I'm Paul Mueller — a PhD economist, author, and Leadville small-business owner. I'm running for the Board of Regents to be a faithful steward of public funds, defend free inquiry, and keep CU nonpartisan and focused on its mission: the pursuit of truth in the public interest.
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The Board of Regents oversees a $6.7 billion system serving nearly 68,000 students. Those decisions deserve rigorous judgment, a respect for freedom, and a steady commitment to the public good.
Bring real budget scrutiny to a multi-billion-dollar system and make sure public funds are spent wisely and transparently.
Protect the academic freedom faculty need to teach and research—paired with a campus climate of mutual respect and decorum.
Keep CU focused on the pursuit of truth in the public interest—serving every Coloradan, regardless of party or background.
Steward tuition and resources so a CU degree remains a sound investment for Colorado students and families.
PhD economist, published author, and Leadville small-business owner running to serve as a careful, principled steward of the University of Colorado.
Paul Mueller is an economist who has spent his career studying how institutions, markets, and people flourish under freedom—and he's running for the Board of Regents to put that experience to work for the University of Colorado.
Dr. Mueller is a Senior Research Fellow at the American Institute for Economic Research, where he serves as Director of the Defending Freedom and Combating Collectivism initiative. He earned his PhD in economics from George Mason University and previously taught at The King's College in New York City.
His academic work has appeared in journals including The Adam Smith Review, The Review of Austrian Economics, The Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, The Journal of Private Enterprise, and The Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics. He is the author of Ten Years Later: Why the Conventional Wisdom about the 2008 Financial Crisis is Still Wrong (Cambridge Scholars Publishing).
Dr. Mueller's popular writing has appeared in USA Today and Fox News, as well as the Intercollegiate Review, Christian History, Adam Smith Works, and Religion and Liberty, among others. He has given talks and led colloquia for the Liberty Fund, the Institute for Humane Studies, the Intercollegiate Studies Institute, and the Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal.
He is also a Research Fellow and Associate Director of the Religious Liberty in the States project at the Center for Culture, Religion, and Democracy.
Paul owns and operates The Abbey, a bed and breakfast in Leadville, Colorado, where he lives with his wife and their six children. As a small-business owner and parent, he understands firsthand what affordability, opportunity, and accountability mean for Colorado families.
The University of Colorado is one of the state's greatest assets—and it deserves a Regent who reads the budget line by line, defends free inquiry, and keeps the institution nonpartisan and focused on its public mission. That's the steady, principled leadership Paul will bring to the board.
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The University of Colorado stands at the heart of the state's intellectual and economic life. Understanding its scale—and how it's governed—makes clear why this election matters.
The CU system is the largest higher-education entity in Colorado, accounting for roughly 45% of all students at the state's four-year public institutions. It awards more than 18,000 degrees a year and houses a $1.7 billion research portfolio—a major outlier among Colorado universities. Notably, only about 6% of CU's budget comes from direct state support; the rest is driven largely by auxiliary revenue and tuition, which makes responsible financial stewardship all the more important.
The Board of Regents was established in the Colorado Constitution in 1876. It consists of nine elected voting members—one statewide at-large and one from each of Colorado's eight congressional districts—serving staggered six-year terms (a maximum of two). The Regents oversee the system's budget, hire and oversee the university president, and set tuition and institutional priorities. Because Regents are elected directly, this is one of the few offices where Coloradans have a direct say in how their flagship university is run.
Governing a sprawling institution is difficult even in ideal conditions. The Board's job is to strike a healthy balance—holding the system accountable for how public funds are spent while protecting the freedom faculty need to teach and pursue research.
As a publicly funded institution, CU owes taxpayers and students transparency and discipline in how its multi-billion-dollar budget is spent.
Faculty deserve the freedom of inquiry—full stop. The university also has a duty to uphold a climate of mutual respect and decorum, the soil in which an academic community flourishes.
Universities are too often caught in polarized conflicts. CU's mission must remain the pursuit of truth in the public interest—serving Democrats, Republicans, and independents alike.
A university is a voluntary association of free persons pursuing common goals. Regardless of political affiliation, the Board of Regents has an obligation to the public and the CU community to remain nonpartisan and to promote a culture of excellence and accountability. That's the standard I'll hold myself to.
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