Campus is being asked to weigh in on whether a shift from UCCS to CU Colorado Springs could enhance the long-term sustainability and market position of the university. The ongoing exploration will evaluate whether that change could meaningfully advance the university’s mission, student success outcomes, and financial sustainability.
A transition from “UCCS” to “CU Colorado Springs” would largely affect the university’s logo and shorthand written references. The full university name would remain University of Colorado Colorado Springs, aligning with the other campuses: University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado Denver, and University of Colorado Anschutz.
This shift would phase out the UCCS logo and replace it with the interlocking CU alongside the full university name or “Colorado Springs.”
When initially referenced in writing, the university would be referred to University of Colorado Colorado Springs, with additional references being CU Colorado Springs. There would be no shorthand acronym for CU Colorado Springs.
The Strategic Enrollment Plan developed in March of 2025 called for a market survey to explore the university’s name and brand alignment with the CU System. The market survey was completed later that year and showed promise around the positive recruitment and brand recognition regarding a move to CU Colorado Springs. In addition, campus leadership has received feedback through the January Efficiency and Effectiveness survey and Healthy Campus submissions that aligned with findings from the survey.
A webpage that outlines this process, provides the research mentioned above, and offers an opportunity for feedback is available here. Additionally, to ensure that the campus and community voices are heard around this potential change, a series of focus groups and an online survey will be conducted in April.
How You Can Participate
Join a Virtual Focus Group
Help shape the conversation through a facilitated virtual session.
Focus Group Dates:
Staff Focus Group: Tuesday April 7th from 12:00-1:30 p.m.
Student Focus Group: Thursday April 9th from 4:00-5:30 p.m.
Faculty Focus Group: Friday April 10th from 8:30-10:30 a.m.
Sign up here
Complete the Campus Survey
Prefer to share feedback anonymously or on your own time?
Your insights are welcome through our survey between March 30-April 15.
Take the survey
Branding initiatives can be costly, and at a time when the campus is undergoing a process to reduce a budget gap, leadership is approaching this prospective rebrand with caution and financial prudence. Any proposal would require a clear return-on-investment case before moving forward.
It is important to note that this would not be a wholesale shift if the decision was made to pursue the transition to CU Colorado Springs. It would be a multi-year, strategic approach that would begin with digital marketing, web presence, already timed updating of recruitment materials to align with the differentiator language (which are already budgeted), and a well-articulated mapping of more costly brand changes.