Best Colleges in Colorado 2023

Best Colleges in Colorado 2023

By James Barham

Published: Mar 12, 2021
Updated: May 22, 2023

Here are the best colleges and universities in Colorado, categorized into two lists – research universities and liberal arts colleges – to help you find the right kind of school for you.

10 Best Colleges in Colorado

University of Colorado Boulder

58%

University of Denver

53%

Colorado State University

50%

United States Air Force Academy

49%

Colorado College

44%

Colorado School of Mines

42%

University of Colorado Denver

40%

University of Northern Colorado

36%

Regis University

34%

Naropa University

33%

Adams State University

100%

Naropa University

100%

Colorado State University Pueblo

99%

University of Colorado Colorado Springs

95%

Fort Lewis College

93%

University of Northern Colorado

91%

Western Colorado University

91%

Colorado State University

90%

Metropolitan State University of Denver

89%

Regis University

81%

Colorado Technical University

31 to 1

Community College of Denver

19 to 1

Red Rocks Community College

19 to 1

Colorado Mesa University

19 to 1

University of Colorado Boulder

18 to 1

Metropolitan State University of Denver

18 to 1

Pueblo Community College

18 to 1

Western Colorado University

18 to 1

University of Colorado Denver

17 to 1

Colorado School of Mines

17 to 1

Colorado College

$62,070

University of Denver

$54,819

Regis University

$39,610

Naropa University

$34,800

Colorado Christian University

$17,476

Colorado School of Mines

$17,160

Colorado Technical University

$12,581

University of Colorado Boulder

$10,806

Colorado State University

$9,709

University of Colorado Colorado Springs

$9,338

University of Denver

$53,640

Colorado College

$34,300

Naropa University

$19,556

Colorado School of Mines

$17,154

Regis University

$14,063

Western Colorado University

$13,972

University of Colorado Colorado Springs

$13,854

Colorado Technical University

$13,683

Colorado Christian University

$13,474

University of Colorado Boulder

$12,168

Red Rocks Community College

16%

Pueblo Community College

17%

Colorado State University Pueblo

18%

Colorado Christian University

21%

Colorado Mountain College

22%

Adams State University

22%

Western Colorado University

23%

Colorado Mesa University

24%

Community College of Denver

25%

Colorado Technical University

25%

United States Air Force Academy

12%

Colorado College

14%

Colorado School of Mines

57%

University of Denver

64%

University of Colorado Denver

72%

Colorado Mesa University

80%

University of Colorado Boulder

80%

Regis University

81%

Metropolitan State University of Denver

89%

Colorado State University

90%

United States Air Force Academy

6 to 1

Naropa University

7 to 1

Aspen University

8 to 1

Colorado College

9 to 1

University of Denver

11 to 1

Regis University

11 to 1

Colorado Mountain College

13 to 1

Adams State University

13 to 1

Colorado State University Pueblo

15 to 1

Fort Lewis College

15 to 1

Community College of Denver

$3,680

Red Rocks Community College

$3,680

Pueblo Community College

$3,680

Colorado Mountain College

$4,560

Aspen University

$5,110

Adams State University

$5,976

Colorado State University Pueblo

$6,539

Western Colorado University

$6,816

Fort Lewis College

$7,056

Colorado Mesa University

$8,020

Aspen University

$3,900

Colorado State University Pueblo

$5,821

Fort Lewis College

$6,750

University of Colorado Denver

$6,984

Adams State University

$7,132

Metropolitan State University of Denver

$9,066

Colorado Mesa University

$9,270

Red Rocks Community College

$10,082

Colorado State University

$10,834

University of Northern Colorado

$11,192

Table of Contents

Colleges and Universities in Colorado

Fans of the outdoors will feel right at home in Colorado. With the Rocky Mountains, Colorado River, and even part of the Great Plains, you’re sure to find adventure in The Centennial State. Students looking to balance outdoor adventure with higher education can choose from over 40 colleges and universities offering associate, bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees for an average in-state tuition of $10,800.

Find college admissions consultants in your state.

Colorado’s 28 public institutes include junior colleges, universities, the United States Air Force Academy, and the Colorado School of Mines, a research university that specializes in science, technology, engineering, and math.

Tuition for Colorado’s public schools ranges from $3,000 to $19,000, with many of the colleges and junior colleges starting at $4,000 and the universities at $8,000. Several of public colleges in Colorado enroll a large number of online students, including Colorado State University

.

Colorado’s private institutions boast smaller class sizes and student populations. This category includes five religiously affiliated campuses. Private colleges in Colorado tend to be more expensive, ranging from $4,000 to $55,000 in tuition. There are several online colleges in Colorado that are categorized as private schools.

The University of Colorado, Boulder, a notable research institute, is ranked as the number one school in the state and has a student population of just over 32,000. Students can earn degrees in computer science and physics both through in-person courses and online learning. Influential Boulder alumni include Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak and Academy Award-winning actor and director Robert Redford.

Prospective art students can check out Rocky Mountain College of Art + Design, and those desiring a career in the medical field can look into the Institute of Business and Medical Careers.

To learn more, check out the best brick-and-mortar and online colleges in Colorado.

What are Colorado’s Colleges & Universities?

Colorado’s Best Overall

Related: Differences between research universities and teaching colleges

Colorado' Best Colleges and Universities Badge — Download Badge

How do we determine Colorado's best colleges and universities?

The people affiliated with a school are ultimately what make it great! If you are serious about finding the best colleges and universities for a bachelor’s degree, you should be asking where the most influential professors are teaching and whether their graduates are themselves advancing the school’s reputation for academic excellence in their fields of study.

Most ranking sites rely on an opaque combination of reputation surveys and arbitrary performance metrics. Concentrated Influence provides a ranking that is freer from bias, insulated from manipulation, and reflective of real-world educational outcomes.

To rank the influence of schools, we first determine the influence of scholars and professionals based on the number of citations and publications they have had over the past 10 years. In addition to publications and citations, we consider the web links to and from these sources, and the page views of those sources. We then match the influential people to their alma maters and institutions of employment, so that their influence is attributed to those schools. Our machine-learning Influence Ranking algorithm produces a numerical score of academic achievements, merits, and citations across Wikipedia, wikidata, Crossref, Semantic Scholar and an ever-growing body of data. If you are interested in exploring how and why we rank by influence, explore our methodology in more depth.

We’ve identified 24 colleges and universities in Colorado that meet our criteria. This list of the top 30 colleges in Colorado below focuses on schools that offer bachelor’s degrees. The ranking features fully accredited public and private colleges and universities in Colorado.

Best Colleges in Colorado 2022

Build your own college ranking

Colorado’s Best Colleges in Your Area of Interest

2021 Ranking Archive

Many of our 2022 undergraduate focused rankings look considerably different than 2021. That’s because we took a fundamentally different apporach. For 2021 we utilized our Concentrated Influence algorithm, designed to take away the size advantage larger schools have when we rank their faculty and alumni’s academic influence. Concentrated influence highlights smaller schools that are proportionally as successful as larger universities at cultivating influential alumni and faculty.