Master's in Artificial Intelligence Programs in Colorado

Artificial intelligence is heating up in Silicon Mountain! Our directory of Colorado master’s degrees in AI & robotics now features 10+ graduate programs from well-respected schools. If you’re trying to decide where to lay down your money, take a few minutes to go through our practical guide—it covers AI research strengths at each university, online learning opportunities, and AI career pathways in Boulder, Denver, and Colorado Springs. There’s even a resources section with links to popular Colorado AI events and valuable in-person networking opportunities.

Artificial Intelligence Schools in Colorado

Public research universities are prime instigators of AI developments in Colorado, so it follows that a number of them offer dedicated degrees in the field. The biggest name in our CO directory of master’s in artificial intelligence programs is CU Boulder. But there are alternatives! The first step in deciding on the best AI school in Colorado for your needs is to take a look at what’s happening in the labs & institutes.

• CU Boulder: CU Boulder’s strengths in AI reflect Colorado’s reputation for forward thinking & public good. The university is home to the education-focused NSF National AI Institute for Student-AI Teaming (iSAT), a multi-year initiative headquartered in the Institute of Cognitive Science, and AB Nexus, a joint research effort with CU Anschutz that’s providing seed grants to health AI projects (e.g. Harnessing AI-Quantum Computing for Colorectal Cancer Therapies). It runs a Collaborative AI and Robotics Lab with broad applications for human-machine teaming and an Environmental Data Science Innovation & Impact Lab (ESIIL) that’s focused on pressing environmental challenges. Put it on your shortlist if you’re an AI innovator. According to AUTM data, CU Boulder was the #1 school in the country for launching startups based on university discoveries in the fiscal year of 2024, spinning out 35 new companies from its IP. See the section on Venture Partners at CU Boulder for more info.
• CU Anschutz: For clinical AI and bioinformatics in Colorado, the answer is CU Anschutz in Aurora. Although the university doesn’t offer a dedicated degree in AI, the Department of Biomedical Informatics (DBMI) has useful alternative qualifications (e.g. computational bioscience) and a number of AI & informatics labs. CU Anschutz runs both a Center for Health AI and an AI Medical Imaging Lab and it’s putting its weight behind state-of-the-art technologies. In 2025, UCHealth and CU Anschutz announced a multi-year collaboration with Verily (Google’s life sciences sister company) to build AI models for clinical research.
• CSU Fort Collins: CSU could be a good pick for anyone interested in the intersection of AI with environmental science. The flagship campus of Colorado State University is part of the NSF AI Institute for Research on Trustworthy AI in Weather, Climate & Coastal Oceanography (AI2ES) and it’s doing some fascinating things in the realm of weather. For example, CSU faculty are working with the Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere (CIRA) and AI2ES on a number of AI projects in forecasting, tropical cyclones, and XAI methods for weather & climate. It’s also a partner in the $20M NSF/USDA AI-LEAF Institute, which is focused on climate-smart agriculture & forestry solutions and led by the University of Minnesota. AI engineers should ask about how to get involved in the new Don and Susie Law Engineering Future Technologies Building and its Artificial Intelligence Makerspace.

These are just a few of the highlights! We also wish to mention the Colorado School of Mines’s Global Energy Future Initiative (GEFI), a research partnership with Chevron dedicated to building a secure & resilient sustainable energy future, and the Mines/NREL Nexus collaboration. And the University of Denver’s Ritchie School of Engineering & Computer Science and its pivot toward AI for the Public Good. Just like CU Boulder, AI efforts within most universities in Colorado tend to have altruistic goals in mind.

Online Master’s in Artificial Intelligence Programs in Colorado

You don’t have to relocate in order to earn a master’s in artificial intelligence from a Colorado university. A number of AI graduate programs in our CO directory are offered in an online format. Most of these distance learning degrees & certificates are designed for folks with a technical background (e.g. undergraduate degree in a STEM field), but there the similarities end. Here are three ways to narrow down your choices.

• CU Boulder: CU Boulder’s unusual Online Master of Science in Artificial Intelligence on Coursera has a performance-based admissions process. If you perform well in the pathway experience, then you’re automatically admitted to the degree program. The curriculum is evenly split between breadth courses (e.g. ML theory & practice) and electives and no thesis is required.
• CSU: If you’re prioritizing CSU, you can choose between the Online Master of Science in Computer Science – Artificial Intelligence from the Fort Collins flagship campus or CSU Global’s affordable Online Master of Science in Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning. The Fort Collins option will give you better access to CSU’s Department of Computer Science, AI research, and industry partners.
• University of Denver: DU’s online offerings in AI have more of an interdisciplinary feel than CSU and CU Boulder. Anyone coming from a technical background should be prioritizing the 48-credit Online Master of Science in Data Science and AI, which has coursework in everything from Python and applied data science to ML and deep learning model design & application. Business-focused applicants can investigate the Online Master of Science in Information Technology – AI Strategy and Application in IT.

Remember, too, that your employer may be willing to subsidize a qualification that can—somewhere down the track—be applied to a master’s degree. For instance, credits in CU Boulder’s Online Graduate Certificate in Artificial Intelligence can be stacked toward the MS-CS on Coursera.

