Best Online Colleges in Colorado of 2025

University Headquarters (HQ) is an industry-leading, independent educational organization that provides independent college rankings using a proprietary formula to create first class, unbiased rankings. The team at University HQ strives to provide accurate and trustworthy rankings that highlight the best programs in Colorado.

Featured Online Programs

Online colleges in Colorado are on the rise. Since the Covid-19 pandemic descended on the state, Colorado's colleges and universities have responded by increasing their online degree offerings. This helps students take advantage of Colorado's strong economy, which is adding to its labor force all the time. As of this writing, the state had added 4.4% to its total non-farm workforce during recent months and years. When a Colorado worker is able to complete a quality college education, they can position themselves for higher salaries and greater long-term success.

These school rankings are intended to help prospective students find the best distance learning or online degree programs in Colorado. Researchers have thoroughly considered the data to find the programs that offer the best online courses for associate degree to master’s degree seekers. Thus, students who make smart use of these rankings can stay in their Colorado hometown and take advantage of degree programs statewide.

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Online Higher Education in Colorado

The average tuition for a Colorado resident who attends one of the state's colleges or universities is just over $7,000. This number factors in private institutions, such as Colorado College, which posts gross tuition costs of over $60,000. However, for students who stay within the state's robust publicly funded system of colleges and universities, tuition rates are reasonable. One of the most expensive colleges in Colorado is the Colorado School of Mines, which charges Colorado residents $19,000 per year in tuition and fees. However, the School of Mines provides highly specialized degrees that can propel students into lucrative careers. Additionally, the School of Mines and many other public Colorado colleges and universities offer online education.

Find Your Online Colorado Program

Though Colorado does not offer statistics on the gross tuition costs of online education versus traditional courses, certain factors remain. That is, online education offers a more affordable route to a diploma by virtue of its inherent flexibility. One key difference is that students in an online college degree program can live wherever they like. While the average living costs for a Colorado resident are up to $25,000, that number was taken from a limited number of cities and towns. While going to school in Denver may sound fun, it's also expensive. Meanwhile, with online education, students can take courses that originate in Denver while living in their hometown where the cost of living may be far lower.

Online college degree programs also allow students another financial advantage. That is the ability to work while still going to school. Students may find work in their major field, thus accruing valuable experience while still in school. While traditional campus students may have internship opportunities, it can be more valuable to accrue time as a paid employee. Furthermore, students who can work full-time are likely to have benefits on top of their salary.

Our School Rankings Methodology

When it comes to ranking the best online colleges in Colorado, researchers need to assemble a consistent set of statistics they can compare. Naturally, one of the chief criteria our researchers looked for in this instance is whether a school offered online college degrees. This ensures that every comparable Colorado college or university is of the same sort. From that point, researchers searched out the graduation rate, retention rate, costs, reputation, and student to faculty ratio for each school.

The retention and graduation rates may be two of the chief concerns when it comes to assessing a school's academic value. The retention rate measures that institution's ability to hold onto its first-time, full-time students from their first year into their second. When students return to a school for a second year, it’s certain that they have found high value in the institution's faculty, curriculum, and campus resources. Naturally, the graduation rate indicates how many students are loyal enough to stick around and graduate within the normal time frame, which is now about six years.