Colorado College

Private · Highly Selective · CO

Photo: Jeffrey Beall (CC BY-SA 3.0)

School data & stats

TypePrivate

LocationCO · West

SettingUrban

Undergrads2,014

Student:faculty9:1

Outcomes

4-yr grad rate71.1%

6-yr grad rate87.7%

Drop-out rate6.4%

Study abroad—

Cost

In-state tuition$71k

Out-of-state tuition$71k

Application fee—

Community

Racial diversity32%

Gender diversity56%

International5.1%

Identity—

Overview

Colorado College, in Colorado Springs, runs on the distinctive Block Plan: students take a single course at a time in intensive three-and-a-half-week blocks rather than juggling several classes across a semester, with a short break between each block. This structure enables immersive field work across the Rockies and the Southwest that a conventional semester calendar couldn't accommodate, and it draws a selective, outdoors-oriented student body to a campus set directly at the foot of Pikes Peak.

Academics

The Block Plan reshapes teaching itself: single-subject immersion allows for multi-day field trips, lab intensives, and travel courses, and departments like geology, environmental science, and Southwest studies lean heavily into that flexibility given the campus's proximity to the Rockies and the Garden of the Gods. Class sizes are small by design, and the pace within each block is genuinely fast, rewarding students who like depth and focus over the ability to juggle several subjects at once.

Campus & student life

Located at the foot of Pikes Peak, the college has a pronounced outdoor culture, with hiking, climbing, and skiing woven into student life alongside academics, supported by the college's own outdoor education resources. The block schedule creates a distinct rhythm of intense study followed by short breaks, which shapes social life around that cycle rather than a conventional semester calendar, and most sports compete at the Division III level with the notable exception of hockey, which plays Division I.

Getting in

Admissions is holistic and looks specifically for students who will thrive under the Block Plan's intensity and want the outdoor, field-based learning it enables; an essay or supplement addressing genuine enthusiasm for this unconventional structure carries real weight, since the format itself is a significant self-selecting filter that not every strong applicant has actually thought through.

After graduation

Graduates lean toward environmental and outdoor-industry careers, nonprofit work, and graduate study in the sciences, aided by a smaller but tight alumni network especially active across the Mountain West. The Block Plan's field-intensive approach to science education gives graduates in geology and environmental studies particularly hands-on preparation relative to peers from conventionally scheduled colleges.

Worth knowing

The Block Plan is the defining feature of a Colorado College education and is genuinely different from any other academic calendar — students who prefer to juggle multiple subjects simultaneously, or who need more time to absorb material, should think carefully about whether this format suits them before committing. Hockey's Division I status amid otherwise Division III athletics is a distinctive, if minor, quirk of the school.

coloradocollege.edu ↗

Admissions

Acceptance rate18.5%

Enrolled mid-50%SAT 1230–1460 · ACT 29–33

Test policyoptional

Rec letters2

Deadlines (2026–27 cycle)

Early actionNov 1

Early decisionNov 1

Regular decisionJan 15

Verified from the school’s admissions page ↗

Applying (2026-27 cycle)

Apply through Common App, Coalition (Scoir), or QuestBridge.

Early decision IIJan 15

Financial aid formsJan 15

Early Decision I and II are binding commitments to enroll if admitted, while Early Action and Regular Action are non-binding and let you compare offers before deciding.

Interviews: Interviews are optional and informational — a 30-minute virtual conversation with a student admission ambassador that is not evaluative and not required for admission.

Supplemental essays (1)

One of the benefits of Colorado College's Block Plan is the opportunity to immerse yourself fully in a single subject for 3.5 weeks. We see this as the luxury of focus—the joy and value of directing your full attention to one thing. Tell us about a time when you experienced this kind of deep focus in an academic or extracurricular setting. What were you doing, and how did it turn out?
300 words · Optional · Optional; you may also upload a document or provide a URL to share an outcome such as a project, performance, paper, or other result.

Verified from the school’s admissions pages ↗