University of Colorado Boulder
Admissions & acceptance rate
First-time freshman admissions: how selective the college is, and how many admitted students choose to enroll.
Graduation rate & outcomes
Completion, retention, and the equity gap between Pell and non-Pell students.
Pell equity
Non-Pell students graduate at a 8.4-point higher rate than Pell recipients.
Source: IPEDS Graduation Rates (GR) — Pell/SSL cohort, 2024 cohort.
Program outcomes
Federal Program Performance Data: how each program's graduate earnings and debt measure up under Financial Value Transparency and Gainful Employment.
Of 299 Title IV programs, 53 pass the federal Gainful Employment test and 3 fail. 243 have graduate earnings too small to publish, so they carry no pass/fail verdict.
Pass / fail distribution
- Passing53 · 17.7%
- No Data243 · 81.3%
- Failing3 · 1.0%
Severity spectrum
Tiers band programs by how far graduate earnings sit above or below the benchmark, from Critical (below −15%) through Safe (above +25%). No data means earnings were privacy-suppressed.
Earnings premium gap
Graduate earnings versus the federal benchmark, worst gaps first.
Near the line (±5%)
Programs within five points of the pass line, one cohort year from flipping.
Debt vs earnings
Median completer debt against median graduate earnings, highest burden first.
Accreditation status & history
Who accredits the institution, current standing, and any past actions.
Higher Learning Commission
Programmatic accreditations · 9
Action history · 8
- Jul 2022Renewal of AccreditationAmerican Speech-Language-Hearing Association, Council on Academic Accreditation in Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology · Clinical doctoral program in Audiology
- Jul 2022Renewal of AccreditationAmerican Speech-Language-Hearing Association, Council on Academic Accreditation in Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology · Speech-Language Pathology (SLP) - Graduate degree programs
- Apr 2021Renewal of AccreditationAmerican Psychological Association, Commission on Accreditation · Clinical Psychology (CLPSY) - PhD Doctoral programs
- Mar 2020Renewal of AccreditationHigher Learning Commission
- Oct 2018Renewal of AccreditationAmerican Bar Association, Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar · Law (LAW) - Professional schools
Tuition & cost
What families actually pay, broken down by family income.
Net price by family income
Negative values mean aid exceeds the published cost of attendance for that income band.
Federal aid volume & trends
Pell grants and federal Direct Loan volume disbursed to students, and how they've trended.
In AY 2024–25, 5,942 students received $36.4M in Pell grants, alongside $158.6M in federal Direct Loans.
Pell recipients · 5-year trend
Loan volume by type · AY 2024–25
Loan awards count each loan type a student holds, not unique borrowers; one student may carry several (e.g. subsidized and unsubsidized), so the per-type figures are the reliable detail.
Student loan default rate
The share of student borrowers who default on federal loans within three years, against the national benchmark.
Of 4,178 borrowers who entered repayment, 47 (1.1%) defaulted within three years — below the 2.3% national rate.
Default rate vs national, by cohort
* Cohorts 2020 and later read near 0% because the federal COVID-19 payment pause (CARES Act) suspended defaults nationwide. These years reflect a national policy, not institutional performance; the 2019 cohort is the last measured under normal repayment.
Academic programs at Colorado
Top program areas ranked by completions.
Top program families by completions
Enrollment trends & demographics
Fall headcount, 12-month unduplicated enrollment, and student body composition.
Gender split
Race / ethnicity composition
Athletics & Title IX gender equity
How athletic participation, aid, and spending are split between men and women.
Men vs women · spending splits
Sport-by-sport · 9
Campus safety & crime statistics
Reported on-campus crimes over the last three years, including violence and hate crimes.
3-year trend
Criminal offenses by type
By location
- On campus166
- Non-campus3
Includes 70 in residence halls (a subset of on-campus, not added to the total).
VAWA offenses
Hate crimes by bias
- Race5
- Religion4
- Sexual orientation4
- Gender2
- Ethnicity2
- National origin1
Arrests vs disciplinary referrals
Residence-hall fires
- Baker Hall1 fireArsonDamage $0-$99
- Crosman Hall1 fireElectricalDamage $0-$99
- Athens Court1 fireCookingDamage $1,000-$9,999
Data quality: 5 reports were later determined unfounded across the reporting period and are excluded from the totals above.
Student-faculty ratio
Student-to-faculty ratio and instructional staff counts.
Colorado vs Peer comparison
The peer institutions Colorado selected for federal comparison reporting.
A larger shape on any axis means this institution outperforms its peers on that dimension. For acceptance rate and net price, lower raw values are inverted so "more selective" and "more affordable" appear larger.
| Carnegie | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
SubjectUniversity of Colorado Boulder | 74% | — | 38,799 | $25,346 | R1 Research |
| 67% | 88.5% | 34,096 | $21,279 | R1 Research | |
| 46% | 74.7% | 23,124 | $11,900 | R1 Research | |
| 65% | 86.0% | 36,894 | $16,200 | R1 Research | |
| 82% | 60.7% | 8,044 | $28,690 | R1 Research | |
| 57% | 92.5% | 28,904 | $14,936 | R1 Research | |
| Peer group median | 66% | 86.0% | 31,500 | $18,740 |
Institutions like Colorado
Explore the federal data for institutions in Colorado's comparison group.
- R1 ResearchColorado
Colorado State University-Fort Collins
Grad rate67%Admit rate88.5%Enrollment34,096Net price$21,279View data - R1 ResearchColorado
University of Colorado Denver/Anschutz Medical Campus
Grad rate46%Admit rate74.7%Enrollment23,124Net price$11,900View data - R1 ResearchUtah
University of Utah
Grad rate65%Admit rate86.0%Enrollment36,894Net price$16,200View data - R1 ResearchColorado
Colorado School of Mines
Grad rate82%Admit rate60.7%Enrollment8,044Net price$28,690View data - R1 ResearchUtah
Utah State University
Grad rate57%Admit rate92.5%Enrollment28,904Net price$14,936View data
Colorado Institutional Research office
The IR team responsible for the institution's federal reporting.
Data, analysis, forecasts, and consulting services to ensure CU Boulder has the information needed to support strong decision-making.
Visit IR office pageFrequently asked questions about University of Colorado Boulder
Quick answers to the questions most often asked about Colorado.
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About the data on this page
Every figure comes from an official federal or public source. Here is each one and the release it is currently on.
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