Colorado College

Admission to Colorado College is selective, though its position on national lists has slipped somewhat over the past decade. In the 2027 U.S. News Best National Liberal Arts Colleges ranking, Colorado College placed 34th, moving down from 23rd in 2018. For the 2025 entering class, the college admitted 18.5% of applicants. This acceptance rate was higher than 27% of peer private liberal arts colleges, reflecting stricter selectivity than most institutions in the comparison group. Once accepted, students commit to enrolling at an above-average pace relative to competitors. The yield rate was 30.3% in 2025, higher than the median of its peer group. While less than a third of admitted candidates ultimately enroll, the college continues to draw a consistent portion of its accepted class. For prospective applicants, navigating this selective process requires presenting an exceptional application, as the institution denies the substantial majority of those who apply each year.

Colorado College operates under an admissions policy where standardized testing is optional, considered if submitted. For 2025, admitted students who submitted results posted an SAT median score of 1340, which is higher than 10% of peer schools in a comparison group of similar private liberal arts colleges. In the same 2025 testing year, composite ACT scores for the middle fifty percent of admitted test-takers ranged from 29 to 33. Submission rates show that testing was provided by a minority of candidates, with less than a third submitting SAT scores in 2025. High school academic performance remains a central component of evaluation: during the 2023–2024 academic year, incoming freshmen predominantly earned grades at the top of their secondary school classes, with many achieving flawless academic records. For prospective applicants, gaining admission demands strong classroom achievement, and those choosing to submit standardized tests should present scores that align with these selective institutional ranges.

Undergraduate degrees at Colorado College are distributed across a broad spectrum of liberal arts disciplines rather than concentrated in a single department. In 2025, the top three bachelor's degree fields accounted for only 20% of all undergraduate degrees awarded, showing that student academic interests are widely dispersed. The most popular program was Business/Managerial Economics with 47 graduates, followed by Political Science and Government, and Research and Experimental Psychology. While economics is the most sought-after program, it held a 2027 U.S. News ranking of 161st, placing it outside top-tier national rankings. In the job market, 2023 earnings data show that graduates in economics earned a median of $58,227 one year after graduation. Political science graduates achieved a comparable median salary, while biology graduates earned less. For prospective students, Colorado College offers diverse academic choices where no individual major dominates campus, though families should weigh post-graduation starting salaries across different fields of study.

Colorado College is an undergraduate-centered institution where White students make up the clear majority across all cohorts. In 2025, international students numbered 31 in the entering first-year class, accounting for 6.5% of new students. Asian students made up 24 first-year undergraduates, representing 5% of the freshman cohort. Among continuing undergraduates, international and Asian students each represent a similar small percentage of the population. Graduate study is a minimal facet of campus life, comprising only a handful of students primarily in education programs. Hispanic and Latino students constitute the largest domestic minority community on campus, while female students make up a slight majority of undergraduates. For prospective applicants assessing peer demographics, the student body is primarily domestic, with international and Asian students forming small, visible segments within each undergraduate class.

The undergraduate population at Colorado College is concentrated almost entirely within traditional college ages. In 2025, students aged 20 to 21 constituted 47.8% of undergraduates, while those aged 18 to 19 made up 36.2%. With nearly all remaining undergraduates between 22 and 24, the undergraduate community consists of students progressing straight from high school through their degree programs. In contrast, the small graduate population of fewer than thirty students displays a markedly different age profile, with 35.7% of graduate students between 40 and 49 years old. This demographic contrast highlights a campus environment where day-to-day undergraduate peer interactions occur within a narrowly defined, traditional peer group, while the tiny graduate presence consists largely of mature adult learners.

International student enrollment at Colorado College has trended downward over the past decade and remains modest relative to peer institutions. In 2025, international undergraduates made up 5.2% of the student body, a decline from earlier years. This share was higher than 27% of peer private liberal arts colleges. At the graduate level, international enrollment stood at zero, reflecting the domestic focus of its small master's programs. Among bachelor's degree recipients in 2025, international students accounted for 5.8% of all graduates. These international graduates concentrated within quantitative and social science programs, reaching their highest concentration in Research and Experimental Psychology at 13.2% of graduates, followed by computer science and business economics. No international students graduated from master's programs in education. For international applicants, these patterns indicate a campus where foreign students represent a small, focused community within a predominantly domestic student body.

Prospective applicants researching Colorado College have several prominent higher education institutions nearby within Colorado. Located just 11.8 kilometers to the north is the United States Air Force Academy, which is ranked 11th among national liberal arts colleges in the 2027 U.S. News rankings. Traveling approximately 58 to 66 kilometers north toward the Denver metropolitan region, students will find the University of Denver, a private national university ranked 121st, and the Colorado School of Mines, a public research institution holding the 80th spot. Further north in Boulder, about 84 kilometers from campus, is the University of Colorado Boulder, which is ranked 109th among national universities.

Campus safety records at Colorado College show a declining incident rate, with documented infractions heavily concentrated in university disciplinary violations rather than violent crime. In 2025, the college recorded a crime rate per 1,000 students of 38.9, marking a decrease from a decade earlier. Across the three-year period from 2023 to 2025, the vast majority of recorded campus incidents involved disciplinary referrals for substance policies, including 497 alcohol disciplinary referrals and 222 drug disciplinary referrals. By comparison, property crimes such as vehicle thefts and burglaries occurred in far smaller numbers over those years, while violent offenses, including assaults and sex offenses, were infrequently reported. For prospective students and families assessing safety, these records indicate that campus disciplinary enforcement regarding alcohol and drug regulations accounts for the bulk of safety reports, while serious personal crimes remain relatively rare on campus grounds.