Colorado School
of Trades
For-profit College in Lakewood, CO. Six-year graduation rate 81%. Median 10-year earnings $51,591.
Ten years after entry, the median Colorado School of Trades student earns $51,591 — a solidly middle-of-the-pack result for an undergraduate institution. Completion is a strength: 81% of students finish within six years. Debt at graduation runs to a median of $20,000, neither a bargain nor a burden.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ Graduation rate 81% — well above the national average
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Admissions
Admission is not the constraint here: 91% of applicants are accepted. The applicant pool is small at 44, which makes year-over-year comparisons unreliable. 73% of admitted students actually enroll, which is a high yield by national standards.
Test score bands (middle 50% of submitters)
These bands describe the enrolled first-years who submitted a score, not the entering class. Where most students apply test-optional the submitters are a self-selected, higher-scoring group.
| Test | 25th–75th percentile | Submitted |
|---|---|---|
| SAT Evidence-Based Reading | — | — |
| SAT Math | — | |
| ACT Composite | — | — |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Academics
A 81% six-year graduation rate is the strongest academic signal on this page. 93% of full-time first-years return for a second year — a healthy figure. Retention and completion are close, which places the gap between entering and finishing almost entirely in year one. At 10:1, students get materially more instructor contact than at a typical public university. This is a for-profit two-year institution. That is not disqualifying, but it does mean verifying accreditation, transferability of credits, and job-placement claims directly rather than trusting the category.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 144 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Students pay an average of $24,768 annually once grants are applied. Grant aid is limited — 28% of students receive any. About 32% borrow federally, roughly the national pattern.
Entering first-year students
A different, smaller group than the rates above: full-time students in their first year of college anywhere. The grant series here also excludes the "other sources" counted in the all-undergraduate figure, so the two are not comparable.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · 83 students
Net price by family income
The same students as the headline above, limited to those who received Title IV federal aid — a narrower group, with a lower overall average. IPEDS publishes no combined figure across these bands, so they should not be averaged into one.
| Family income band | Average net price |
|---|---|
| $0–30k | $26,083 |
| $30–48k | — |
| $48–75k | — |
| $75–110k | — |
| $110k+ | — |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 46 of these 144 students, totalling $418,157 — an average of $9,090 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Jefferson County) — budget these against any cost-of-attendance housing estimate.
HUD Fair Market Rents (40th-percentile gross rent incl. utilities) · FY2026
Veterans & GI Bill
VA GI Bill Comparison Tool (Veterans Affairs GIDS)