That is what we are going to do here. I am not going to tell you whether Colorado College is the right school for your family. I do not know, and no one who does not know you does. But I can explain, with the same honesty with which I would have wanted someone to explain things to me when my parents were walking this same path, what kind of institution this is according to its own reports to the United States government.
What kind of school it is, and where it stands
Let us start with the basics, because the basics matter more than they seem.
Colorado College is a private, nonprofit, four-year college focused on the arts and sciences. The system that classifies colleges in the United States—the Carnegie Classification—places it among the most selective schools in terms of whom it admits, and describes it as a small, highly residential institution: at the time of that classification, at least half of its undergraduate students lived in school-owned or affiliated housing, and at least 80 out of every 100 studied full time. None of this tells you how many out of every hundred applicants are admitted—that comes later—but it does tell you the type of experience the school is designed to offer: small, close-knit, where most students live right there.
It is in Colorado Springs, Colorado, in El Paso County, and its campus is within that city's metropolitan area. The census code places it in a principal city of 250,000 residents or more. That does not tell you how close it is to downtown or how easy it is to get around without a car; if your child were considering living at home—which, given that most students live on campus, is probably not the most common situation here—the only way to know whether the commute works is to drive it yourself on a weekday, at the time when they would have class. A map almost never tells you the real travel time.
As for academic level, the government records it as an institution that awards bachelor's degrees and master's degrees, although that institutional fact does not tell you whether the specific major your child is interested in exists there or whether it connects to graduate study. That has to be asked program by program.
And there is something worth saying very clearly: Colorado College is not listed as a historically Black college or university, a tribal college or university, or a land-grant institution. This is not a judgment, only a fact: of the 3,012 colleges in this national directory, 138 have one of those three designations, and this one does not. Not having them does not mean it does not serve specific communities or that it does. Ask directly: what cultural centers and student organizations exist today, and better yet, talk with someone already studying there.
A small community, with few Latino students and many women
Colorado College had 2,173 students enrolled in the most recent official fall count. It is a medium-sized school—between 1,000 and 4,999—and, compared with the other 941 selective private four-year schools in this same census, it sits right in the middle of the table: neither among the large ones nor among the small ones. Of that total, 2,145 students are undergraduates and only 28 are graduate students. It is mainly an undergraduate college, not a graduate school.
Here is a fact that matters right away to many Latino families: among undergraduate students reported in the fall of 2023, 11 out of every 100 are Hispanic or Latino. It is a small minority. Compared with similar schools, it is above the middle of the group, but does not reach the highest quarter. Put plainly: there are few Latino students here. That does not have to take the school off your child's list, but it is a question worth asking during a visit: what exists for Latino students, whether there is a student group, a cultural center, someone in the office who speaks Spanish. And it should also be said that this comparison does not account for what part of the country the school is in—Colorado is not Texas or California—and that matters for a number like this.
There are also more women than men: 57 out of every 100 undergraduate students are women. And the percentage of students ages 25 through 64 rounds to zero, which means there are practically no adults returning to school. In practice, this is a campus built around young, full-time students straight out of high school.
Being a small school does not automatically mean more attention for your child, just as being large does not mean more options. What really matters has to be asked about the specific major, not the whole school.
Semesters, AP credit, and a well-distributed academic offering
The academic year at Colorado College is organized by semesters: two long terms, about 15 weeks each. In its official report, the school said it accepts credit from AP exams, but did not indicate that it gives credit for life experience. It also said it enrolls high school students in credit-bearing college courses outside a formal dual-enrollment program, treating them as regular students in those courses.
Saying they accept AP does not mean they will give your child credit for every exam they take. It does not say what scores they require or whether those credits apply to their specific major. Ask for the transfer-credit evaluation in writing before they enroll. Do not count on the savings until you have it in hand.
