Metropolitan State University of Denver Acceptance Rate, Admissions & Graduation

This article is not written in that language. It is written so that you, whether you may never have studied in the United States, studied in another country, or did not go to college at all, can understand exactly what Metropolitan State University of Denver is according to its own official data: how many people get in, how many stay, how much it costs, and how far those who start there get. Not so you can decide today. So you can add this piece to what your child wants and what your family can afford, and let that sum become a plan.

Who this college is

Metropolitan State University of Denver is a public four-year university located in the city of Denver, Colorado, within Denver County and the Denver-Aurora-Centennial metropolitan area. It is a large city, with more than 250,000 residents. That does not yet tell you how to get to campus or what there is to live near; if your child plans to live at home, drive the route yourself on a weekday at the exact time of their classes. The real travel time is almost never what the map says.

The Carnegie system, which classifies United States colleges by what they do, describes it as a master's university with large programs, and classifies it as a large, "nonresidential" institution: that means fewer than one in four undergraduate students live in school-owned housing, or fewer than half study full time. The data do not clarify which of the two conditions was met, and they also do not mean there are no dormitories at all. IPEDS, the federal data system, confirms that a master's degree is the highest level the institution reports offering, although that does not tell you whether the specific major your child wants goes that far. If that matters to their plan, verify the exact path for that major.

Carnegie also places it among institutions that receive many transfer students from other schools. If your child plans to come here after studying somewhere else, ask in writing, before enrolling, which courses will count and which will not. The "high transfer-in" label does not say how many credits people arrive with or how many are lost along the way.

And there is something worth saying directly: Metropolitan State University of Denver does not appear in any of the three federal designations that exist for historically Black, Tribal, or land grant institutions. That does not say which communities it serves, how many Latino students are on campus, or how your child will feel there. Ask directly: what cultural centers and student organizations exist today, and confirm by speaking with someone who already studies there.

A large community, and a reason to feel less alone

Here is a number many Latino families want to know before any other: 37 out of every 100 undergraduate students at Metropolitan State University of Denver reported being Hispanic or Latino. That is more than one out of every four. Compared with 519 selective-admission public four-year colleges across the country, that proportion places it in the highest quarter of the group. Being Latino on this campus would not be the exception.

But a high percentage is not the same as real support. This data point counts how many there are, not whether there is a counselor who speaks Spanish, targeted tutoring, or whether those students complete their degrees. And it is the percentage for the entire school, not for the major that interests your child. Counting is not the same as serving.

The rest of the student community looks like this: 29 out of every 100 are between 25 and 64 years old, so this is not a campus only for young people fresh out of high school. Men and women are nearly evenly represented, with 55 out of every 100 being women. And something important for anyone considering a college that draws people from across the country: 97 out of every 100 newly enrolled students reported a permanent address in Colorado. It is, above all, an in-state school for the state.

In total numbers, the university reported 17,593 enrolled students, of whom 16,430 are undergraduates and only 1,163 are graduate students. It is primarily a degree-focused school, not a graduate school. And here is something worth keeping in mind before imagining your child's schedule: there are many part-time students. The total enrollment number does not tell you how many people are in the classroom at the same time. Ask directly what times the courses in the major that interests your child are offered before assuming what their semester will look like.

How the academic year works

The calendar is organized into semesters: two long terms of about 15 weeks each, with standard dates for everyone. The university told the federal government that it accepts credit for AP exams and also what IPEDS calls "credit for life experience" — independent study, work experience, portfolios, prior certifications, even military training. It also reported enrolling high school students in college-level courses for credit, both within and outside a formal dual-enrollment program.

Here is the unvarnished truth: the university reporting these pathways does not mean they will automatically recognize them for your child. It does not say what AP scores it requires or how many credits it awards, or whether those credits apply to your child's specific major. Request the equivalency evaluation in writing before enrolling, and do not calculate time or money savings until you have that letter in hand.

As for what the school offers as majors: between July 2022 and June 2023, it awarded 2,689 bachelor's degrees, divided across 25 distinct program families. The largest was business and administration, with 20 out of every 100 degrees that year. No other area accounts for the bulk: it has a broad offering, not a school centered on one specialty. But be careful: 25 families represented in the report are not 25 complete majors, and one of those rows may have awarded zero degrees that year. Verify the exact program that interests your child, not just the general area.

