2016 Colorado University Academic Rankings

University Benchmarks

Ranking the Top 100 Academic Universities

UniversityBenchmarks.com ranks the universities that attract and produce the best academic students.

There are many 'University Rankings' on the internet. Most rankings rely heavily on subjective metrics like 'reputation' and 'selectivity'. UniversityBenchmarks is purely an academic ranking model. The rankings are based on the reported academic and financial metrics of the colleges. There are no subjective factors like 'reputation' that are used. The calculations are performed using normal statistical models. All universities are considered equal and there is no weighting of the ranking categories.

The university 2014-2015 dataset is comprised of over 2400 US Universities & Colleges and comes from multiple sources using the most favorable reported metrics for a university.

The universities are ranked against each other in each filtered set. It is an iterative process whereby lower ranking universities are removed and the set is re-ranked until the final set of 100 is reached.

Selecting 'Rank Top 10 Only' will show the Top 10 for each filter category ranked against each other.

The academic rankings of the universities within the major conferences (ACC, Big12, Big10, Pac12, SEC) are available.

The 2017 rankings will be available in August.

Notes:

It is possible for universities to be ranked higher/lower than one another depending on the filter set.
Conference averages are based on the top 8 schools in the conference.
Public Schools are highlighted
Clicking on the university's seal icon will take you to the university's website.

Ranking Fields

Rank - Overall rank based on the average of the ranking fields (Scores, Difficulty, Smartest, Brainpower, Faculty and Research).

Scores - SAT & ACT scores. The university's test scores are corrected for dropout rate when score level is Good, Excellent or Elite. This will slightly boost scores for highly competitive schools.

Difficulty - Academic rigor is estimated based on how difficult it is to get an "A" at the university. An estimated GPA at the university is calculated for the average US Student. University grade inflation, average GPA, and STEM density are factors.

Smartest - University that can field the highest scoring students based on the average US University size. Higher Smartest Rank = "Smartest for the Average University"

Brainpower - The average "smartest" rank using 5 reference populations (CalTech, MIT, Stanford, GaTech and Berkeley). Higher Brainpower Rank = "Higher Density of Smart Students". The university ranked higher can mathematically field 'X' number of smarter students than universities ranked below them.

Faculty - Ranking based on number of % of faculty with awards and academy membership.

Research - Ranking is achieved by iteratively ranking the average of 3 research metrics (r-pop, r-stem, r-other ). The lowest ranked college is then removed and the new set is re-ranked. The result is the schools with potentially the strongest research environments per student bubble up to the top regardless of size or research budget.

r-pop - Average research spending for student population
r-stem - STEM research spending
r-other - Other/Medical/Health research spending

Salary ROI - "Salary Return on Investment" is not used in the overall ranking but is provided for additional information. Using the undergraduate average starting and mid-career salaries, the rank is based on a 20yr salary accumulation (with raises) minus the cost of a 4 year education at the university. Salaries are normalized across the country using the average COLA for the university's geo-economic region (7 regions total). The COLA effect is diminished by the level of the university. Elite, Excellent and Good universities have a greater distribution of graduates across the country and a diminishing COLA effect. The resultant value would be the graduate's spending potential over the 20yr period.

Overall ROI - "Overall Return on Investment" is not used in the overall ranking but is provided for additional information. The average of Overall Rank and Salary ROI. This would be the "Best academic bang for the buck". Colleges that produce the best education, at the best price, with the best return will be ranked higher.