In one year, Colorado College awarded 545 bachelor's degrees, spread across 16 families of majors. The family that awarded the most degrees was social sciences, with 30 out of every 100 degrees that year—no other area exceeded it, but it did not take up the entire load either. It is a broad academic offering, not concentrated in one thing. This counts degrees awarded in one year, not people or the current catalog of majors, and it does not measure quality or what happens after graduation. Before deciding, ask about the exact major your child is interested in: how many graduated in it, how long it took them, what the curriculum is like.
There is a number that often impresses families: the student-to-faculty ratio is 9 to 1. It is among the lowest reported in this kind of comparison, and compared with 941 similar schools, Colorado College is in the lowest quarter of the group. But a low ratio alone does not measure class size or real individual attention. It relates students to full-time-equivalent instructional staff; it does not count seats in a classroom. Ask directly how many students are in first-year classes.
What the school offers beyond the classroom
Colorado College reports structured academic opportunities worth keeping on your radar: study-abroad programs, preparation for teacher certification below the college level, the possibility of completing preparation in certain teaching specialties right there, and state approval of its initial teacher-certification program. If your child is interested in any of these paths, there is a concrete foundation here from which to start asking questions.
Getting in: selective, with requirements, and an essay involved
This is where many families feel most nervous, so let us take it slowly.
Colorado College does not have open admission. There are pieces it reviews before saying yes. Of nine admission considerations covered by this report—not counting standardized tests or legacy status—it marked three as required: the high school record, the personal essay, and letters of recommendation. Put plainly: it is not enough to gather paperwork. The essay is required, so your child has to write.
There are other pieces that are not required but that the school does consider if you send them: high school grade-point average, class rank, whether they completed the course plan the college requires, work experience, the English-proficiency exam when applicable, and whether someone in the family studied there. This last point—legacy—is something your child cannot change. If it does not apply in your case, do not spend energy there. Spend it on what is within their control.
The published undergraduate application fee is $0.
Now for the hard numbers on how difficult it is to get in. In the most recent cycle, Colorado College received 7,532 first-time applications and offered admission to 1,509. That is 20 out of every 100. Compared with 942 similar selective private schools, it is among those that admit the fewest: nine out of every ten of those schools admitted a higher percentage of their applicants. On the other side of that count are 6,023 applicants who did not receive an offer of admission.
This number tells you how many admission offers were made. It says nothing about your child's worth. A low admission percentage does not make a school better, and a high one does not make it worse. What does make sense is for your child's college list to include schools at different levels of selectivity, not only those that admit few people.
Here is a fact that often surprises people: out of every 100 students Colorado College admitted, only 34 ended up enrolling. The other 66 had the letter in hand and did not accept it. Compared with similar schools, this proportion is on the high side—in most of those schools, a smaller share of admitted students enrolls—but for your family the message is simpler: receiving an admission letter is not the same as deciding to attend. When the time comes, place the letters side by side and compare net price, major, and distance before deposit day.
On tests: the SAT and ACT are not required here. If your child sends them, they are considered; if not, the application remains valid anyway. Of the students who enrolled, only 20 out of every 100 submitted an SAT score, and among them, the middle half scored between 690 and 760 in reading and writing, and between 675 and 760 in mathematics. Those numbers are for students who enrolled and chose to submit their scores, not all applicants, and they do not prove that the score was used in the decision to admit them. That 690 is not a minimum that must be reached, and that 760 is not a guarantee of anything either.
And on transfers: few students leave Colorado College before graduating through that route—9 out of every 100 in the cohort that entered in 2017 are listed as having transferred without completing their degree there—and, compared with similar schools, that departure is on the low side. Separately, in the most recent fall, 30 students arrived who entered Colorado College for the first time after studying at another institution. This arrival and that departure are two different counts, which are neither added together nor compared with each other. And neither tells you how many courses a transfer student will receive credit for: that should be requested in writing, with the course list in hand, before your child moves.
The list price: high, and with everything included
Here we arrive at one of the numbers that weighs the most.
