College profile
Colorado State University (Fort Collins)
Listed in federal data as “Colorado State University-Fort Collins”.
CO · Public · Mid-size city · 36,612 applicants 2023
A parent's read
- Top feeder high schools: Edina Senior High (5.4), Albuquerque Academy (4.5), Westwood High School (3), Leigh High School (2.8), Kamehameha Schools Kapalama Campus (2). Graduates per class year, from each high school's own published list. 60 high schools' lists name Colorado State University (Fort Collins); every one is ranked below.
- The major moves the money more than the admit letter. Computer and Information Sciences grads from here earn about $114,076 four years out; drama grads about $34,552 — a 3.3× spread on the same diploma. Have the major conversation before you deposit, not after.
- The payoff holds even at full price: roughly 5× over a decade. With no aid at all — the full in-state ~$31,642/yr — a decade of median earnings (~$60,543/yr) still runs about 5× the four-year cost. This payoff doesn't depend on qualifying for anything. (Out-of-state costs more.)
- Ask the submit question deliberately. This college is test-optional — but at many such colleges, applicants who submit strong scores are admitted at meaningfully higher rates. “Optional” is a strategy decision, not a pass.
Composed from this page's data — every claim is backed by a number in the sections below.
Feeder high schools
Which high schools send graduates to Colorado State University (Fort Collins)?
The high schools sending the most graduates per class year to Colorado State University (Fort Collins), from each school's own published list: Edina Senior High (5.4), Albuquerque Academy (4.5), Westwood High School (3), Leigh High School (2.8), Kamehameha Schools Kapalama Campus (2). 60 high schools' lists name Colorado State University (Fort Collins).
Enrolled — from the schools' matriculation lists
All 60 schools, with the class years each list covers
How this is counted
60 high schools publish a numbered matriculation list — where their graduates actually enrolled, counted, in the school's own School Profile — and name Colorado State University (Fort Collins) on it. Between them they printed 192 enrolled graduates. Ranked by graduates per class year enrolling at Colorado State University (Fort Collins), from each school's own published list: the number that school printed, divided by the class years its list covers. The published total and the school's own years label are shown beside every school, so a one-year list and a five-year list can sit on the same page. A list whose class years we cannot read is not divided by a guess — it is listed below with its total instead.
Is my high school on this list?
Admitted — from the schools' acceptance lists
All 13 schools, with the class years each list covers
Published, but not ranked — these schools name Colorado State University (Fort Collins) on a list of the colleges that admitted their graduates whose class years we cannot read ("Since 2023", or no class year printed), so their totals are shown rather than divided: Seven Lakes High School (3, not stated).
How this is counted
13 high schools publish a numbered list of college acceptances — where their graduates were admitted, not where they enrolled — and name Colorado State University (Fort Collins) on it. Between them they printed 136 admissions. Ranked by admissions per class year to Colorado State University (Fort Collins), from each school's own published acceptances list: the number that school printed, divided by the class years its list covers. Admits are counted at each college a student was admitted to, the same way the UC Reach Score counts a student admitted to three UC campuses three times — so this is a count of admissions, not of students. The published total and the school's own years label are shown beside every school, and a list whose class years we cannot read is listed below with its total rather than divided by a guess.
All 71 feeder schools, ranked →
Counted from each school's own published document, linked on that school's page. A high school that is not here does not publish a numbered list we could read — that is all absence means, and it says nothing about its graduates. Where a school publishes both, the two lists are shown separately: an acceptances list is not a list of enrollments, and the two are never added together.
Parent/student verdict
AccessibleAccessible for most applicants. Major value play for in-state residents.
Best for
- In-state residents (tuition ~$13,373 — major value play)
- Students drawn to Biological & Biomedical Sciences or Business, Management, & Marketing (the two biggest majors)
- Research-oriented students (R1 — top tier of federal research funding)
- Students who thrive in a large, programmatic environment
The reality
- You'd be near the bottom of their admitted class if: unweighted GPA below 3.50 (test bands are the school's own; the 3.50 line is our estimate, not a published figure)
- Out-of-state tuition is 2.6× the in-state rate
Verdict is composed from this college's structured data (admit rate, SAT bands, net price with aid and at full price, Carnegie classification, scholarship grids) using transparent rule thresholds — not a chat-bot's opinion.
