University of Colorado Boulder — All Rankings Are Wrong

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Basic Information

Type Public

Geographical Reach National

Location Boulder, CO

Population 700,000

Website https://www.colorado.edu/

Weather

Comfortable Days 130 (95% 😎) very dry

Sunshine Hours 3,107 (91% ☀️)

Days Without Precipitation 278 (86%)

Honors College

Name Honors Program

Students 2,000 (6%)

Demographics

Total Undergraduates 32,217

Men / Women 52% / 48%

From State 54%

From Region 2%

Athletes 1.6%

Racial/Ethnic

White 67%

Hispanic 14%

Mixed 7%

Asian 6%

International 3%

Black 2%

Native American 0%

Men in the Entering Class

Men

Entering Class by Race & Ethnicity

Native Asian Black Hispanic White International

Share of the full-time first-time degree-seeking cohort. Groups IPEDS reports separately — two or more races, and race unknown — are left out, so the lines don't sum to 100%.

Enrolled Undergraduates by Race & Ethnicity

Native Asian Black Hispanic White International

Share of all full-time degree-seeking undergraduates, not just the entering class. Same excluded groups as above.

IPEDS Admissions (2011–2024), Graduation Rates (2011–2024) and 12-month Enrollment (2020–2025) surveys. Years a college didn't file leave a gap in the line.

Schools & Majors

⇅	Degrees	Male/Female	Intl	Earnings	ROI	Employment
College of Arts and Sciences	3,288	42% / 58%	2%	$59,722	48	93%
Astrophysical & Planetary Science	58 +9	66% / 34%	2%	$60,638	51	93%
Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology	22 +1	45% / 55%	0%	$65,068	62	—
Chemistry	28 +1	57% / 43%	0%	$64,484	60	—
Geology	21 +3	71% / 29%	10%	$60,348	50	94%
Mathematics	46 +20	72% / 28%	2%	$80,689	84	91%
Physics	61 +3	79% / 21%	8%	$67,830	67	90%
Statistics and Data Science	22 +2	64% / 36%	0%	$80,513	84	—
Biochemistry	56 +6	52% / 48%	2%	$67,370	66	95%
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology	177 +19	40% / 60%	2%	$53,962	31	93%
Integrative Physiology	350 +5	31% / 69%	0%	$65,971	63	96%
Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology	139 +15	27% / 73%	3%	$61,839	54	98%
Neuroscience	100 +44	33% / 67%	3%	$67,430	66	96%
Environmental Studies	190 +8	46% / 54%	2%	$62,094	55	89%
Communication Sciences and Disorders	66 +9	5% / 95%	2%	$62,173	55	93%
Economics	204 +23	83% / 17%	5%	$77,368	81	93%
Anthropology	44 +13	52% / 48%	2%	$48,413	16	83%
Asian Studies	1 +3	0% / 100%	0%	$41,909	7	—
Chinese	9 +3	33% / 67%	0%	$57,111	41	71%
Classics	11 +10	45% / 55%	0%	$57,364	41	—
Community Organization and Advocacy	10 —	20% / 80%	0%	$56,453	39	—
English	103 +4	36% / 64%	0%	$37,825	4	92%
Ethnic Studies	14 +7	29% / 71%	0%	$39,091	5	100%
French	1 +3	0% / 100%	0%	$61,938	54	93%
General Studies	8 —	38% / 62%	0%	$66,430	64	93%
Geography	47 +12	60% / 40%	2%	$62,075	54	—
German Studies	2 +1	100% / 0%	0%	$58,520	45	—
History	85 +7	67% / 33%	0%	$47,501	14	90%
Humanities	19 —	37% / 63%	0%	$66,430	64	93%
International Affairs	106 +8	45% / 55%	2%	$53,438	29	86%
Italian	1 +1	0% / 100%	0%	$61,938	54	93%
Japanese	6 +5	67% / 33%	0%	$57,111	41	71%
Jewish Studies	1 —	0% / 100%	0%	$57,217	41	—
Linguistics	22 +8	36% / 64%	5%	$38,219	4	100%
Philosophy	49 +22	53% / 47%	2%	$53,314	29	87%
Political Science	229 +26	55% / 45%	1%	$72,362	75	97%
Psychology	606 +45	26% / 74%	2%	$56,855	40	92%
Religious Studies	3 +2	67% / 33%	0%	$55,795	36	—
Russian Studies	3 +4	33% / 67%	0%	$42,100	7	—
Sociology	144 +27	33% / 67%	1%	$57,824	43	96%
Spanish	9 +18	22% / 78%	0%	$61,938	54	93%
Women and Gender Studies	9 +4	11% / 89%	11%	$39,091	5	100%
Art History	10 +1	10% / 90%	10%	$38,849	5	88%
Art Practices	55 +5	27% / 73%	0%	$38,849	5	88%
Cinema Studies	100 +3	66% / 34%	1%	$42,764	8	94%
Dance	12 +1	17% / 83%	0%	$33,258	2	—
Theatre	29 —	31% / 69%	0%	$24,218	1	100%