For the most recently reported academic year, Colorado College reported a cost of attendance of $87,128 for first-time, full-time students living on campus. This budget is the same whether the student is from Colorado or out of state. It consists of $67,932 for tuition and fees, $15,228 for on-campus housing and food, and $1,240 for books and supplies, plus an estimate of other expenses—laundry, transportation, entertainment—made by the financial-aid office itself.
Compared with 888 similar schools, this cost of attendance is among the highest in the group.
It is important that one thing be clear: this number is not a bill. It is the list price, before any aid or scholarship. It is used to calculate how much aid a family is eligible for, but it is not what you will pay. Complete the FAFSA and request the aid letter in writing. Until you have it in hand, you do not know how much this school costs your family.
The real price: this is where the number changes
At Colorado College, among 27 first-time, full-time, degree-seeking students who received federal Title IV aid whose EFC records showed family income below $30,000, the average net price was $9,732. Among 32 students in the same population with family EFC income from $48,001 to $75,000, it was $17,051; among 83 students with family EFC income above $110,000, $51,525. For dependent students, the band adds their parents' income and their own.
Between the average for the lowest-income band (27 students) and that of the highest band (83 students), there is a difference of $41,793. These are group averages, not a prediction of your family's price. Among first-year students who received any scholarship, the average was $35,281.
Among the 937 schools of the same type and control included in this census that reported this fact with the same time coverage, this one falls in the least expensive quarter for lower-income families, with scholarships already subtracted. That does not mean it is inexpensive for your family. It is a fact that matters when you build the list of schools to apply to.
Because the price changes so much from one income band to another, placing yours correctly is the first thing. The income bands in this profile describe first-time, full-time, degree-seeking students who received federal Title IV aid; at public institutions they use the in-state or district rate. The overall average with scholarship, when it appears, describes first-time, full-time, degree-seeking students who received federal, state, local, or institutional scholarships or grants. What controls is the aid letter that arrives to you.
How it is paid: frequent scholarships, uncommon loans
A little more than half of Colorado College students receive aid that does not have to be repaid—scholarships and grants: 57 out of every 100. Compared with similar schools, this proportion falls in the quarter where aid reaches fewer students. Among those who do receive it, the average for the year is $47,850. It is real money, but it is not a price: what determines how much your family will pay is the number left after aid, and that number has to be requested school by school, not assumed from a general average.
14 out of every 100 students received a Pell Grant, the federal aid for undergraduate students with demonstrated financial need.
And here is a fact that contrasts with what many families fear: only 24 out of every 100 Colorado College undergraduate students received a federal student loan in the most recently reported year. Most were not awarded a federal loan that year. Compared with similar schools, federal loans are used here less than at almost all of them: nine out of every ten schools in that group had a higher proportion of students with loans. Of those who did take out a loan, each received, on average, $5,841 that year.
The fact that most did not use a federal loan does not tell you how the others paid. It could have been a scholarship, work, family savings, or another type of debt this report does not record. And that average of $5,841 is for only one year, only for federal loans in the student's name—it does not include Parent PLUS loans that parents sometimes sign for, bank debt, or credit cards. Nor is it the total debt with which a student leaves upon graduating. That number is not in this report.
Colorado College also reports that it offers an installment tuition-payment plan and participates in an institutional Promise program. Both are mechanisms worth asking about in detail if monthly payment flow is your family's greatest concern.
Life beyond the classroom: housing, ROTC, sports, library
Colorado College does have institution-controlled housing, and although it is not required that all first-time students live there, that does not mean no program or year has that requirement. It also offers meal plans, although the number of meals per week varies according to the plan students choose. IPEDS reports a maximum housing capacity of 1,766 students, on or off campus. The existence of housing does not guarantee a room for your child: request in writing this year's rate, the deadline for applying for housing, and whether they guarantee a space or you go on a waiting list.
On ROTC: the school indicated that there is an opportunity, and the only branch confirmed in writing is Army. Neither Navy nor Air Force is marked. If your child is interested in another branch, this report does not confirm it—not confirmed does not mean impossible; it means you have to ask directly, and also ask whether the program is taken on this campus or another one.
