Top colleges in Colorado by 10-year ROI
Executive Summary
Bachelor’s-predominant institutions located in Colorado with at least 200 students, sorted by the same 10-year ROI estimate used nationally. Colorado School of Mines leads this list at $318,525 (10 Yr. ROI).
Leaders: top 3
Colorado School of Mines
10 Yr. ROI
$318,525
Colorado State University Global
10 Yr. ROI
$291,379
Regis University
10 Yr. ROI
$279,140
Top 20 Top colleges in Colorado by 10-year ROI
| Rank | Institution | State | Control | Enrollment | 10 Yr. ROI | Also see |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Colorado School of Mines | CO | Public | 6,155 | $318,525 | Grad 82.1% · Net $32,901 |
| 2 | Colorado State University Global | CO | Public | 6,563 | $291,379 | Grad 26.3% · Net $17,732 |
| 3 | Regis University | CO | Private nonprofit | 2,627 | $279,140 | Grad 55.0% · Net $18,133 |
| 4 | University of Colorado Denver/Anschutz Medical Campus | CO | Public | 10,519 | $266,622 | Grad 48.9% · Net $10,217 |
| 5 | University of Colorado Boulder | CO | Public | 31,939 | $232,635 | Grad 74.3% · Net $23,708 |
| 6 | Colorado State University Pueblo | CO | Public | 3,042 | $219,676 | Grad 41.5% · Net $8,851 |
| 7 | Metropolitan State University of Denver | CO | Public | 15,002 | $207,556 | Grad 31.5% · Net $13,803 |
| 8 | University of Colorado Colorado Springs | CO | Public | 8,697 | $205,444 | Grad 45.9% · Net $14,954 |
| 9 | Adams State University | CO | Public | 1,250 | $194,406 | Grad 36.7% · Net $8,585 |
| 10 | Colorado State University-Fort Collins | CO | Public | 25,538 | $193,450 | Grad 67.6% · Net $22,247 |
| 11 | University of Denver | CO | Private nonprofit | 6,025 | $190,044 | Grad 74.2% · Net $31,961 |
| 12 | University of Northern Colorado | CO | Public | 5,598 | $168,960 | Grad 49.2% · Net $18,711 |
| 13 | Western Colorado University | CO | Public | 1,586 | $167,160 | Grad 48.0% · Net $16,756 |
| 14 | Colorado College | CO | Private nonprofit | 2,014 | $163,936 | Grad 86.2% · Net $27,951 |
| 15 | Fort Lewis College | CO | Public | 3,079 | $126,314 | Grad 35.7% · Net $20,090 |
| 16 | Colorado Technical University-Colorado Springs | CO | Private for-profit | 28,086 | $109,395 | Grad 19.3% · Net $17,860 |
| 17 | Colorado Christian University | CO | Private nonprofit | 5,549 | $102,546 | Grad 69.0% · Net $28,605 |
| 18 | Arizona College of Nursing-Aurora | CO | Private for-profit | 336 | $42,024 | Grad — · Net $31,514 |
| 19 | Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design | CO | Private for-profit | 2,050 | $37,013 | Grad 36.5% · Net $32,562 |
| 20 | Naropa University | CO | Private nonprofit | 339 | $11,358 | Grad 14.8% · Net $31,713 |
Method notes
- Underlying institution file: EDsmart Data processed College Scorecard extract merged to the IPEDS 2024 directory for HBCU and Carnegie fields.
- Cohort applied on this page: enrollment floor of 200 undergraduates; sorted highest first on 10 Yr. ROI; all 20 qualifying campuses are shown.
- Ties on the ranked metric are broken by enrollment, then institution name, so ranks stay stable between rebuilds.
- ROI column matches the processed college_roi_rankings series in this site build; see College Scorecard ROI methodology.
- How the 10-year ROI figure is built: median earnings reported 6, 8, and 10 years after entry (years 7 and 9 linearly interpolated) are summed across years 6–10, then average annual net price × typical years enrolled (five for bachelor’s-predominant campuses) is subtracted. It is a nominal-dollar gap—not discounted to present value, and it does not subtract earnings foregone while enrolled or compare against a no-college baseline. Campuses reporting only one of the three earnings years are excluded from these tables.
- School profile links use generated slugs; not every campus has a published profile page yet—use the Scorecard site as fallback.