⇅	Degrees	Male/Female	Intl	Earnings	ROI	Employment
College of Engineering and Applied Science	1,523	74% / 26%	6%	$102,847	97	94%
Aerospace Engineering	288 —	79% / 21%	6%	$100,175	96	95%
Architectural Engineering	36 —	44% / 56%	39%	$87,673	89	97%
Biomedical Engineering	60 —	38% / 62%	0%	$88,833	90	—
Chemical Engineering	43 —	63% / 37%	7%	$111,629	98	94%
Chemical and Biochemical Engineering	25 —	40% / 60%	4%	$96,072	94	94%
Civil Engineering	52 —	69% / 31%	10%	$82,324	85	94%
Computer Engineering	50 —	88% / 12%	6%	$104,809	97	—
Electrical Engineering	34 —	71% / 29%	9%	$104,495	97	100%
Engineering Physics	20 —	95% / 5%	0%	$108,230	98	89%
Environmental Engineering	48 —	48% / 52%	8%	$82,245	85	100%
Integrated Design Engineering	39 —	54% / 46%	3%	$149,480	100	94%
Mechanical Engineering	263 —	81% / 19%	4%	$88,828	90	95%
Computer Science	454 +1	83% / 17%	7%	$118,841	99	92%
Applied Mathematics	39 —	54% / 46%	3%	$92,065	92	94%
Creative Technology & Design	72 —	51% / 49%	1%	$85,780	88	—

⇅	Degrees	Male/Female	Intl	Earnings	ROI	Employment
College of Media, Communication and Information	759	45% / 55%	1%	$69,530	70	97%
Information Science	67 +2	78% / 22%	3%	$90,275	91	—
Communication	198 +2	45% / 55%	1%	$64,663	61	94%
Journalism	64 +1	39% / 61%	3%	$73,024	76	96%
Media Studies	43 +1	44% / 56%	2%	$64,663	61	94%
Strategic Communication	311 —	33% / 67%	1%	$70,728	72	100%
Media Production	76 +3	68% / 32%	3%	$58,840	46	—

⇅	Degrees	Male/Female	Intl	Earnings	ROI	Employment
College of Music	62	50% / 50%	3%	$32,691	2	97%
Music	14 —	43% / 57%	14%	$30,833	2	97%
Music Education	5 —	20% / 80%	0%	$53,881	31	—
Music Performance	43 —	56% / 44%	0%	$30,833	2	97%

⇅	Trends	Degrees	Male/Female	Intl	Earnings	ROI	Employment
Leeds School of Business		1,275	67% / 33%	2%	$88,224	90	96%
Business Administration		1,275 —	67% / 33%	2%	$88,224	90	96%

⇅	Trends	Degrees	Male/Female	Intl	Earnings	ROI	Employment
Program in Environmental Design		172	49% / 51%	1%	$65,897	63	91%
Environmental Design		172 —	49% / 51%	1%	$65,897	63	91%

⇅	Degrees	Male/Female	Intl	Earnings	ROI	Employment
School of Education	83	10% / 90%	0%	$55,384	35
Education	9 —	0% / 100%	0%	—	—	—
Elementary Education	58 —	2% / 98%	0%	$55,384	35	—
Secondary Education	16 —	44% / 56%	0%	—	—	—

Financial

In-State Tuition & Fees $16,459

Out-of-State Tuition & Fees $47,786

Est. In-State Cost $21,291

Est. Out-of-State Cost $61,816

ROI Percentile 78th

Retention & Graduation

Full-Time Retention 90%

4-Year Graduation Rate 57%

6-Year Graduation Rate 74%

Transfer-Out Rate 16%

Six-Year Graduation Rate

Graduated

Students finishing within 150% of normal time. Each year labels the cohort that entered six years earlier — 2024 tracks the class that started in 2018.

