Research · High schools - Colorado · October 2026

How Many High Schools Are in Colorado? 483 Public and 92 Private

Name: How Many High Schools Are in Colorado? 483 Public and 92 Private
Creator: Test Prep Gurus (High School Reach)
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

As of October 2026: Colorado has 575 high schools: 483 public and 92 private. The largest is Cherry Creek High School in Greenwood Village, with 3,852 students in grades 9 through 12.

The table lists the 15 largest public high schools in Colorado by the number of students in grades 9 through 12.

Analysis: Test Prep Gurus (High School Reach, highschoolreach.com), October 2026. Figures and the table may be quoted with attribution to Test Prep Gurus.

The findings, in plain English

Colorado has 575 high schools. 483 are public and 92 are private. The 473 public high schools that report enrollment hold 257,055 students in grades 9 through 12 between them. The private count is a floor, because the federal private school survey is voluntary and a school can skip it.

Cherry Creek High School is the largest public high school in Colorado. It enrolls 3,852 students in grades 9 through 12 in Greenwood Village. The 15th largest school on the table, Rocky Mountain High School in Fort Collins, enrolls 2,044. None of the 15 largest are charter schools.

The largest private high school in Colorado is Regis Jesuit High School. It enrolls 1,723 students in Aurora. That is smaller than every public school on the table above. Private schools report total enrollment to the federal survey, so a school that also teaches younger grades counts those students too. Only schools whose lowest grade is 9 are listed here, so each one is a high school.

The 15 largest public high schools in Colorado

Ranked by the number of students in grades 9 through 12.

High school	City	Students in grades 9-12	Charter
Cherry Creek High School	Greenwood Village	3,852	No
Cherokee Trail High School	Aurora	3,089	No
Eaglecrest High School	Centennial	2,851	No
Grandview High School	Aurora	2,684	No
East High School	Denver	2,476	No
Rock Canyon High School	Highlands Ranch	2,325	No
Smoky Hill High School	Aurora	2,297	No
Overland High School	Aurora	2,228	No
Legend High School	Parker	2,206	No
Mountain Vista High School	Highlands Ranch	2,169	No
Northfield High School	Denver	2,137	No
Rangeview High School	Aurora	2,078	No
Legacy High School	Broomfield	2,052	No
Vista Peak 9-12 Preparatory	Aurora	2,045	No
Rocky Mountain High School	Fort Collins	2,044	No

NCES Common Core of Data, grade 9-12 enrollment. Virtual schools are excluded. Absence from this list means a school is not among the largest, nothing more.

The largest private high schools in Colorado

Private schools whose lowest grade is 9, by total enrollment.

High school	City	Students
Regis Jesuit High School	Aurora	1,723
Valor Christian High School	Highlands Ranch	1,200
Lutheran High School	Parker	814
Mullen High School	Denver	765
Arrupe Jesuit High School	Denver	427

NCES Private School Universe Survey 2021-22, respondents only. Total enrollment, not a grades 9-12 count.

What these counts cover

A high school here is a school that serves grade 12. Virtual schools are left out, because a school with no building is not comparable to one with a campus. Public counts come from the federal Common Core of Data, which every public district reports to. Private counts come from the federal Private School Universe Survey.

Enrollment for public schools is the number of students in grades 9 through 12, so a school that also teaches middle school grades is not inflated by them. A school that reports no enrollment figure is counted in the state total but cannot be ranked, which is why the number of schools with an enrollment figure is smaller than the public count.

Private high schools in Colorado

The private table below shows the largest private high schools whose lowest grade is 9. The survey is voluntary, so treat these as the largest among the schools that answered, not a complete ranking. A private school that declines the survey does not appear at all.

Private enrollment is a total, not a grades 9 through 12 count, because the survey does not break it out the same way. Limiting the list to schools that start at grade 9 keeps the figures comparable to each other.

What a family should do with this

Size is a starting point, not a verdict. A large school usually offers more courses, more sports and more clubs, and a small school usually gives a student more contact with the adults who write recommendation letters. Both shapes send students to good colleges.

The more useful question is where a school's own graduates actually go. Our page for each Colorado high school carries that school's figures and, where the school publishes one, its own numbered list of the colleges its graduates chose. Start from the school page rather than from the size of the building.

Questions parents ask

How many high schools are in Colorado?

Colorado has 575 high schools: 483 public and 92 private. The largest is Cherry Creek High School in Greenwood Village, with 3,852 students in grades 9 through 12.

What is the largest high school in Colorado?

It enrolls 3,852 students in grades 9 through 12 in Greenwood Village.

Are private high schools included in the Colorado count?

483 are public and 92 are private. The private count is a floor, because the federal private school survey is voluntary and a school can skip it.

Method & sources: Public school counts and grade 9-12 enrollment come from the NCES Common Core of Data; private counts and enrollment come from the NCES Private School Universe Survey, whose respondents are a floor. A high school is a school serving grade 12; virtual schools are excluded. The public table is ranked by grade 9-12 enrollment, and schools without an enrollment figure are counted in the state total but not ranked.

This brief as data: /research/high-schools-in-colorado.json. Free for editorial use with attribution to Test Prep Gurus (High School Reach).