University of Northern Colorado

When the University of Northern Colorado’s business college won a prestigious award this year, some proclaimed that the honor put the university on the map.

The Monfort College of Business is the only business college in the nation to win the Malcolm Baldrige Award, the nation’s highest honor for performance excellence.

Applications to the business college alone rose more than 20 percent only a few months after the award was announced.

But UNC has been important in Northern Colorado ever since it was founded in 1889. Located on the south side of Greeley, the university is an integral part of the city’s history and economy. UNC is Greeley’s fifth largest employer, with 1,595 employees.

With more than 12,000 students enrolled this fall, UNC ranks behind the University of Colorado and Colorado State University in student population. Colorado residents make up about 89 percent of the student population. The rest come from 46 states and 37 countries.

The university has 51 undergraduate degree programs in five colleges, five master’s programs and four doctoral programs.

In addition to the Monfort College of Business, one of the only business schools in the United States that focuses exclusively on undergraduate business education, UNC’s highlights include the College of Performing and Visual Arts, which has earned dozens of national honors and produces professional-quality shows. The School of Nursing is one of the most competitive among the dozen nursing programs in Colorado.

UNC’s oldest hallmark is its commitment to educating teachers. The university was founded as the state’s first institution for training teachers. In the 1880s, Greeley residents lobbied the state Legislature for the state’s school for training elementary teachers.

Residents, who had settled in Greeley under city founder Nathan Meeker’s dream to create a prosperous farming community, envisioned the wealth that could come from building and maintaining a campus in the city. They also valued education highly and were determined that Greeley would have an institution of higher learning.

In April 1889, the Colorado governor signed a bill that gave Greeley its wish. City residents raised the money for the first building. The school opened its doors in October 1890 with four instructors and 96 students.

Today, UNC’s College of Education and Behavioral Sciences is ranked among the top 50 producers of teachers nationally and among the nation’s best special-education teacher programs. UNC has gone through several name changes in its 116-year history, from the State Normal School to Colorado State Teachers College, then Colorado State College. In 1970, it became the University of Northern Colorado.

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