Colorado Higher Education At a Glance

Page last updated 4/15/09

In Colorado, there are 27 public institutions of higher education. There are twelve four-year public institutions and fifteen two-year public institutions. In addition, there are non-public degree granting institutions and private occupational schools operating in the State. The data summarized on this page references only the public institutions.

Enrollment by Headcount (Fall 2008) - (% Change from Fall 2007)

Total Enrollment (Fall 2008)	218,498	+2.2%

Degree Seeking	87.7%	-0.1%
Non-Degree Seeking	12.3%	+0.1%

Undergraduate	91.3%	+1.2%
Graduate	8.7%	-1.2%

Residency
In-State, Colorado Resident	86.0%	-0.6%
Out-of-State	14.0%	+0.6%

Gender
Male	45.3%	+0.1%
Female	54.7%	-0.1%

Age
Average	25.2	-0.1
Under 17	1.1%	+0.1%
17-20	38.5%	+0.7%
21-24	26.9%	-0.3%
25-40	26.2%	NC
Over 40	8.4%	-0.3%

Enrollment Notes: Fall 2008 Enrollment data, only public institutions shown, excluding exclusive extended studies students; Total count may include students more than once if enrolled at multiple institutions. Data summarized on 4/15/09

For more details on student enrollment by headcount, click on Enrollment Reports or use the Searchable database.

For details regarding FTE student enrollment, review Budget & Finance Reports.

Tuition & Fees (per semester/term)

FY2008-09 Tuition and Fees for Full-Time, Resident, Undergraduates (January 09)

Institution	Tuition Rates
Community College System (13 Institutions)	$ 1,944*
Adams State College	$ 2,496
Colorado School of Mines	$ 9,810
Colorado State University	$ 4,424**
Colorado State University - Pueblo	$ 3,422
Fort Lewis College	$ 2,846
Mesa State College	$ 4,325
Metropolitan State College of Denver	$ 2,615
University of Colorado - Boulder	$ 5,922**
University of Colorado - Colorado Springs	$ 5,580**
University of Colorado - Denver	$ 5,484**
University of Northern Colorado	$ 3,942**
Western State College	$ 2,880

Note: The number of credit hours reported are the minimum number of credit hours that constitute full-time enrollment for tuition purposes only
* This is an average of all the community colleges. View report for individual tuition and fees.
** Level and specific programs may vary (Business, Engineering, Journalism, Nursing, Computer Science, and others), see official report for details.

For more details regarding tuition and fees, review Budget & Finance Reports.

Data Collection

In May 1985, the Commission on Higher Education began to develop the Student Unit Record Data System (SURDS) to support the development of statewide admission standards. A committee of governing board representatives met with Commission staff, and the final data format was approved by the Commission at the November 1, 1985, Commission meeting. The data collected from Colorado institutions has expanded to include Enrollment, Undergraduate Applicant, Degrees Awarded, Financial Aid, Remediation, Teacher Education and Verification of Lawful Presence.

The data collection year begins with the Summer term and ends with Spring, the following calendar year. The Department collects data throughout the year, depending the type of data. For example, Financial Aid is collected once a year while Enrollment is collected up to five times (Summer, Fall, Winter, Spring, Interim) depending on the institution.

View more on Data Collection.