What are your child's odds here?
Enter their numbers once — this and every college page shows their verdict, and the UC campus cards on California school pages light up with it too. Free, no email.
Weighted is the higher GPA, with honors/AP credit in it — pick whichever your school reports. PSAT scores work in the SAT box.
Institutional snapshot
What kind of college is this?
Source: federal IPEDS Admissions 2023 for scores + admit rate; federal College Scorecard (20260606 vintage) for earnings + outcomes. SAT/ACT bands are the 25th–75th percentile of enrolled submitters.
High-school GPA
3.70 avg unweightedGPA on the plain 4.0 scale, no honors/AP bonus. When a college publishes an "average admitted GPA of 3.9," it's often this scale — don't compare it to a weighted 4.3. GPA, enrolled first-years
unweighted 4.0 scale. Colorado State University Common Data Set FY2026 (C12) ↗
As published by the college in its Common Data Set / admissions data (2025-26) — independently verified 2026-07-23 (source linked above). GPA basis (weighted vs. unweighted vs. 4.0-scale) varies by college and is labeled above.
Outcomes & cost
What graduates actually earn, finish, and owe.
Federal College Scorecard data. Earnings are median annual income measured years after entering. Debt is for federal-aid borrowers only (cash-pay students aren't counted).
The real cost
What Colorado State University (Fort Collins) actually costs
Which side your family lands on isn't set by any national income line — it's set by Colorado State University (Fort Collins)'s own aid decision: the gap between its price and your family's finances.
Your odds + estimated cost across your whole college list, side by side.
The payoffTen years of typical graduate pay minus four years of cost — how many dollars ahead a typical graduate runs by year ten. Check both the full-price and with-aid versions to see which applies to you; median pay reflects who a college admits and what they study as much as the college itself., both ways
+$479K ahead at full price +$520K with aidSource: College Scorecard (average net price among Title IV first-time, full-time undergraduates who received aid) and each college's published cost of attendance. We don't show the federal net-price-by-income brackets: their categories were fixed in 2008 and never adjusted, and none of the averages is your family's own number — the full story. Payoff = (10-yr median earnings × 10) − (4 years of cost), in dollars — how far ahead a typical graduate runs by year ten; medians travel with the students a college admits and the majors they choose as much as with the college itself. Full price is the published cost of attendance, largely in-state for publics; earnings are 10 years after enrollment, all majors combined.
What students study here
Most popular majors at Colorado State University (Fort Collins)
Top 5 fields of study by bachelor's degrees awarded (most recent IPEDS Completions). Use this to see what Colorado State University (Fort Collins) actually graduates — not just what it markets.
What those majors earn here
Median earnings 4 years after entry, by major — Colorado State University (Fort Collins)'s own graduates, not national averages.
| Major (CIP) | 4-yr earnings |
|---|---|
| Computer and Information Sciences, General. | $114,076 |
| Information Science/Studies. | $102,765 |
| Electrical, Electronics, and Communications Engineering. | $99,172 |
| Fire Protection. | $98,019 |
| Chemical Engineering. | $97,271 |
| Construction Engineering Technology/Technician. | $94,921 |
| Mechanical Engineering. | $94,260 |
| Civil Engineering. | $88,001 |
| Environmental/Environmental Health Engineering. | $82,005 |
| Business Administration, Management and Operations. | $79,256 |
Sources: IPEDS Completions (C2023_a; bachelor's-level first majors, 2-digit CIP family — share is of the top 5 only) · College Scorecard program-level outcomes (PP-FOS). Full college-vs-major comparison: /college-outcomes →
Student body & economic mobility
Who attends here — and what the campus adds.
Opportunity Insights data. It measures two things at once: how many lower-income students a college enrols, and how many of them reach the top earnings quintile later. A high rate says the college does both — it does not establish that the campus caused the earnings, because the students it admits differ from the students it doesn't. Read it as a signal about access and destination, not as proof of value added.
Full leaderboards: /college-mobility →
AI program signal
AI + computing education at Colorado State University (Fort Collins)
Full multi-lens comparison: /ai-colleges →
Alternatives to Colorado State University (Fort Collins)
Matched not just by selectivity, but by strategic goal — what a family actually decides on.
