Colorado has one of the nation's most well-educated populations. While it's true that the state's natural resources draw many well-educated transplants, Colorado has a wide-ranging system of public and private institutions of higher learning. With a variety of colleges and universities calling the city home, Denver plays a pivotal role in Colorado's higher education scene.

Situated downtown, the Auraria Higher Education Center is a sprawling campus that's home to three separate public colleges. Its student union building, which all three schools share, is actually the refurbished site of the old Tivoli brewery, a historic Denver landmark in its own right. 

The Community College of Denver at Auraria bridges community involvement and higher education with certificate and associate's degree programs and workforce development. 

The largest of Auraria's schools is Metropolitan State College of Denver, with more than 24,000 students. Its focus on urban learning, diversity, and opportunity for nontraditional students makes it the state's largest undergraduate educator. 

The University of Colorado Denver shares a library and instructional facilities with Metro State at Auraria, while providing medical training at its Anschutz Medical Campus in nearby Aurora. With campuses in Boulder, Colorado Springs, and Denver, the University of Colorado system provides higher education opportunities for tens of thousands of students each year. The University of Colorado Denver has nationally ranked graduate programs in nursing and health sciences. 

Denver is also home to prestigious private universities. The University of Denver, founded in 1864, is the region's oldest private university, and one of its most revered. Its tree-filled campus a few minutes south of the city has a mixture architectural styles, from turn of the 20th Century stone buildings to modern, 21st Century facilities. The University of Denver offers more than 200 areas of study and is a regional leader in research. 

Regis University, whose main campus is located just north of Denver, offers a rigorous curriculum inspired by, and instilled with, Jesuit values. The University houses three colleges in liberal arts, health professions, and professional studies, which together provide an array of academic options for undergraduate through graduate level students.