Colorado College

Quick Stats

14 E. Cache La Poudre Street
Colorado Springs, CO 80903: [map]

Phone: (719) 389-6000

2011-2012 Tuition

$39,900: tuition and fees

Students

2,065: enrolled

46%: male /

54%: female

Admissions

Jan. 15: application deadline

33.6%: accepted

More Information

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U.S. News Rankings

Ranking score and category

U.S. News rank	Category Name
#27	National Liberal Arts Colleges

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Summary

Colorado College is a private institution that was founded in 1874. It has a total undergraduate enrollment of 2,065, its setting is urban, and the campus size is 90 acres. It utilizes a other-based academic calendar. Colorado College's ranking in the 2012 edition of Best Colleges is National Liberal Arts Colleges, 27. Its tuition and fees are $39,900 (2011-12).

At Colorado College, the typical semester does not exist. Instead of taking a full courseload like students at most other schools, CC students take one class every three-and-a-half weeks through the school’s Block Plan. Classes are small and, with no designated end time, can run as long as a teacher needs. Each month, students get a four-and-a-half day Block Break to recharge before starting a new course. In total, students will take eight classes a year. When not in class, students can experience all the Colorado landscape has to offer. CC is located in Colorado Springs at the base of Pikes Peak, where students can hike, bike, and climb. In addition, the student Outdoor Recreation Committee facilitates excursions such as backpacking, cross-country skiing, kayaking, and ice climbing. On campus, students can partake in annual events like the Winter Ball, a formal dance, and CC Llamapalooza, a music festival. Volunteerism is another student body focus: All first-year students complete a four-day service trip before freshman year, and students run an on-campus soup kitchen for the local poor on Sundays. CC has a small Greek community with one fraternity and three sororities. CC has a Division I women’s soccer and men’s hockey team; all other CC Tiger teams compete in the NCAA Division III Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference. Most students stay close to the many on-campus activities at CC because freshmen, sophomores, and juniors must live in university residence facilities.

A faculty-student relationship is encouraged outside of the classroom. Faculty members are reimbursed by the university when they host students in their homes for dinner. Called the Breaking Bread program, faculty members host about 200 total events a year. Notable alumni of CC include U.S. Senator Ken Salazar, U.S. Representative Diana DeGette, and Nobel Prize-winning economist James Heckman.

School mission (as provided by the school):

Colorado College is a private, liberal arts and sciences institution located at the foot of Pike's Peak and the gateway to the Southwest. The official college motto is "Scientia et Disciplina" or, as one scholar translates it, "Acquiring knowledge and living it." And living it -- that is the essence of Colorado College. Students are living their learning -- in the acquisition, in the sharing, and ultimately in the being out in the world. So is the faculty in their engaged, intensive, interdisciplinary teaching, their one-on-one advising, and their collaborative research with students. And so is the staff, who take students into their lives and serve as teachers in often important and unexpected ways.

Students become most alive in their education when they pursue a single subject for an uninterrupted time in small class communities under the college's Block Plan. In stimulating learning environments -- classroom and library, field and laboratory, stage and studio, residence halls and student center, the local community and foreign countries -- students immerse themselves in rigorous academic adventure. This experience, combined with athletics, outdoor recreation, student organizations, residential life, and community service offers students a true renaissance in the Rockies.

General Information

School type	private, coed college
Year founded	1874
Religious affiliation	N/A
Academic calendar	other
Setting	urban
2010 Endowment	$430,983,538

Applying

When applying to Colorado College, it's important to note the application deadline is January 15, and the early action deadline and the early decision deadline are November 15 and November 15, respectively. Scores for either the ACT or SAT test are due January 15. The application fee at Colorado College is $50. It is most selective, with an acceptance rate of 33.6 percent and an early acceptance rate of 51.9 percent.

For more information about the tests, essays, interviews, and admissions process, visit the Applying to College knowledge center.

Selectivity	most selective
Fall 2010 acceptance rate	34%
Application deadline	January 15
SAT/ACT scores must be received by	January 15

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Academic Life

The student-faculty ratio at Colorado College is 10:1, and the school has 61.0 percent of its classes with fewer than 20 students. The most popular majors at Colorado College include: Biology/Biological Sciences, General; Economics, General; Political Science and Government, General; International Economics; and Sociology. The average freshman retention rate, an indicator of student satisfaction, is 95.0 percent.

Class sizes

Student-faculty ratio

10:1

4-year graduation rate

81% - High

Five most popular majors for 2010 graduates

Biology/Biological Sciences, General	9%
Economics, General	8%
Political Science and Government, General	7%
International Economics	6%
Sociology	5%

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Student Life

Colorado College has a total undergraduate enrollment of 2,065, with a gender distribution of 46.3 percent male students and 53.7 percent female students. 75.0 percent of the students live in college-owned, -operated, or -affiliated housing and 25.0 percent of students live off campus. Colorado College is part of the NCAA III athletic conference.

See what students are saying about life at Colorado College.

