Which undergraduate degree programs at the University of Colorado at Boulder enroll the most students? The answers might surprise you.
The largest department at CU, based on spring figures, is psychology by a long-shot. Almost twice as many students study psychology - 1,446 - as the No. 2 major, communication. However, if the number of students in both the molecular (733) and environmental (719) biology departments are combined, biology gets the top spot at 1,452.Ìý
Overall, CU-Boulder offers 3,400 courses in more than 175 areas of study. Other popular programs include economics, with 641 enrolled students, and finance, political science, architecture, sociology, fine arts, marketing and computer science, each with 500 to 600 students.
So why is psychology so popular at CU-Boulder?
"I think the reason we're popular is because the content is so interesting and our teachers are rated so highly," said Professor Jerry Rudy, chair of the department. "We are a very nationally prominent research department, and we've consistently ranked in the top 20 public universities for the past 20 years."
The psychology faculty boasts renowned scholars in the fields of depression, eating disorders, the effects of alcohol on behavior, neurobiological mechanisms of stress and immune function, and the genetics of reading disabilities, political attitudes, judgment and stereotyping.
Psychology also has a long history at CU. It's been a part of the curriculum since the university's inception in 1877 and in the summer of 1949, the "Boulder Model" for clinical psychology graduate programs was established at a conference on campus. The model is now used by most clinical graduate departments around the country.
Since the 1950s, the psychology department has grown and flourished, remaining on the cutting edge of clinical psychology, behavioral genetics, behavioral neuroscience, social and cognitive psychology and other disciplines.
Biology has two separate departments at CU: environmental, population and organismic biology (known as "EPO biology"), and molecular, cellular and developmental biology (called "MCD biology").
EPO biology students learn the way in which organisms function, as well as their evolution, diversity and ecological relationships. The central focus of MCD biology majors is on the fundamental mechanisms of life at the cellular and molecular levels, with significant attention given to genetic information.
The majority of students who enroll in EPO biology at CU-Boulder are attracted by two major areas of study, according to associate chair Carl Bock: environmental and conservation biology and pre-medical studies.
"We have strengths in physiology and neurobiology that are attractive to students who plan careers in health fields," Bock said.
A noted expert on grasslands, Bock said the department also is a great place for students who love plants and animals. "If you want to be a botanist or a zoologist, this is where you want to be," he said.
Unique to the CU-Boulder EPO biology program is the Mountain Research Station, an interdisciplinary facility used to study mountain ecosystems. The station's director, William Bowman, is an associate professor of EPO biology.
"The Mountain Research Station provides a multitude of hands-on learning opportunities for students in diverse environments from forests to alpine tundra to lakes and streams," Bowman said. Students can take field courses, do undergraduate and graduate research, and serve as field assistants, he said.
Dick McIntosh, professor of MCD biology, said that biology appeals to many students because they're curious about themselves or are interested in health-related professions, and biology offers a window into both.
"There has been a lot of talk in the press about the fruits of research in molecular and cellular biology, such as the human genome, or new drugs to treat human afflictions like cancer and AIDS. These research areas are rooted in biology, and that's a reason why so many people are interested in getting a leg up on a career in the field," McIntosh said.
The MCD biology department has an unusually active research faculty, he said. Current projects include the study of genomes, development and disease processes, and the use of high-tech three-dimensional imaging to examine the relationship of molecular activity and cellular function.Ìý
"There's more than $10 million in grants coming into the department from federal and other sources to support research in biomedical science," McIntosh said. "This means there are lots of opportunities for undergraduates to work in laboratories."