Best Geographer programs in Colorado, ranked by enrollment
Study the nature and use of areas of the Earth's surface, relating and interpreting interactions of physical and cultural phenomena.
13 schools in Colorado run programs that feed this job, graduating 382 people a year. The job pays a median of — in Colorado across about 90 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in Colorado that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
5 programs in Colorado that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in Colorado (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own Colorado page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 45.0702In Colorado → | 149 | 39.0% | 7 | $38,944 | $22,762 |
| 2 | Geographymain feeder CIP 45.0701In Colorado → | 137 | 35.9% | 8 | $38,944 | $22,762 |
| 3 | Geography and Environmental Studiesmain feeder CIP 30.4401In Colorado → | 60 | 15.7% | 1 | — | — |
| 4 | Geography, Othermain feeder CIP 45.0799In Colorado → | 33 | 8.6% | 2 | $38,944 | $22,762 |
| 5 | CIP 30.3501In Colorado → | 3 | 0.8% | 1 | — | — |
Top 13 schools in Colorado
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 4 of the 13 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of Colorado Colorado Springs Colorado Springs, CO Public · 2 feeder programs | 69 | Geography | $36,426 | 47% | — | 97% |
| 2 | University of Denver Denver, CO Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 68 | Geographic Information Science and Cartography | — | 76% | $29,726 | 78% |
| 3 | University of Colorado Boulder Boulder, CO Public · 1 feeder programs | 60 | Geography and Environmental Studies | — | 74% | — | 78% |
| 4 | University of Colorado Denver/Anschutz Medical Campus Denver, CO Public · 2 feeder programs | 44 | Geography | $39,104 | 46% | — | 75% |
| 5 | Fort Lewis College Durango, CO Public · 1 feeder programs | 31 | Geographic Information Science and Cartography | — | 36% | — | 77% |
| 6 | Front Range Community College Westminster, CO Public · 2 feeder programs | 28 | Geographic Information Science and Cartography | — | 35% | — | — |
| 7 | United States Air Force Academy USAF Academy, CO Public · 1 feeder programs | 26 | Geography, Other | — | 88% | — | 14% |
| 8 | University of Northern Colorado Greeley, CO Public · 2 feeder programs | 22 | Geographic Information Science and Cartography | $36,996 | 51% | — | 86% |
| 9 | Colorado State University - Fort Collins Fort Collins, CO Public · 2 feeder programs | 9 | Geography | — | 67% | — | 89% |
| 10 | Western Colorado University Gunnison, CO Public · 1 feeder programs | 9 | Geographic Information Science and Cartography | — | 50% | — | 100% |
| 11 | Metropolitan State University of Denver Denver, CO Public · 1 feeder programs | 8 | Geography | $44,861 | 32% | — | 99% |
| 12 | Colorado Mesa University Grand Junction, CO Public · 1 feeder programs | 4 | Geographic Information Science and Cartography | — | 41% | — | 82% |
| 13 | Pikes Peak State College Colorado Springs, CO Public · 1 feeder programs | 4 | Geography | — | 21% | — | — |
All 13 schools in Colorado
Every school in Colorado with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.
| School | City | Control | Graduates / yr | Feeder programs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of Colorado Colorado Springs | Colorado Springs | Public | 69 | 2 |
| University of Denver | Denver | Private not-for-profit | 68 | 2 |
| University of Colorado Boulder | Boulder | Public | 60 | 1 |
| University of Colorado Denver/Anschutz Medical Campus | Denver | Public | 44 | 2 |
| Fort Lewis College | Durango | Public | 31 | 1 |
| Front Range Community College | Westminster | Public | 28 | 2 |
| United States Air Force Academy | USAF Academy | Public | 26 | 1 |
| University of Northern Colorado | Greeley | Public | 22 | 2 |
| Colorado State University - Fort Collins | Fort Collins | Public | 9 | 2 |
| Western Colorado University | Gunnison | Public | 9 | 1 |
| Metropolitan State University of Denver | Denver | Public | 8 | 1 |
| Colorado Mesa University | Grand Junction | Public | 4 | 1 |
| Pikes Peak State College | Colorado Springs | Public | 4 | 1 |
What geographers earn in Colorado
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
Concentrated here: Colorado employs more of this job per worker than the U.S. average.
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.
How to get in
The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Geographers page.
How to become a Geographer
Job zone 4 of 5 · SVP 7.0 to < 8.0- Typical entry education
- Bachelor's degree
Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.
A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, an accountant must complete four years of college and work for several years in accounting to be considered qualified.
Employees in these occupations usually need several years of work-related experience, on-the-job training, and/or vocational training.
Top skills
The same job in other states
Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.
Related careers in Colorado
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 10 majors mapped to Geographers10 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 30.3501Climate Science
- 30.3801Earth Systems Science
- 30.4101Environmental Geosciences
- 30.4401Geography and Environmental Studies
- 43.0407Geospatial Intelligence
- 45.0701Geography
- 45.0702Geographic Information Science and Cartography
- 45.0799Geography, Other
- 45.1501Geography and Anthropology
- 51.3204Medical/Health Humanities
Common questions
Answers for people weighing geographers programs in Colorado.
What degree do you need to become a Geographer?+
Bachelor's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Geographic Information Science and Cartography, which awarded 149 degrees in Colorado in 2024-25, 39.0% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Geographer?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 5 programs to this occupation. The largest are Geography and Cartography, Geography and Environmental Studies, Climate Science. Together they graduate about 382 people a year in Colorado.
Is demand for geographers growing?+
BLS projects a -3.1% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, decline, with roughly 100 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in Colorado?+
13 institutions in Colorado reported graduates from at least one of the 5 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.
What other job titles do geographers work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Geographer, Earth Observations Scientist, GIS Geographer (Geographic Information Systems Geographer), GIS Coordinator (Geographic Information Systems Coordinator) among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 19-3092.
About the data on this page
Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).
BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics
May 2025Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.
BLS Employment Projections
2024–34Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.
IPEDS Completions
2024-25 (provisional)Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.
College Scorecard, Field of Study
2020-21 cohortsMedian graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.
Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes
latest availableGraduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.
NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk
CIP 2020 / SOC 2018Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.
O*NET Database 30.3
30.3Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.
Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA
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