Regarding group size, the official ratio is 14 students for each full-time-equivalent faculty member, a figure below the median of its comparable colleges. It is a low aggregate ratio, but it alone does not show that more attention is available for each student, and it does not state the actual size of a first-year class. The institution also reports structured opportunities such as study abroad, undergraduate research, a complete program that can be completed only at night or on weekends, and preparation for teacher certification.

Getting in is relatively easy. Staying and progressing is the part that matters

Let us get to the heart of the admissions decision. Metropolitan State University of Denver does not have open admission: it reviews an application before saying yes. Of nine possible considerations, it marks four as required: the high school record, grade-point average, class rank, and English-proficiency examination for applicants to whom it applies. If your child studied outside the United States or attended high school in Spanish, ask today whether they must take that examination and what exempts them from it — these are the things discovered late that complicate timelines.

And even with those requirements, the door is practically open: of 12,403 first-time applicants, the university offered admission to 12,296. That is 99 out of every 100. Compared with 519 similar public colleges, it is among those that accept the most students. Put another way: your child's effort goes further in meeting deadlines and completing their application than in worrying about competing for a place.

But being easy to enter says nothing about cost or about how many finish. Here is a number that does deserve your full attention: of every 100 admitted students, only 17 ultimately enrolled. The other 83 had an acceptance in hand and did not take it. This is not a mark against the school — the federal record does not say why each person made the decision they made — but it is also not a minor fact: it means receiving the letter is not the same as deciding to attend. What others decided does not tell you what they will offer your child. Wait for their own letter with the net price — what the year would truly cost — before drawing any conclusion.

The SAT and ACT are optional. Among those who enrolled, only 30 out of every 100 submitted an SAT score, and among them the middle half scored between 450 and 570 in reading and writing, and between 430 and 540 in mathematics. That is not a minimum for admission or a guarantee of anything: these are data for people already enrolled, not for all applicants.

There is another data point worth considering directly if your child arrives as a transfer student or plans to transfer later: following the cohort that entered in 2017 seeking a bachelor's degree, 30 out of every 100 transferred to another school without completing there. That is a high proportion compared with similar schools. The report does not state the reason for any of those cases, and something important: someone who transfers is not counted as a graduate of this university, even if they finish their degree elsewhere. Keep that idea in mind when you reach the graduation numbers.

The money: what it costs on paper, and what it may really cost

At Metropolitan State University of Denver, among 307 first-time, full-time, credential-seeking students who received federal Title IV aid and paid the in-state or district rate, whose records reported family EFC income of less than $30,000, the average net price was $12,364. Among 191 students in the same population with family EFC income from $48,001 to $75,000, it was $13,276; among 118 students with family EFC income above $110,000, it was $21,812. For dependent students, the band adds their parents' income and their own.

The difference between the average for the lower-income band (307 students) and that of the higher-income band (118 students) is $9,448. Among first-year students who received any grant, the average was $13,727.

$12,364 was the average net price for lower-income families in academic year 2022-23. That does not mean it is what your family will pay. It helps determine whether it is worth requesting the financial-aid letter.

The income bands in this profile describe first-time, full-time, credential-seeking students who received federal Title IV aid; at this public institution, they use the in-state or district rate. The overall average with grants, when shown, describes first-time, full-time, credential-seeking students who received federal, state, local, or institutional scholarships or grants; it also uses that rate. If your family lives outside the state or district, the calculation is different. Ask for it before applying.

The aid that arrives, and the loans that remain

Out of every 100 degree-seeking students, 60 received some type of scholarship or aid that does not have to be repaid. Among those who did receive it, the yearly average was $8,197. Be careful: the percentage and the average should not be multiplied together, because they do not share the same base group. Separately, 37 out of every 100 received a Pell Grant, the federal aid for families with demonstrated financial need.