Color Key - ranks are colorized as follows 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 50 100

State of Colorado University Academic Rankings

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examples: Yale "Wake Forest" "Big Ten" TX NC

2016 Colorado University Academic Rankings

2016 Colorado University Academic Rankings
rank	value	public	university	state	conference	scores	difficulty	smartest	brainpower	faculty	research	r pop	r stem	r other	salary ROI	overall ROI	scores value	difficulty value	smartest value	brainpower value	faculty value	research value	salary ROI value	overall ROI value	scores	level	stem	drop	gpa avg	research	undergrads	grads	salary	price	scores valid
1	2.33	Public	University of Colorado Boulder	Colorado	Pacific 12 Conference	5	4	1	1	2	1	2	3	1	3	2	1745\|73	2.55\|36	1999\|83	1938\|81	55\|82	1.00\|99	1406109\|70	2.00\|98	1745/1163/26	AboveAverage	27	29	2.90	377	26557	5875	50000	52387	True
2	3.17	Public	Colorado School of Mines	Colorado	Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference	3	2	4	5	1	4	4	4	5	1	1	1926\|80	1.93\|52	1920\|80	1748\|73	47\|84	4.00\|96	1818501\|91	1.50\|99	1926/1284/29	Good	89	29	3.10	51	4456	1506	65500	48097	True
3	3.67	Public	United States Air Force Academy	Colorado	Mountain West Conference	2	1	3	3	7	6	4	7	7	2	3	1982\|83	1.90\|52	1956\|81	1808\|75	200\|33	5.33\|95	1804258\|90	2.50\|98	1982/1321/30	Excellent	53	17	3.25	70	3952	0	71900	0	True
4	4.17	Public	Colorado State University-Fort Collins	Colorado	Mountain West Conference	6	7	2	2	5	3	3	2	2	5	4	1700\|71	2.68\|33	1959\|82	1888\|79	143\|52	2.33\|98	1298951\|65	4.50\|96	1700/1133/26	AboveAverage	33	34	2.95	337	23598	7756	45800	39911	True
5	5.33	Private	University of Denver	Colorado	The Summit League	4	5	7	8	3	5	6	5	4	7	6	1785\|74	2.59\|35	1824\|76	1585\|66	111\|63	4.67\|95	1270178\|64	6.00\|94	1785/1190/27	AboveAverage	11	21	2.95	16	5643	6166	47800	57498	True
6	6.33	Private	Colorado College	Colorado	Southern Collegiate Athletic C...	1	3	12	6	8	8	8	7	7	10	7	2010\|84	2.18\|46	1620\|68	1714\|71	300\|0	7.33\|93	1246865\|62	8.00\|92	2010/1340/30	Excellent	22	12	3.25	0	2050	17	44100	60500	True
7	6.40	Public	University of Colorado Denver	Colorado	No Conference Affiliation	7	8	6	7	4	2	1	1	3	4	5	1628\|68	2.69\|33	1838\|77	1619\|67	138\|54	1.33\|99	1315265\|66	5.50\|95	1628/1085/24	Average	59	54	2.80	413	13509	9282	47300	40452	True
8	7.00	Public	Metropolitan State University of Denver	Colorado	Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference	9	9	5	4	8	8	8	7	7	15	11	1590\|66	2.76\|31	1875\|78	1787\|74	300\|0	7.33\|93	1069178\|53	11.50\|89	1590/1060/24	Average	52	72	2.80	0	21196	478	42500	0	True
9	8.83	Private	Regis University	Colorado	Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference	8	6	11	12	8	8	8	7	7	9	9	1610\|67	2.64\|34	1631\|68	1334\|56	300\|0	7.33\|93	1264421\|63	9.00\|91	1610/1073/24	Average	58	37	2.80	0	5009	4199	50500	47100	True
10	9.00	Public	University of Colorado Colorado Springs	Colorado	Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference	10	10	8	9	8	8	8	7	7	6	7	1585\|66	2.79\|30	1750\|73	1515\|63	300\|0	7.33\|93	1294773\|65	8.00\|92	1585/1057/24	Average	28	56	2.80	0	9629	2132	45900	32294	True
11	10.00	Public	University of Northern Colorado	Colorado	Big Sky Conference	13	12	9	10	6	7	7	6	6	12	11	1530\|64	2.89\|28	1702\|71	1451\|60	186\|38	6.33\|94	1157032\|58	11.50\|89	1530/1020/23	Average	12	53	2.80	3	9469	2581	40700	33527	True
12	11.20	Public	Fort Lewis College	Colorado	Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference	11	11	13	13	8	8	8	7	7	13	13	1568\|65	2.82\|29	1498\|62	1205\|50	300\|0	7.33\|93	1101688\|55	12.50\|88	1568/1045/24	Average	26	60	2.80	0	3766	25	41100	34082	True
13	12.00	Public	Colorado Mesa University	Colorado	Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference	16	15	10	11	8	8	8	7	7	17	16	1470\|61	2.97\|26	1643\|68	1372\|57	300\|0	7.33\|93	703796\|35	15.00\|85	1470/980/22	BelowAverage	12	73	2.80	0	9003	113	31900	31638	True
14	13.00	Public	Western State Colorado University	Colorado	Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference	14	13	15	15	8	8	8	7	7	8	10	1475\|61	2.95\|26	861\|36	868\|36	300\|0	7.33\|93	1268735\|63	11.00\|89	1475/983/22	BelowAverage	24	60	2.80	0	2341	243	46000	31297	True
15	13.17	Public	Colorado State University-Global Campus	Colorado	No Conference Affiliation	12	17	17	17	8	8	8	7	7	14	15	1565\|65	4.00\|0	-2400\|0	-2400\|0	300\|0	7.33\|93	1083720\|54	14.50\|86	1565/1043/23	Unknown	0	0	2.80	0	6907	2352	44200	0	False
16	13.80	Public	Adams State University	Colorado	Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference	15	14	16	16	8	8	8	7	7	16	17	1472\|61	2.96\|26	543\|23	768\|32	300\|0	7.33\|93	704892\|35	16.00\|84	1472/981/22	BelowAverage	16	72	2.80	0	2156	998	31900	31364	True
16	13.80	Public	Colorado State University-Pueblo	Colorado	Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference	17	16	14	14	8	8	8	7	7	11	14	1410\|59	3.02\|25	1448\|60	1072\|45	300\|0	7.33\|93	1175861\|59	13.50\|87	1410/940/21	BelowAverage	39	65	2.80	0	5192	2064	44200	32573	True