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Related reading
College admissions · October 2026
College applications · October 2026
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At a glance
JSON · Using this page with an AI assistantColorado State University (Fort Collins) is a public four-year college in CO. It admitted 90% of applicants (36,612 applied, 2023). Test policy: Test-optional.
Average enrolled GPA 3.7 (unweighted, 2025-26, as published by the college).
Cost: about $21,279 a year on average with aid, $31,642 a year at full price for in-state students.
Median earnings ten years after entry: $60,543 a year. Payoff, meaning ten years of that pay minus four years of cost: $520,314 ahead with aid, $478,862 ahead at full price.
Highest median earnings four years after the degree, by program: Computer and Information Sciences, General ($114,076); Information Science/Studies ($102,765); Electrical, Electronics, and Communications Engineering ($99,172).
Economic mobility (Opportunity Insights): 3% of students came from families in the bottom fifth of income, and 35% of those reached the top fifth as adults.
High schools that publish a numbered matriculation list and name Colorado State University (Fort Collins): 60, 192 enrolled students between them — ranked by graduates per class year, most often Edina Senior High (5.4 per class year, 27 over 5 class years, CLASSES OF 2021-2025, counted column "POST-SECONDARY PLANS, Classes of 2021-2025 (number of graduates)"); Albuquerque Academy (4.5 per class year, 18 over 4 class years, The classes of 2023-26 have matriculated at the following colleges and universities); Westwood High School (3.0 per class year, 3 over 1 class year, Class of 2026). Each figure is the number that school printed divided by the class years its own list covers; the totals and years are shown. These are the schools that publish such a list, not every school that sends students; full list: https://highschoolreach.com/leaderboards/feeder-schools/colorado-state-university-fort-collins.
High schools that publish a numbered list of college acceptances naming Colorado State University (Fort Collins): 13, 136 admissions between them — ranked by admissions per class year, most often Mira Costa High School (45.0 per class year, 45 over 1 class year, 2022-2026 College Admission Data, counted column "The first column represents the number of students admitted from the Class of 2026"); Archbishop Mitty High School (21.0 per class year, 21 over 1 class year, Class of 2026); Chaminade College Preparatory (16.0 per class year, 16 over 1 class year, Class of 2026). Admits are counted at each college, so this counts admissions, not students. These are a different set of documents from the matriculation lists above and the two are never added together; full list: https://highschoolreach.com/leaderboards/feeder-schools/colorado-state-university-fort-collins.
Machine-readable version of this page: https://highschoolreach.com/colleges/colorado-state-university-fort-collins.json
Questions families ask
What is Colorado State University (Fort Collins)'s acceptance rate? Colorado State University (Fort Collins) is a public four-year college in CO. It admitted 90% of applicants (36,612 applied, 2023). Test policy: Test-optional.
Does Colorado State University (Fort Collins) require the SAT or ACT? Colorado State University (Fort Collins) is a public four-year college in CO. It admitted 90% of applicants (36,612 applied, 2023). Test policy: Test-optional.
How much does Colorado State University (Fort Collins) cost? Cost: about $21,279 a year on average with aid, $31,642 a year at full price for in-state students.
What do Colorado State University (Fort Collins) graduates earn? Median earnings ten years after entry: $60,543 a year. Payoff, meaning ten years of that pay minus four years of cost: $520,314 ahead with aid, $478,862 ahead at full price.
Which majors at Colorado State University (Fort Collins) pay the most? Highest median earnings four years after the degree, by program: Computer and Information Sciences, General ($114,076); Information Science/Studies ($102,765); Electrical, Electronics, and Communications Engineering ($99,172).
Which high schools send the most graduates to Colorado State University (Fort Collins)? The high schools sending the most graduates per class year to Colorado State University (Fort Collins), from each school's own published list: Edina Senior High (5.4), Albuquerque Academy (4.5), Westwood High School (3), Leigh High School (2.8), Kamehameha Schools Kapalama Campus (2). 60 high schools' lists name Colorado State University (Fort Collins).
+31 more programs
Analysis: Test Prep Gurus (High School Reach, highschoolreach.com). These figures may be quoted with attribution to Test Prep Gurus.