College Viability Inspection Report

University of Colorado Colorado Springs

Colorado · Public

University of Colorado Colorado Springs is a public institution in Colorado, enrolling 8,250 students as of 2024. It graduates 25% of students in four years, returns 68% of freshmen for a second year, and costs an average of $16,942 a year after grants and scholarships. Of the 8 inspection checks that could be evaluated, 5 are flagged: Retention, Graduation, Equity Gap, Enrollment, and Price vs. Outcomes. This report benchmarks University of Colorado Colorado Springs's most recent reported year (2024) against 2,000+ U.S. colleges across three dimensions: student outcomes, financial health, and value for money. All figures are drawn from federal IPEDS filings and are reported without editorial judgment.

Data note: The U.S. Department of Education's IPEDS database did not include every reported figure for University of Colorado Colorado Springs between 2020 and 2024. 1 indicator is not reported in IPEDS for any year 2020–2024 and 1 inspection flag could not be evaluated for lack of data — affected indicators are tagged below; missing years are shown as gaps in trend charts rather than estimated.

University of Colorado Colorado Springs Inspection Flags

Student Outcomes
Financial Health
Value for Your Money

Inspection flags are nine independent checks across student outcomes, financial health, and cost-to-value that surface areas of a college's reported numbers worth a closer look. A triggered flag means the college's data met a specific threshold that students and families may want to ask about — for example, graduation rates slipping below a level, or tuition rising while outcomes decline. A clear flag means the threshold was not met. Flags are signals for further conversation, not verdicts.

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College Viability
Data Summary

University of Colorado Colorado Springs — All Reported Indicators

Plain-text reference table of every metric and inspection flag for University of Colorado Colorado Springs. Values reflect IPEDS-reported figures; percent changes reflect endpoint-to-endpoint 2020 → 2024 comparison; percentiles reflect 2024 national rank against four-year public and private nonprofit institutions. Cells marked "not reported" indicate the indicator was not present in IPEDS for this institution.

Student Outcomes

Metric2024 Value5-Yr % ChangeNational Percentile
Four-Year Graduation Rate25.0%+4.2%25th
Six-Year Graduation Rate43.0%-4.4%28th
Full-Time Retention Rate68.0%-4.2%26th
Pell Grant Six-Year Graduation Rate39.2%+3.5%32nd
Pell-to-Non-Pell Graduation Gap11.0pp+9.6%59th
Pell Share of Cohort30.2%+0.9%32nd

Financial Health

Metric2024 Value5-Yr % ChangeNational Percentile
Revenue-to-Expense Ratio1.00×-6.1%25th
Total FTE Enrollment8,250-12.4%87th
Endowment Valuenot reportednot reportednot reported
Net Assets (End of Year)$269.3M+8.2%74th

Value for Money

Metric2024 Value5-Yr % ChangeNational Percentile
Instructional Spending %41.3%-0.1%78th
Student Support Spending %10.8%+17.1%42nd
Administrative Spending %10.9%-33.2%18th
Instruction+Support to Admin Ratio4.78×+54.3%87th
Average Net Price$16,942+6.9%42nd
Net Price: $0-30K Income$12,065+4.5%41st
Net Price: $30K-48K Income$11,642+2.2%35th
Net Price: $48-75K Income$12,104-21.1%26th
Net Price: $75K-110K Income$18,388-6.8%39th
Net Price: $110K+ Income$22,142+7.3%37th

Inspection Flags

FlagSectionStatus
Retention Below 80%
University of Colorado Colorado Springs's retention rate fell below 80% in 5 of 5 reported years — triggering the 3-of-5 threshold.
Student OutcomesTriggered
Four-Year Graduation Rate Below 50%
University of Colorado Colorado Springs's 4-year graduation rate fell below 50% in 5 of 5 reported years — triggering the 3-of-5 threshold.
Student OutcomesTriggered
Pell Gap Exceeds 10 Points
University of Colorado Colorado Springs's Pell graduation gap exceeded 10 percentage points in 4 of 5 eligible years — triggering the 3-of-5 threshold.
Student OutcomesTriggered
Revenue-to-Expense Below 1.0
University of Colorado Colorado Springs's ratio fell below 1.0 in 1 of 5 reported years — below the 3-of-5 trigger threshold.
Financial HealthCleared
Enrollment Declined 5% or More
University of Colorado Colorado Springs's total enrollment fell from 9,420 to 8,250 students between 2020 and 2024 (-12.4%) — a decline of 5% or more.
Financial HealthTriggered
Endowment Under $50M or Growth Under 15%
Endowment was not reported for 2020 or 2024, so this flag could not be evaluated.
Financial HealthNot Evaluated
High Cost, Low Completion
University of Colorado Colorado Springs costs less than the national median AND graduates students at below-median rates — only one of two conditions is met.
Value for MoneyCleared
Spending on Students Below the National Median
University of Colorado Colorado Springs spends $4.78 on instruction and student support per $1 of admin in 2024 — at or above the national median of $2.75 in every reported year.
Value for MoneyCleared
Rising Price, Falling Outcomes
Both conditions were met: University of Colorado Colorado Springs's net price rose while the 6-year graduation rate declined between 2020 and 2024 — a prompt to ask whether tuition increases are translating into stronger student outcomes.
Value for MoneyTriggered