by our College Data Analytics TeamIt's not easy to decide which college to attend when you have so many options available. One of our goals at College Factual is to give you as much information as we can - such as our Top Colorado Colleges ranking - to help you make that decision.
Our analysis looked at 31 schools in Colorado to determine which ones were the best in terms of overall quality. Our ranking is based on over 20 objective factors, including post graduate earnings, freshman retention, and graduation rate. We steer clear of subjective measures since they don't give a clear picture when determining how one school compares to another.
We've developed a number of other tools and rankings to help you make your college decision. Start by filtering this list by location or field of study and then explore our other rankings that feature schools great for different groups of students such as veterans or returnings adults.
We've created a tool called College Combat that lets you create your own customized comparisons based on the factors that matter the most to you. If you're torn between two schools, you can use it to help you see how they stack up against one another!
Learn more about these excellent schools below:
Our analysis found Colorado School of Mines to be the best school for overall quality in Colorado in this year’s ranking.
The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 94%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. Upon graduation, bachelor’s degree recipients go on to jobs making an average salary of $97,335 during the early years of their career..
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Colorado Boulder. The school came in at #2 in Colorado on this year’s overall quality ranking.
Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 88%. Upon graduation, bachelor’s degree recipients go on to jobs making an average salary of $69,738 during the early years of their career..
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Denver. It ranked #3 on our 2025 Best Colleges in Colorado list.
With a freshman retention rate of 88%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. The average salary of a graduate with a bachelor’s degree from DU is $71,155 during the early years of their career.
A rank of #4 on our Best Colleges in Colorado list means Colorado State University - Fort Collins is a great place for students working on their bachelor’s degree.
The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 86%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. Those who receive a bachelor’s degree from Colorado State go into careers with an average salary of $60,543 during the early years of their career.
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Colorado State University - Global Campus. The school came in at #5 in Colorado on this year’s overall quality ranking.
Upon graduation, bachelor’s degree recipients go on to jobs making an average salary of $76,813 during the early years of their career..
Front Range Community College landed the #6 spot on the 2025 Best Colleges in Colorado ranking.
The average salary of a graduate with a bachelor’s degree from FRCC is $45,910 during the early years of their career.
Regis University landed the #7 spot on the 2025 Best Colleges in Colorado ranking.
The student loan default rate at the school is 1.0%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1% Those who receive a bachelor’s degree from Regis U go into careers with an average salary of $72,105 during the early years of their career.
Community College of Denver ranked #8 on this year’s Best Colleges in Colorado list.
The student loan default rate at the school is 1.0%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1% The average salary of a graduate with a bachelor’s degree from CCD is $39,095 during the early years of their career.
Community College of Aurora landed the #9 spot on the 2025 Best Colleges in Colorado ranking.
Upon graduation, bachelor’s degree recipients go on to jobs making an average salary of $44,592 during the early years of their career..
Colorado College landed the #10 spot on the 2025 Best Colleges in Colorado ranking.
The school boasts an average 4-year graduation rate of 82%, which is excellent when compared to the national rate of 33%. Graduates with a bachelor’s degree from Colorado College make an average of $65,222 per year during the early years of their career.
Aims Community College landed the #11 spot on the 2025 Best Colleges in Colorado ranking.
During the early years of their career, graduates from Aims Community College make an average of $41,887 a year.
With a ranking of #12, Red Rocks Community College did quite well on the 2025 Best Colleges in Colorado list.
The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 86%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. Upon graduation, bachelor’s degree recipients go on to jobs making an average salary of $46,288 during the early years of their career..
University of Northern Colorado ranked #13 on this year’s Best Colleges in Colorado list.
Graduates with a bachelor’s degree from University of Northern Colorado make an average of $52,231 per year during the early years of their career.
University of Colorado Denver/Anschutz Medical Campus ranked #14 on this year’s Best Colleges in Colorado list.
Those who receive a bachelor’s degree from CU Anschutz go into careers with an average salary of $64,270 during the early years of their career.
Pueblo Community College came in at #15 in this year’s edition of the Best Colleges in Colorado ranking.
Graduates with a bachelor’s degree from Pueblo Community College make an average of $37,434 per year during the early years of their career.
Colorado Mountain College ranked #16 on this year’s Best Colleges in Colorado list.
Graduates with a bachelor’s degree from Colorado Mountain College make an average of $44,127 per year during the early years of their career.
Northeastern Junior College ranked #17 on this year’s Best Colleges in Colorado list.
Graduates with a bachelor’s degree from NJC make an average of $39,893 per year during the early years of their career.
Arapahoe Community College did quite well in the 2025 Best Colleges in Colorado ranking, coming in at #18.
Graduates with a bachelor’s degree from Arapahoe Community College make an average of $48,341 per year during the early years of their career.
Pikes Peak Community College came in at #19 in this year’s edition of the Best Colleges in Colorado ranking.
Those who receive a bachelor’s degree from PPCC go into careers with an average salary of $40,796 during the early years of their career.
With a ranking of #20, Colorado Christian University did quite well on the 2025 Best Colleges in Colorado list.
Upon graduation, bachelor’s degree recipients go on to jobs making an average salary of $50,416 during the early years of their career..
University of Colorado at Colorado Springs came in at #21 in this year’s edition of the Best Colleges in Colorado ranking.
During the early years of their career, graduates from UCCS make an average of $54,659 a year.
Trinidad State Junior College came in at #22 in this year’s edition of the Best Colleges in Colorado ranking.
Graduates with a bachelor’s degree from Trinidad State Junior College make an average of $36,475 per year during the early years of their career.
With a ranking of #23, Otero Junior College did quite well on the 2025 Best Colleges in Colorado list.
Graduates with a bachelor’s degree from Otero JC make an average of $39,018 per year during the early years of their career.
Metropolitan State University of Denver landed the #24 spot on the 2025 Best Colleges in Colorado ranking.
The low student loan default rate of 2.0% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1% The average salary of a graduate with a bachelor’s degree from MSU Denver is $52,093 during the early years of their career.
Adams State University came in at #25 in this year’s edition of the Best Colleges in Colorado ranking.
Those who receive a bachelor’s degree from Adams State go into careers with an average salary of $44,372 during the early years of their career.
Footnotes
*These averages are for the top 25 schools only.
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.