For more than 125 years the University of Colorado Boulder has provided an array of opportunities for students to pursue graduate-level education. CU graduate students conduct research on topics ranging from designing simple water purification systems in developing nations like Thailand to studying Roman imperial architecture in Italy and the national reputation of CU's graduate education is stellar, with numerous programs consistently ranking among the nation's best.

In U.S. News & World Report's 2013 edition of America's Best Graduate Schools five CU-Boulder graduate programs were ranked in the top 10 nationally and numerous programs placed in the top 50 nationally:

• No. 1: CU-Boulder retains top honors for the atomic/molecular/optical physics program, tied with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
• Top 10: Other CU-Boulder programs ranking in the top 10 nationally are environmental sciences (fifth), quantum physics (fifth), environmental law (fifth) and physical chemistry (eighth).
• Some 18 other CU-Boulder schools and programs land on the national rankings within their fields: aerospace engineering (13), chemical engineering (17), clinical psychology (18), physics (19), civil engineering (20), earth sciences (23), chemistry (26), environmental engineering (26), psychology (29), biological sciences (30), mechanical engineering (32), electrical engineeering (32), College of Engineering and Applied Science (35), computer engineering (35), School of Education (38), computer science (39), School of Law (44) and Leeds School of Business (47 for part-time MBA schools)

In another ranking, twenty CU-Boulder doctoral programs were in the top 20 in a National Research Council study in 2011. The long-awaited findings from the NRC's national study of doctoral programs at more than 200 universities were based on a comprehensive assessment of doctoral programs and are widely viewed as useful indicators of excellence.

CU-Boulder established its first graduate program in 1883 when it began offering the degrees Master of Arts and Master of Science. Today the university is redefining learning and discovery in a global context. CU graduate students work on groundbreaking research alongside Nobel laureates, former astronauts, trend-setting artists and musicians, climatologists, educators, civic leaders and many others.