Metro State is a four - year college on the Auraria Campus, that is part of Colorado's system of public colleges and universities. With an enrollment of more than 21,000 students, it is the largest exclusively four - year college in the United States. The Auraria Campus, adjacent to Denver's dynamic lower downtown, is home of three state-supported public institutions for higher learning: Metropolitan State College of Denver, Community College of Denver, and the University of Colorado at Denver. It's entire population, including students, staff, and faculty, is over 50,000, the largest student body in Colorado as of Fall 2006.