Six-Year Graduation Rate by Gender

Men Women

IPEDS reports the cohort as men and women only.

Six-Year Graduation Rate by Race & Ethnicity

Asian Hispanic White International

Each group's completers over its own share of the entering cohort. Groups making up less than 2% of everyone this college graduated over the period are left off — their rates swing on a handful of students and read as noise.

IPEDS Graduation Rates survey, 2011–2024. Years a college didn't file leave a gap in the line.

Earnings by Major Category

Each major category's degree-weighted estimated median 5-year earnings at this college, expressed as a z-score against the national degree-weighted distribution for that category. 0 is the national average. The shaded band between +1.28 and −1.28 marks the central 80% of the national distribution (10th–90th percentile).

Academics

⇅	%	Degrees	Male/Female	Intl	Earnings	ROI	Employment
Humanities & Social Sciences	32.5%	2,330	39% / 61%	1%	$60,504	50	93%
Business & Economics	20.7%	1,479	69% / 31%	2%	$86,727	89	96%
Engineering	13.4%	958	72% / 28%	6%	$96,990	94	95%
Life & Natural Sciences	11.5%	822	34% / 66%	1%	$62,959	57	96%
Computer Science	7.3%	521	83% / 17%	6%	$115,167	99	92%
Arts	4.8%	344	51% / 49%	2%	$41,865	7	94%
Physical Sciences & Math	4.1%	297	66% / 34%	3%	$71,490	74	92%
Agriculture & Food Science	2.7%	190	46% / 54%	2%	$62,094	55	89%
Education	1.2%	83	10% / 90%	0%	$55,384	35	—
Professional	1.0%	72	51% / 49%	1%	$85,780	88	—
Health Sciences	0.9%	66	5% / 95%	2%	$62,173	55	93%

Research R1

⇅	Research $	Rank	Federal	Industry $	PhDs	Rank	PhD students	Postdocs
Physical Sciences & Math	$366M	#3	82%	$2.0M	104	#19	788	187
Engineering	$177M	#23	81%	$8.0M	140	#20	895	87
Life & Natural Sciences	$59.7M	#81	84%	$0.4M	50	#52	277	51
Humanities & Social Sciences	$40.9M	#51	75%	$0.0M	95	#45	262	6
Education	$36.7M	#13	40%	$4.1M	15	#265	—	—
Computer Science	$23.6M	#45	90%	$0.9M	28	#26	212	3
Agriculture & Food Science	$5.4M	#90	44%	$0.2M	4	#81	40	1
Health Sciences	$2.4M	#193	86%	$0.1M	—	—	4	1
Business & Economics	$1.5M	#180	89%	$0	11	#118	64	—
Total	$714M	#45	79%	$15.7M	447	#43	2,542	336

Expenditure and funding source: NSF HERD, FY2024. Degrees: IPEDS completions, 2023–24. Students and postdocs: NSF Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates, fall 2024, which covers science, engineering and selected health fields only. An em dash means the source does not report the figure, which is not the same as zero.

Admissions

Uses Common App Yes

Acceptance Rate 71%

Yield (Unbound) 14%

Early Action Nov 1

Regular Decision Jan 1

Acceptance Rates

	In-State	Out-of-State	International
Regular Decision	71%	71%	71%

Early Action and Restrictive Early Action applicants are reported at the regular-decision rate.

Acceptance & Yield

Acceptance Yield

Applicants, Admitted & Enrolled

Applicants Admitted Enrolled

IPEDS Admissions survey, 2011–2024. Years a college didn't file leave a gap in the line.

Standardized Tests

Test Policy optional

Submitted Test Scores 24%

SAT Range 1240 – 1430

SAT Math Range 610 – 720

SAT RW Range 630 – 710

SAT Composite

25th 75th

SAT Math

25th 75th

SAT Reading & Writing

25th 75th

Submitting a Test Score

Submitted

IPEDS Admissions survey, 2011–2024. Years a college didn't file leave a gap in the line. Test-score submission adds SAT and ACT submitters, capped at 100% — a student can send both.