Colorado State
University Pueblo
Public College in Pueblo, CO. Six-year graduation rate 40%. Median 10-year earnings $55,563.
The median ten-year earnings figure of $55,563 sits near the national middle rather than at either extreme. The six-year graduation rate is 40% — low enough that finishing cannot be treated as the default outcome. Debt at graduation runs to a median of $21,500, neither a bargain nor a burden. On economic mobility, 2.5% of students travel from the bottom income quintile to the top.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Admissions
With an acceptance rate of 95%, Colorado State University Pueblo takes nearly everyone who applies. 2,902 students applied in the most recent cycle — a mid-sized pool drawn mostly from the surrounding region. About 22% of admitted students enroll, a yield in the normal range. 3% of enrolled first-years submitted an ACT score. The bands below describe the middle half of that group, not of the class.
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 | — | 4 (1%) |
| SAT Math | — | |
| ACT Composite | 19–26 | 18 (3%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Colorado State University Pueblo →Academics
Completion is the problem here: 40% graduate within six years. 64% of full-time first-years come back for year two, so about one in three are gone before sophomore year. The two rates sit near each other: few students who return for a second year are missing from the six-year completion figure. 34% of students transfer out, which reframes what the graduation rate above is measuring. Retention drops to 30% for part-time students, a gap worth weighing if full-time study is not realistic.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 3,028 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Students pay an average of $13,079 annually, well below typical undergraduate net price. Income makes less difference than usual: $9,374 at $0–30k, $12,858 at $110k+. Grant aid reaches 82% of students at an average of $10,859. About 37% 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 · 612 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 | $9,374 |
| $30–48k | $8,948 |
| $48–75k | $10,961 |
| $75–110k | $15,701 |
| $110k+ | $12,858 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 1,119 of these 3,028 students, totalling $7,530,206 — an average of $6,729 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Pueblo 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)