2016 Top 10 Colorado University Academic Rankings

rank

value

public

name

state

conference

scores

difficulty

smartest

brainpower

faculty

research

salary ROI

overall ROI

scores

level

stem

drop

gpa avg

research

undergrads

grads

salary

price

2.33

Public

University of Colorado Boulder

Colorado

Pacific 12 Conference

1745/1163/26

AboveAverage

2.90

377

26557

5875

50000

52387

3.17

Public

Colorado School of Mines

Colorado

Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference

1926/1284/29

Good

3.10

4456

1506

65500

48097

3.50

Public

United States Air Force Academy

Colorado

Mountain West Conference

1982/1321/30

Excellent

3.25

3952

71900

4.17

Public

Colorado State University-Fort Collins

Colorado

Mountain West Conference

1700/1133/26

AboveAverage

2.95

337

23598

7756

45800

39911

5.33

Private

University of Denver

Colorado

The Summit League

1785/1190/27

AboveAverage

2.95

5643

6166

47800

57498

5.67

Private

Colorado College

Colorado

Southern Collegiate Athletic C...

2010/1340/30

Excellent

3.25

2050

44100

60500

6.40

Public

University of Colorado Denver

Colorado

No Conference Affiliation

1628/1085/24

Average

2.80

413

13509

9282

47300

40452

6.80

Public

Metropolitan State University of Denver

Colorado

Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference

1590/1060/24

Average

2.80

21196

478

42500

7.83

Private

Regis University

Colorado

Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference

1610/1073/24

Average

2.80

5009

4199

50500

47100

8.80

Public

University of Colorado Colorado Springs

Colorado

Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference

1585/1057/24

Average

2.80

9629

2132

45900

32294

University Benchmarks

Ranking the Top 100 Academic Universities

Notes:

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2016 Top 10 Colorado University Academic Rankings

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