The Artificial Intelligence Landscape in Colorado

Unlike more settled & established states such as California, Texas, and New York, Colorado is in “AI building mode.” It’s got a lot going for it—a healthy tech base, diverse industries & startups (check out the Advanced Industries Accelerator (AIA) Program), educated graduates, and considerably better living conditions than NYC. But it’s still sorting out where its strengths in artificial intelligence lie. If you’re aiming for a job in the Rockies, here are a few AI trends in Colorado that we’re monitoring:

• Statewide: As the 2024 Colorado Tech Industry Report from the Colorado Technology Association points out, the Colorado tech industry accounts for 10% of Colorado’s employment and 20% of the state’s GDP. So it’s no surprise that Startup Genome’s Global Startup Ecosystem Report 2025 placed Denver/Boulder at #26 in its Global Startup Ecosystem Ranking 2025. Data center developers in Colorado are engaged in an arms race to provide the grunt for AI-heavy workloads and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s (NREL) Energy Systems Integration Facility (ESIF) has completed the full buildout of its Kestrel supercomputer. But Colorado is also the first state to enact a comprehensive law that regulates the development & deployment of AI systems—the Colorado Artificial Intelligence Act (CAIA)—and it’s busy assessing the consequences of artificial intelligence growth.
• Denver: Denver has the sturdiest tech scene in Colorado. According to a CompTIA report on the State of the Tech Workforce 2025, it’s the #9 Top Metro by Tech Economic Impact as a Percent of the Local Economy (13%)—ranking just below Boston, Portland, and DC. Amazon/AWS and Palantir have a presence in Denver, but so does Crusoe, a Denver-based AI data centre startup that was valued at nearly $10B after a 2025 round. Plus there’s a lot of support from the government—the city launched an AI-resident service chatbot in 2024 and organized the DenAI Summit, the first city-led national AI summit. Many regard Denver as a Tier 2 city. Like Austin, Portland, and Chicago, it has a number of major employers but a thinner role density than big AI hubs.
• Colorado Springs & Aurora: The watchwords in these areas are: defense, aerospace, and cyber. In Aurora, you’ll find the Buckley Space Force Base, Raytheon, ARKA, and Northrop Grumman. In Colorado Springs, you’ll discover a BlueHalo office and the headquarters of Space ISAC. In late 2024, Space ISAC added a Cyber Space Data Fusion Cell to its Watch Center. Colorado Springs is also the home of the Catalyst Campus & Accelerator, powered by the Air Force Research Laboratory Space Vehicles Directorate (AFRL/RV) and dedicated to supporting new tech companies working in defense & aerospace. AI jobs in many of these organizations will require security clearances from the government (e.g. TS/SCI), so be prepared to jump through hiring hurdles.
• Boulder: Keep an eye on the Berkeley of the Rockies. Although it’s been through a quiet period, it has a fabulous university and a bunch of very smart people on its side. Boulder was identified as a Star Hub in the 2025 Brookings Metro report on Mapping the AI Economy, which evaluates cities on their AI talent, innovation, and adoption resources. Here you’ll find Google Boulder, NSF NCAR and its work in AI weather, even more aerospace companies (e.g. BAE Systems), and intriguing developments in quantum. CU Boulder was the birthplace of Infleqtion (formerly known as ColdQuanta) and it plays host to the Colorado Quantum Incubator (COQI) and the CUbit Quantum Initiative. In 2025, Techstars announced it was relaunching its Boulder accelerator, which should give the startup sector a boost.

In summary, the jobs are out there—but it’s going to take some strategic networking to determine your final AI destination in Colorado. Generally speaking, we’re seeing positive markers in the realms of energy, defense & aerospace, environmental science, municipal AI/govtech, quantum, and university-supported startup ventures (e.g. CU Boulder’s Venture Partners).

Colorado Artificial Intelligence Resources

Tap into Colorado’s blossoming AI scene with these links to popular conferences & startup weeks, active networking hubs in Denver & Boulder, and Colorado university AI research centers that are driving advances in everything from healthcare to climate AI.

AI Events & Conferences in CO

• Boulder Startup Week
• Colorado Startup Week
• Colorado Tech Summit + APEX Awards
• Colorado Technology Association (CTA) Events
• DenAI Summit
• ETH Denver

AI Meetups & Networking in CO

• Boulder AI Meetups
• Built In Colorado
• Colorado AI Builders
• Colorado Startup Newsletter Substack
• Denver AI Meetups

AI University Research Centers in CO

• AI@CSU: AI Centers
• CSU Center for Exascale Spatial Data Analytics & Computing
• CSU Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere (CIRA)/AI2ES Projects
• CSU Data Science Research Institute (DSRI)
• CU Anschutz Center for Health AI
• CU Boulder Collaborative AI and Robotics Lab
• CU Boulder Institute of Cognitive Science (ICS) 
• CU Boulder NSF National AI Institute for Student-AI Teaming (iSAT)
• CU Denver Data Science
• DU AI for the Public Good
• Mines/NREL Nexus