And here is the loans number, one of the most important in the entire article: 30 out of every 100 undergraduate students received a federal loan that year, averaging $6,858 per student. It is not a majority, but it is not a small group either. Compared with similar schools, it is on the low side in the proportion of students with loans. This average is for only one year and covers only federal loans in the student's name — it does not include Parent PLUS loans sometimes signed by parents, debt with banks or credit cards, and it is also not the total debt with which someone leaves upon graduation. That number is not in this report, and this percentage will not decide it: your child's financial-aid letter, in writing, will decide it. The institution also offers a guaranteed tuition plan and an installment payment plan, two mechanisms worth asking about by name.

Campus life, ROTC, athletics, and format

As we already said: this university does not offer institution-owned housing or meal plans. If your child will live nearby, daily life — where they will eat, where they will sleep — depends on arrangements outside institutional control; ask for the actual budget its financial-aid office would use.

If your child is interested in ROTC, the university reported opportunities in two branches: Army and Air Force. Navy is not marked. Being marked does not mean the program is taught on this specific campus — ask that by name before building a plan around that option.

In athletics, the university does compete at the intercollegiate level and is affiliated with the NCAA, with reported membership in basketball, baseball, and cross country or track and field. This does not say whether there is a place on your child's team, what division that specific sport competes in, or whether it awards scholarships. Ask the coach directly, in writing.

Regarding distance education: the university offers it at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. Out of every 100 undergraduate students, 23 took their entire course load online, and 77 had at least one in-person class. It also reported offering at least one complete program that can be completed entirely at a distance, although the data do not confirm whether that complete program exists specifically at the undergraduate level — confirm the exact level and major if this matters to your child. Among the services it reports: combined academic and career advising, job placement for current students and graduates, on-campus child care, and dedicated support for veterans and military students, including participation in the Yellow Ribbon program.

How many stay, and how many make it to graduation

Here is, without decoration, the part that matters most for a family's plan.

Of the cohort that entered full time in fall 2022, 70 out of every 100 were still enrolled or had already completed a bachelor's degree one year later. It is a number below most of its comparable schools: seven out of every ten similar colleges retained a higher proportion. Among part-time students in that same cohort, retention was lower, 55 out of every 100 — but this is a different group of people, with different circumstances, and one number should not be combined with the other.

And graduation:

Put directly: most of those who entered in 2017 did not appear as graduates here six years later. Out of every 100 who started, 30 graduated from this school, 30 transferred to another institution without completing here, 15 remained enrolled without finishing, and the rest fell into the federal category of "no longer enrolled" — a category that does not explain the reason. Compared with similar schools, this six-year graduation rate sits at the bottom of the table.

This is not a verdict about your child or about any individual student. It is an aggregate pattern for an entire cohort, and the report does not say why each person took the path they took. But it is a question worth asking in writing before signing anything: how long the major your child wants usually takes to complete, how its required courses are scheduled, and how the total cost changes if it takes one or two years longer than expected. The fifth year, if it happens, must be paid for too.

There is an even longer measure: following a full cohort of 6,542 students who entered between July 2015 and June 2016 — full- and part-time, first-time and with prior experience — as of August 2023, eight years later, 37 out of every 100 had already earned a degree or certificate from this school. The same number, 37 out of every 100, also applies only to students who received a Pell Grant. The fact that the two figures match does not mean the path was the same for everyone. Compared with similar schools, this eight-year proportion also sits at the bottom. This cutoff is a snapshot in time, not a bill: it does not measure eight continuous years of study or say how much each person paid or gave up earning along the way.

What you already know, and what you still need to find out

You now know one real piece of this university: who studies there, how easy it is to get in, what it costs depending on family income, how many stay, and how many make it to graduation. None of these numbers decides anything by itself, and none predicts what will happen specifically to your child. Aggregate data describe entire cohorts, not people.

What belongs to your child is their effort, curiosity, the major they want to build, and the questions only they can answer about how far from home they are willing to live and whether they can see themselves finishing here. And what belongs to the university — admitting, charging, offering aid, graduating students — you have already seen in these numbers, including their limitations.

Bring this piece together with what your child wants and what your family can afford. A plan comes from that combination, not from a single number.

Note on sources: the information in this article comes from data reported by the institution to IPEDS (Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System) of the United States Department of Education, corresponding primarily to the school years 2022-23 and 2023-24, except where a different period is indicated. Best College Aid does not represent Metropolitan State University of Denver or any government agency, and this article does not replace the official or personalized information that the university itself can provide to you in writing.