Forbes's Top 12 Colorado Colleges and (Often) Falling National Ranking

Around this time last year, we shared a list of Forbes' top thirteen Colorado colleges and noted that their national rankings were mostly unimpressive. That's even truer in the 2015 edition. The headline of this post offers one piece of evidence for the downturn: Only twelve colleges were included in the 650...

By Michael Roberts

August 10, 2015

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Around this time last year, we shared a list of Forbes' top thirteen Colorado colleges and noted that their national rankings were mostly unimpressive.

That's even truer in the 2015 edition.

The headline of this post offers one piece of evidence for the downturn: Only twelve colleges were included in the 650 institutions of higher learning nationwide that made the magazine's cut, with Colorado Mesa University (which I attended!) falling out.

In addition, seven of the twelve colleges that make repeat appearances actually slipped — sometimes a little, other times more than that.

Continue to see the photo-illustrated Colorado roster, which compares rankings from the past two years and includes other info about cost and student population. To see the original Forbes post, including all 650 schools across the country, click here.

Number 12: Metropolitan State University of Denver
Overall ranking, 2014: 638
Overall ranking, 2015: 646
Cost: $31,188
Student population: 22,752

Number 11: University of Northern Colorado
Overall ranking, 2014: 610
Overall ranking, 2015: 616
Cost: $33,527
Student population: 12,710

Number 10: University of Colorado, Colorado Springs
Overall ranking, 2014: 536
Overall ranking, 2015: 586
Cost: $32,294
Student population: 11,321

Number 9: Fort Lewis College
Overall ranking, 2014: 596
Overall ranking, 2015: 572
Cost: $34,082
Student population: 4,021

Number 8: Western State Colorado University
Overall ranking, 2014: 496
Overall ranking, 2015: 498
Cost: $31,297
Student population: 2,404

Number 7: University of Colorado Denver
Overall ranking, 2014: 493
Overall ranking, 2015: 489
Cost: $40,452
Student population: 22,206

Number 6: Colorado State University
Overall ranking, 2014: 310
Overall ranking, 2015: 296
Cost: $23,531
Student population: 31,186

Number 5: University of Denver
Overall ranking, 2014: 139
Overall ranking, 2015: 143
Cost: $57,498
Student population: 11,778

Number 4: Colorado School of Mines
Overall ranking, 2014: 153
Overall ranking, 2015: 139
Cost: $48,097
Student population: 5,790

Number 3: University of Colorado Boulder
Overall ranking, 2014: 118
Overall ranking, 2015: 114
Cost: $52,387
Student population: 32,017

Number 2: Colorado College
Overall ranking, 2014: 51
Overall ranking, 2015: 61
Cost: $60,500
Student population: 2,061

Number 1: United States Air Force Academy
Overall ranking, 2014: 34
Overall ranking, 2015: 38
Cost: $0
Student population: 3,993
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Michael Roberts began his career with Westword in 1990 as music editor. In 1999, he took on a new role, full-time media reporter, as author of a column called The Message. In 2008, he became the lead writer for Westword's news blog, The Latest Word, a position he held until January 2023. Michael continues to freelance for Westword, covering everything from business to sports and the media; he also contributes to Jazziz, a national music magazine. He holds a bachelor's degree from what is now Colorado Mesa University and master's degrees from the University of California, Los Angeles, and Northwestern University.

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