Admissions & selectivity
University of Colorado Boulder Acceptance Rate & Admissions
What is the acceptance rate at CU Boulder?
CU Boulder’s reported acceptance rate is 78.1%.
- Acceptance rate · Fall 2024
- 78.1%
Source: College Scorecard · Fall 2024 admissions. Acceptance rates can change from year to year; this figure does not predict the current or next admission cycle.
Source: University of Colorado Boulder Common Data Set 2024-25, C1 · first-time, first-year students.
How to interpret the acceptance rate
Admission at University of Colorado Boulder was 78.1%, meaning that share of the reported applicant pool received offers. It matched the median of 78.1% for comparable institutions (same type and size).
In its 2024-25 Common Data Set, the university reported 69,218 first-year applicants, 52,517 admitted applicants, and 7,428 enrolled first-year students.
What SAT and ACT scores do enrolled CU Boulder students report?
Most entering students at University of Colorado Boulder did not submit SAT or ACT scores, so the ranges below describe a small minority of the class. In its 2024-25 Common Data Set, the university reported that 25% of enrolled first-year students submitted SAT scores and 7% submitted ACT scores.
For the SAT, the middle half of those submitters landed between 1180 and 1390. For the ACT, the middle half landed between 27 and 33.
The figures come from enrolled students who chose to submit scores, not from any minimum required score. Class rank was reported by 40% of the entering class.
Among first-year students with a reported class rank, 30% were in the upper tenth of their high-school class, 59% in the upper quarter, and 89% in the upper half. Applicants who submit scores should compare their own results to the 1180–1390 SAT range or the 27–33 ACT range to see where they fall among recent enrolled submitters.
The ranges below describe enrolled students who submitted test scores at CU Boulder. Use them as academic context, then check the university’s current testing policy for your application cycle.
25% of entering students submitted SAT scores
- 25th percentile
- 1180
- Median
- 1300
- 75th percentile
- 1390
CDS 2024-25 · enrolled first-year score submitters. This range is not an admission cutoff.
7% of entering students submitted ACT scores
- 25th percentile
- 27
- Median
- 30
- 75th percentile
- 33
CDS 2024-25 · enrolled first-year score submitters. This range is not an admission cutoff.
Source: University of Colorado Boulder Common Data Set 2024-25, C9 · Enrolled first-time, first-year score submitters.
Who enrolls at CU Boulder?
- Pell Grant recipients
- 14.5%
- Entering students outside the first-time, full-time group
- 19.0%
- First-year retention
- 90.1%
Retention source: College Scorecard; full-time first-year retention.
About these student measures
The entering-student group includes part-time entrants as well as other attendance patterns.
In its 2024-25 Common Data Set, University of Colorado Boulder reported 69,218 first-year applicants, 52,517 admitted applicants, and 7,428 enrolled first-year students. Pell Grant recipients account for 14.5% of undergraduates, and an estimated 19.0% of undergraduates enter as transfers or part-time students.
Federal undergraduate enrollment is 31,939 undergraduates, indicating that the university serves both students receiving Pell Grants and students arriving from prior colleges. The Common Data Set lists 4,500 degree-seeking transfer applicants, 3,239 admitted transfers, and 72 transfer students enrolled.
Pell-eligible or transfer applicants should compare their aid offer and transfer-credit evaluation before enrolling.
University of Colorado Boulder retains and graduates its first-time, full-time cohort at rates above those of comparable institutions, although completion is less even for Pell recipients. The first-year retention rate is 90.1%, above the peer median of 83.1%, meaning most members of the entering cohort return for a second year.
Its six-year graduation rate is 74.2%, also above the comparable-institution median of 65.0%. Pell recipients in that cohort have a six-year completion rate of 56.3%, below the overall rate by 17.9 percentage points.
Enrolled students can expect strong cohort-wide persistence and completion figures, with a clear difference in completion outcomes for Pell recipients.
Data & methodology
Sources and reporting periods: methodology.
Analysis and methodology by Daniel Rogers, founder of College Azimuth.
Explanatory text is AI-assisted drafting checked against those figures; it is not an additional data source.
Admission rates describe past applicants, not an individual’s chance of admission; confirm requirements and deadlines with the institution.
Figure notes link to sources and limitations. About College Azimuth.