public, coeducational institution of higher learning in Golden, Colorado, U.S. It is an applied-science and engineering college with a curriculum that covers such subjects as geology, environmental science, metallurgical and materials engineering, chemistry, mining, petroleum engineering, and physics. The school offers undergraduate and graduate degree programs. It is the only institution in the world to offer doctoral programs in the five major earth sciences: geology and geological engineering, geophysics, geochemistry, mining engineering, and petroleum engineering. The school's model engineering curriculum combines civil, electrical, environmental, and mechanical engineering. Total enrollment is approximately 3,200.

The school was founded in 1874 as the Territorial School of Mines. When Colorado was granted statehood in 1876, the name was changed to Colorado School of Mines. It awarded its first diploma in 1882. The school is home to some two dozen research centres, including the Advanced Control of Energy and Power Systems Center, the Center for Wave Phenomena, the Colorado Institute for Fuels and High-Altitude Engine Research, and the W.J. Kroll Institute for Extractive Metallurgy.