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Community colleges in Colorado

There are 9 two-year, predominantly associate-degree-granting community colleges in Colorado reporting to the U.S. Department of Education. Median published in-state tuition across the state is $13,819 per academic year — among the most affordable postsecondary options anywhere in the country.

This page is a working directory: every institution links to a full profile with cost, enrollment, completion, and transfer numbers. The lists below highlight the most affordable, the largest, and the most transfer-active campuses in Colorado, drawn from the same Department of Education data four-year admissions offices use to evaluate incoming transfer applicants. If you are weighing a community-college start before continuing to a four-year program, the transfer rate column is the single most useful comparison.

Most affordable in-state tuition in Colorado

  1. Community College of AuroraAurora$4,470
  2. Lamar Community CollegeLamar$4,550
  3. Colorado Northwestern Community CollegeRangely$4,594
  4. Bel-Rea Institute of Animal TechnologyDenver$13,819
  5. Apex College of Veterinary TechnologyColorado Springs$13,850

Full Colorado cost ranking → Tuition reference →

Largest community colleges in Colorado

  1. Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts-BoulderBoulder8,504
  2. Community College of AuroraAurora3,250
  3. Colorado Northwestern Community CollegeRangely504
  4. Lamar Community CollegeLamar400
  5. Spartan College of Aeronautics and TechnologyBroomfield397

Full enrollment ranking →

Strongest transfer outcomes

Share of full-time entrants who transferred to another institution within 150% of program length.

  1. Bel-Rea Institute of Animal TechnologyDenver50%
  2. Spartan College of Aeronautics and TechnologyBroomfield37%
  3. Lamar Community CollegeLamar25%
  4. Community College of AuroraAurora20%
  5. Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts-BoulderBoulder1%

Colorado transfer guide →

All 9 community colleges in Colorado

InstitutionCityEnrollmentIn-state tuition
Apex College of Veterinary TechnologyColorado Springs27$13,850
Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts-BoulderBoulder8,504—
Bel-Rea Institute of Animal TechnologyDenver139$13,819
Colorado Academy of Veterinary TechnologyColorado Springs23$19,721
Colorado Northwestern Community CollegeRangely504$4,594
Colorado School of TradesLakewood85—
Community College of AuroraAurora3,250$4,470
Lamar Community CollegeLamar400$4,550
Spartan College of Aeronautics and TechnologyBroomfield397$20,235

About community college in Colorado

Colorado's 9 community colleges serve as the primary on-ramp into postsecondary education for hundreds of thousands of residents each year. They award associate degrees, occupational certificates, and — through articulation agreements with public and private four-year institutions — transferable general-education credit. For most students, the financial argument is decisive: published in-state tuition averages a small fraction of state-flagship sticker price, and many community-college students qualify for the full federal Pell Grant, eliminating tuition entirely.

If you intend to transfer, the most important question to ask any Colorado community college is which four-year institutions accept its credit on a course-for-course basis. The state's strongest transfer pipelines tend to feed regional public universities, but well-prepared students from accredited community colleges in Colorado routinely transfer into selective private institutions as well. Use the transfer-rate column above as a starting filter, then consult the receiving university's transfer admissions office to confirm specific course equivalencies.

Career-focused students should pay attention to the local labor market as much as to the institution. Colorado's community colleges concentrate heavily in health-care occupations, mechanical and engineering technology, business administration, and skilled-trades programs aligned to regional employers. The Bureau of Labor Statistics' state-level wage data is the right reference for setting expectations on starting salary by field. Where this site reports earnings, the figure is median earnings ten years after first enrollment, drawn from the College Scorecard's match against federal tax records.