Colleges in Colorado With the Highest Graduate Earnings
Median earnings four years after graduation at the 21 four-year colleges we rank in Colorado run from $100,252 at the top to $41,363 at the bottom, a spread of $58,889.
The median college sits at $58,576, within a few percent of the national median of $59,403. Public colleges (15) have a median of $56,930 and private nonprofit colleges (4) a median of $68,540, and the typical net price across the list is $16,745.
Colorado School of Mines ranks first at $100,252, ahead of Regis University ($81,785) and Colorado State University Global ($79,486).
How this list is built
A college appears here only if it meets every condition below.
- Colleges considered
- All 4-year colleges (public, private nonprofit and for-profit)
- Ranked by earnings after 4 years, highest first. Ties are broken by larger undergraduate enrollment, then by name.
- Main campuses only, with at least 60% of core data fields reported
- Main campus located in Colorado
- At least 500 undergraduate students enrolled (fall 2024)
- A reported earnings after 4 years value (schools without one are not ranked)
- This page is published only when at least 15 schools qualify; Colorado has 21
- Data period
- Earnings: median earnings four years after completing, measured in 2022 and 2023 for the 2017-18 and 2018-19 cohorts, in 2024 dollars.
- Net price: average for students receiving aid, academic year 2023-24.
- Graduate debt: median federal loan debt of completers, pooled 2020 and 2021 cohorts.
- Graduation rate: first-time, full-time students who started in fall 2018 (4-year) or fall 2021 (2-year), finishing within 150% of normal time.
- Enrollment: undergraduate students, fall 2024.
- Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard, June 2026 release.
Showing all 21 qualifying schools. Select a column heading to re-sort the table.
| 1 | Colorado School of Mines Golden, CO Public · 4-year | $100,252 | $28,690 | $23,000 | 81% | 6,155 |
| 2 | Regis University Denver, CO Private nonprofit · 4-year | $81,785 | $18,397 | $25,000 | 61% | 2,627 |
| 3 | Colorado State University Global Denver, CO Public · 4-year | $79,486 | $16,510 | $25,000 | — | 6,563 |
| 4 | University of Denver Denver, CO Private nonprofit · 4-year | $78,504 | $36,131 | $21,844 | 77% | 6,025 |
| 5 | University of Colorado Boulder Boulder, CO Public · 4-year | $76,850 | $25,346 | $19,500 | 75% | 31,939 |
| 6 | University of Colorado Denver/Anschutz Medical Campus Denver, CO Public · 4-year | $74,059 | $11,900 | $20,500 | 47% | 10,519 |
| 7 | Colorado State University-Fort Collins Fort Collins, CO Public · 4-year | $67,911 | $21,279 | $20,000 | 67% | 25,538 |
| 8 | University of Colorado Colorado Springs Colorado Springs, CO Public · 4-year | $62,980 | $15,788 | $20,000 | 46% | 8,697 |
| 9 | Colorado Technical University-Colorado Springs Colorado Springs, CO For-profit · 4-year | $60,707 | $16,745 | $29,832 | 18% | 28,086 |
| 10 | Metropolitan State University of Denver Denver, CO Public · 4-year | $60,186 | $15,327 | $21,500 | 31% | 15,002 |
| 11 | Colorado Christian University Lakewood, CO Private nonprofit · 4-year | $58,576 | $29,500 | $28,312 | 60% | 5,549 |
| 12 | Colorado College Colorado Springs, CO Private nonprofit · 4-year | $56,959 | $33,375 | $18,257 | 87% | 2,014 |
| 13 | University of Northern Colorado Greeley, CO Public · 4-year | $56,930 | $17,760 | $20,470 | 51% | 5,598 |
| 14 | Colorado State University Pueblo Pueblo, CO Public · 4-year | $55,898 | $10,051 | $21,500 | 39% | 3,042 |
| 15 | Community College of Denver Denver, CO Public · 4-year | $53,984 | $9,450 | $12,495 | 18% | 5,096 |
| 16 | Adams State University Alamosa, CO Public · 4-year | $52,621 | $12,980 | $19,500 | 36% | 1,250 |
| 17 | Community College of Aurora Aurora, CO Public · 4-year | $51,722 | $8,656 | $10,500 | — | 3,250 |
| 18 | Western Colorado University Gunnison, CO Public · 4-year | $50,666 | $16,425 | $20,250 | 51% | 1,586 |
| 19 | Pikes Peak State College Colorado Springs, CO Public · 4-year | $48,538 | $6,007 | $9,000 | 22% | 9,595 |
| 20 | Fort Lewis College Durango, CO Public · 4-year | $46,601 | $17,296 | $18,389 | 39% | 3,079 |
| 21 | Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design Lakewood, CO For-profit · 4-year | $41,363 | $32,363 | $31,000 | 34% | 2,050 |
How to compare these colleges
High earnings partly reflect who enrolls and what they study: engineering, nursing and business programs usually pay more than education or the arts, so a school with strong health or technical programs can top the list. Read the earnings next to net price, debt and graduation rate, because earnings count only people who finished, and four years after graduation is early in a career.
Guides worth reading first
More lists for Colorado
Cheapest colleges in Colorado
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Cheap colleges in Colorado for out-of-state students
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Same list in nearby states
Highest graduate earnings in Oklahoma
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Highest graduate earnings in Kansas
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Highest graduate earnings in Nebraska
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All 28 colleges in Colorado See the national version of this ranking