Total enrollment	2,091
Student gender distribution

Undergraduate men who are members of a fraternity

Undergraduate women who are members of a sorority

Collegiate athletic association	NCAA III

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Campus Info & Services

Colorado College offers a number of student services including nonremedial tutoring, day care, health service, and health insurance. Colorado College also offers campus safety and security services like 24-hour foot and vehicle patrols, late night transport/escort service, 24-hour emergency telephones, lighted pathways/sidewalks, and controlled dormitory access (key, security card, etc). Of the students at Colorado College, 21 percent have cars on campus. Alcohol is permitted for students of legal age at Colorado College.

Students who have cars on campus	21% - Low
Health insurance offered	Yes
Students required to own/lease a computer	No

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Paying for School

At Colorado College, 36.6 percent of full-time undergraduates receive some kind of need-based financial aid and the average need-based scholarship or grant award is $30,672.

Paying for college doesn't have to be difficult or devastating. Go to the Paying for College knowledge center to get advice on raising cash and reducing costs.

Tuition and fees	$39,900 (2011-12)
Room and board	$9,416 (2011-12) - Medium
Financial aid statistics

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Student Reviews Ratings data provided by Unigo

I love this school with all my heart. I transferred here sophomore year from Duke, fleeing the university's large classes and research-minded professors and bad location. At CC, I've found people who are passionate about everything, who love to discuss classes outside of the classroom, who are driven and intelligent but so down to earth. The size has never been a problem for me because you feel safe when you go out and see a party full of people you know. Every party at CC is a theme party. A party without costumes and 80's music is no party at all here. Although Colorado Springs is a pretty sketchy location, (meth labs, military presence, the extreme religious right of Focus on the Family and the New Life Church), our school is a haven of sanity and safety. Our relationship with the community is an interesting one. Yes, there is a "CC Bubble," where few people venture off campus and we believe that everything in the world is as good as it is at our school. Those who are 21 rarely go to bars because campus weekends are so much fun. The school organizes so many events for us like Llampalooza, the big concert festival, bagels and brewfest for seniors, hundreds of speakers, comedians, winterball and homecoming, etc. The professors here really care about their students and many of them become our friends. It is rare to find a professor who won't have you over to his or her house for coffee and conversation. Few go by anything other than their first name and laugh when you call them "Professor __." They are always eager to help and know everything about you, from your hometown to your particular style of writing to what you are doing for block break. Many help you find jobs. Classes are rarely lecture based and you spend as much time learning from your fellow students as you do from your professors. CC is unique in that it doesn't require it's professors to "publish or perish," so unlike Duke, where professors are researchers first and teachers second, CC profs live for their students. Of course of the most unique things about our school is the block system. It allows you to get completely immersed in a subject to the point of an obsession for some classes. It also allows you to get all your credits taken care of pretty easily. You actually retain the information you learn because you think of nothing else for three and a half weeks. You never have homework on breaks because each block ends in a break, so you take your final for that class and that's it. The block plan also enables students to take blocks abroad or time off for skiing. I went to Ireland for a whole month to research and write poetry. Yes, it is a stressful system if you are taking science classes or if you are a procrastinator. You simply have to do your work when it's assigned or you are screwed. Missing class is not an option because one day is like a week on the semester plan. However, if you're sick, you only have to make it until noon and then you can go sleep for the rest of the day. Everyone here is involved in something. There's always some student activity going on and most students juggle multiple commitments with ease. It doesn't matter what your parents do, it matters what you do. These aren't the kids with 800 SAT scores and a house in the Hamptons. They are the kids who spent a year doing a Knolls trip, volunteered in Africa, researched Chilean weaving practices, wrote poetry books, worked with some White House senator, and somehow managed to get great grades at the same time. Block breaks are times when students volunteer or go backpacking. When the temperature gets above 50, every grassy space is filled with people playing frisbee, slacklining, reading, or just hanging out.

Anne Senior

Colorado College is all about the block plan. It is what makes it unique and interesting, as well as what makes it a particularly challenging academic environment, its understood that only certain people do well on the block plan...its sort of a self selective program. I think the size of the school was great up untill senior year when you run out of new people to meet other than the freshmen (not always the most desirable friends for a senior), so it could probably go a little bigger, but I wouldn't want the size of the classes to increase.

Andrea Senior

The best thing about CC is the block plan. Many professors tell us that we work harder than most undergraduate programs, but we don't know the difference. We are all capable of writing a 10 page paper and reading 100 pages for the next day. Thats life here and everyone gets used to it. Because generally, even if you have that much work to do, you'll still go out that night, go nuts, get your work done, and probably end up with an A in the class. Thats entirely possible. Another awesome thing about the block plan is that lots of classes travel because that professor owns you for the block. I've been to Santa Fe twice, Alaska once, Chile once, and to several different places in CO numerous times. My friends have done better: one went to Italy, London, one to Greece, many to Chile and Argentina, and so many students go to Taiwan, Somolia, and Spain. Those aren't abroad programs, those are BLOCKS! We're the only school that does that much traveling, and simply because we can. I'm from a huge high school, about 4,000 students. CC is close to 1900 students. And this school has never felt too small for me. People react in different ways when I tell them I go to CC. Some people think I'm naming some community college, and that sucks. But for people who know the name, they're impressed. Colorado Springs isn't much of a college town, but we have good areas. This is also the Air Force town and a HUGE Christian town. Areas here are great for us, but most of the time the area is too conservative for CC students.

Blair Senior

More student reviews

* Overview details based on 2010 data

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