form CU campus. While I agree CU cannot force landlords to behave more ethically, they can - and should - develop relationships with the community that they are not. And the new housing, we are told, will NOT e for upperclassmen, but for a larger freshman class. The intent of my post was to open the eyes of prospective students to the realities of the situation that CU seems - in spite of note - to be brushing under the rug.
Also @Coloradomama the safety concerns are at a peak right now because of recent assaults and threats at gunpoint. In speaking with Boulder PD this week, they stated, emphatically: “We are a town with big-city crime and big city safety concerns.” They have a department which seeks opportunities to educate students on better awareness to prevent being the victims of crime. The officer stated emphatically that the statistics are clear: crime on the Hill is FAR higher than elsewhere, and they have “outsiders” coming in to target students who are less aware than they should be, and less likely to press charges, or even file a police report. My point is ONLY that, as you said, (1) be aware it is not a cozy hamlet, (2) housing costs after freshman year make the cost of attendance increase by thousands, even with frozen tuition (and the 4-year raps are not an option for many), and (3) parents need to speak up so CU will get a move on towards addressing these issues before they overshadow all of the good on campus. @pauler80020 my kid was not looking for a “quiet intellectual campus”. But she does want one on which to feel safe. Friends were getting “messed up” beyond expected outcomes at parties, and so she and they stopped going and have sought out alternatives. But a girls at a football game was drugged in the stands. Are the girls also to avoid athletic events to remain safe?? And, CU really promotes the idea that there are plenty of communities that are not party-driven. Those “quiet” students will tell you that if you are not a partier, then at CU it is difficult to make friends. My kid is not a partier and has loads of friends, but it took a long while AND many of the friends are mega partiers: my kid is the designated sober. This is not me being naive. This is the reality. @Publisher no, my student is not planning transfer. We just pay the surplus and she’s taken on a job to afford the increased costs of transportation at night. Plus, she’s an athlete on an academic scholarship, so we pay far less than even those with in-state tuition. My post is intended to open eyes and encourage people to be aware of the reality in Boulder, and push on the system to push for change. The experience has taught a lot - including how to avoid classes with unqualified TAs (some are great) teaching to the extent possible. In no way do I believe that. non-tenure instructor is less capable than a tenure track prof. That is not a generalization I agree with. It is it or miss, but more miss than hit. CU Boulder has a LOT to offer. THIS piece of to tough will bring it down unless the school gets proactive.
“Crime increasing”, “CU…dealing with increased crime” - where is the evidence to support these claims of increase?
“Housing is so limited: after freshman year, students are no longer guaranteed housing” - CU has never guaranteed housing beyond freshman year, not in over 100 years.
“Is it to combat the high attrition rate? Why is retention so low?” - CU has an 88% retention rate for freshman entering in the fall of 2016 and returning in 2017 the last year that this stat has been reported on the 2017-2018 common data set.
Yes, housing is expensive. Boulder has laws against population and housing growth that go back 30+ years. But is should be more expensive then Gainsville given the massive quality of life differences between them. Boulder favors quite favorably to Berkley, especially south of campus.
There is nothing new in these indictments that hasn’t been happening for decades; happening on college campuses, college towns, and urban environments for as long as there have been young people consuming alcohol and drugs. These behaviors aren’t to be excused, yet to be shocked by its existence is Itself shocking. There is no final straw that will break the camels back at CU, it’s life as it’s always been.
Where we can all have common ground is that CU and Boulder is not for everyone. Boulder is far, far from perfect. Find me a single state university that doesn’t have all of the same human problems because I don’t know of it’s existence.
Boulder was the most popular out of state school at our HS this year. It was definitely seen as an attractive choice for rich white social kids who couldn’t get into the competitive UCs. We know one of the families affected by this incident and it will be interesting to see if that leads to an impact on next year’s choices by students at our HS.
While similar types of students can be found at most large state universities, often it is mostly found in the fraternity system while at CU it is more widespread.
The out-of-state rich white kid is nothing new at CU either. Been that way for decades. It’s not refered to in California as UC Boulder for nothing. The school has failed to recruit minorities forever, I’ve often suspected that their efforts have been hollow. The city of Boulder is a haven for progressive, wealthy, white people too. Minorities stuggle in Boulder and the police and a good part of the locals don’t make it any easier.
This year the supplemental essay on the CA is about how each student will bring diversity to CU. Another hand wave at a problem the school hasn’t been able to solve.