Colorado Higher Education At A Glance

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Summary

In Colorado, there are 28 public institutions of higher education. There are thirteen 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.

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Public Enrollment by Headcount (Fall 2011)
Total Enrollment	258,014	Gender
		Male	46.3%
Degree Seeking	90.4%	Female	53.7%
Non-Degree Seeking	9.6%
		Age
Undergraduate	90.4%	Average	25.6
Graduate	9.6%	Under 17	1.7%
		17-20	34.9%
Residency		21-24	25.5%
In-State, Colorado Resident	86.2%	25-40	29.1%
Out-of-State	13.8%	Over 40	8.8%
Enrollment Notes: Fall 2011 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 4/2/12

Authorized Non-Public Degree Granting
Private Schools	52
Seminary Schools	51
Data summarized on 4/2/12; Count includes only active institutions with full authorization; Institutions with pending or probational authorization are not counted;

Authorized Private and Occupational Schools
Private Schools	335
Data summarized on 4/2/12; Count includes active institutions at the time of data pull; Includes both Colorado based and out-of-state schools authorized to do business in Colorado

Tuition & Fees

FY2010-11 Base Tuition for Resident, Undergraduates, 30 hrs/year (April 2012)
Institution	Tuition Rates
Community College System (13 Institutions)	$ 2,888*
Adams State College	$ 2,952
Colorado School of Mines	$ 11,550
Colorado State University	$ 5,256**
Colorado State University - Pueblo	$ 4,068
Fort Lewis College	$ 3,380
Colorado Mesa University	$ 5,480
Metropolitan State College of Denver	$ 3,107
University of Colorado - Boulder	$ 7,018**
University of Colorado - Colorado Springs	$ 6,270**
University of Colorado - Denver	$ 6,216**
University of Northern Colorado	$ 4,680**
Western State College	$ 3,422
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.

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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.