In sports, Colorado College does compete at the intercollegiate level and is affiliated with the NCAA, specifically in basketball and cross-country or track and field, according to what it reports. That membership belongs to the school, not your child: if they are interested in competing, write directly to the coach for the sport, ask whether there is room on the team, what division they compete in, and whether that discipline offers an athletic scholarship, all in writing.
The school does not offer distance education—not a single course, either undergraduate or graduate—and in the most recent count, zero out of every 100 students were taking all their classes that way. If your child needs flexibility because they work or care for someone at home, their schedule would have to fit entirely in person.
And as for the library: it operates with paid staff, its annual spending exceeds the threshold the government uses as a reference, it has a physical and digital collection, and it participates in interlibrary lending. That does not tell you whether there are databases specific to your child's major—that has to be asked by major name—nor the exact hours of operation.
The school also reports combined academic and career counseling services, employment support for current students, child care on campus, participation in the Yellow Ribbon program for veterans, and a published disability-services address. The fact that these services are reported confirms that they exist; it does not confirm their quality or effectiveness for your child's particular case. That should be investigated by speaking directly with those offices.
Who stays, and who finishes with a degree
For many families, this is the number that brings the most reassurance—and also the one most easily misunderstood.
Of the cohort that entered Colorado College for the first time, full time, seeking a bachelor's degree, 534 students made up the cohort of a recent fall. Of them, 506—95 out of every 100—met the official retention criterion: they were still enrolled there or had already completed their bachelor's degree the following year. Compared with 930 similar schools, Colorado College is among those that retain the most of their entering cohort.
This number is high, and it is worth saying so clearly. But the criterion combines two different things—remaining enrolled or already having graduated—without telling you which happened to each person. It is not a final graduation rate, and it also does not reveal what happened to the 28 students left out of that result.
On graduation: out of every 100 students who entered a bachelor's program at Colorado College in 2017, 86 left with a degree in six years or less—467 out of 543, counting only those who entered full time and had not previously studied at another college. With a four-year timeframe, the figure falls to 77 out of every 100, a difference of 9 points between four and six years. Compared with 920 similar schools, Colorado College is among those that graduate the most students.
A number like that is encouraging, but it is not a promise. It is what happened to the cohort that entered in 2017, not a guarantee about your child. What is in your hands is for them to enter with credits in order, and from the first semester know who their academic adviser is and when classes in their major are registered for.
And there is a third measure, at eight years: of an annual cohort that brought together 641 undergraduate students who entered between July of 2015 and June of 2016, 86 out of every 100 had a degree or certificate from this school by August of 2023. The same calculation, done separately for students with a Pell Grant, gives exactly the same number: 86 out of every 100. The fact that the two figures match does not mean the path was identical for everyone. Compared with similar schools, this one is also among those that graduate the most students at eight years.
A high number does not predict an individual's outcome. It describes what happened to a specific cohort. It is worth asking about the current supports in the program your child is interested in, and about results from more recent cohorts if the school has them available.
What comes next is yours
Now you know, in considerable depth, one piece of the puzzle: what kind of college Colorado College is according to its own official reports. You know it is selective, that it requires an essay, that it is expensive on paper but that, for lower-income families, the real price has been considerably lower. You know that almost everyone who enters stays, and that most who enter finish with a degree. You also know where the data stops and where the question begins that only you, your child, or the college itself can answer.
Your child has to study, write their essay, decide what major they want, and build the academic record this school requires. Colorado College has to admit, deny, and tell you in writing what it would actually cost. You have to understand the family's finances, request the aid letter before deciding, and support them without carrying alone what is not yours to live through.
Put this piece together with what your child wants to study, what they have built so far, and what your family can and is willing to pay. From that combination, not from a single article, comes a plan.
Note on sources: the information in this article comes from Colorado College's official reports to the United States Department of Education's IPEDS system, corresponding mainly to the 2022-23 and 2023-24 cycles. Best College Aid does not represent Colorado College or any government agency; this article organizes and explains public data and does not constitute personalized admissions advice.