College dataData from U.S. Dept of EducationUpdated May 2026 · 4 min read
Data: 2026-05 Next refresh: Nov 2026

Colorado School of Mines: Cost, Graduate Salary, Acceptance Rate and Return on Investment

Colorado School of Mines is a public college in Golden, CO. Students pay about $28,690 a year in net price, and the median graduate earns $97,335 ten years after enrolling. By our Degree-ROI measure the degree pays back in about 2.7 years and adds $368,590 over a decade, ranking it #27 of 918 (top 4%) by value added.

Avg net price / yr
$28,690
Median salary (10 yrs)
$97,335
10-yr value added
$368,590
Acceptance rate
60.7%

What is Colorado School of Mines's acceptance rate?

Colorado School of Mines has an acceptance rate of 60.7%, which makes it moderately selective. It is a public institution in Golden, CO enrolling about 6,155 students, with a 80.9% graduation rate.

How much does Colorado School of Mines cost?

Colorado School of Mines costs about $28,690 per year in average net price, what a typical student actually pays after grants and scholarships. Over four years, including typical borrowing, that totals roughly $137,760. Published sticker cost of attendance is $40,560 per year.

How much do Colorado School of Mines graduates earn?

Ten years after enrolling, the median Colorado School of Mines student earns $97,335 per year. That is $50,635 more than the $46,700 that the typical worker with only a high-school diploma earns.

Is Colorado School of Mines worth it? Degree ROI and payback period

Colorado School of Mines pays back its roughly $137,760 cost in about 2.7 years, then keeps returning the earnings premium. Over the first decade the degree adds about $368,590 net of cost, a 3.68x return on the money invested. That ranks it #27 of 918 (top 4%) by value added. Its top-tier value is driven mainly by strong graduate earnings and a high graduation rate.

Top 10% value

Colorado School of Mines graduation rate and student debt

80.9% of Colorado School of Mines students complete their degree, and the median graduate leaves with $23,000 in federal student debt. That debt is about 24% of one year of median graduate earnings.

Colorado School of Mines by the numbers (vs the typical college)

How Colorado School of Mines compares to the median four-year college in our snapshot. Percentile is its rank among the 918 colleges that report both earnings and cost (higher is better).

MetricThis schoolMedian collegePercentile
Avg net price / yr$28,690$20,299cheaper than 21%
Median earnings (10 yrs)$97,335$54,76897th
Graduation rate80.9%57.0%89th
Acceptance rate60.7%75.7%more selective than 74%
10-yr value added$368,590-$28,19297th
ROI multiple (per $1)3.68x0.73x94th
Payback period2.7 yrs8.8 yrsfaster than 92%
How we compute Degree value-add & ROI. Investment basis = average net price × 4 years + median debt (net price preferred; published sticker cost used as a fallback). Earnings premium = median earnings 10 years after entry minus the $46,700 typical earnings of a worker with only a high-school diploma (BLS Current Population Survey, median annual earnings for workers with a high-school diploma and no college (~$899/week, 2023)). Degree value-add = premium × 10 years minus total cost, the net return of the degree itself over a high-school career (it can be negative). ROI multiple = 10-year premium ÷ cost. Payback = cost ÷ annual premium. Ranked by value-add among the 918 four-year colleges in this snapshot that report both earnings and cost; 226 of them do not pay back at ten years. Missing values are excluded, never estimated.
Open data: these figures come from the public College Scorecard (public domain). Our computed Degree value-add, ROI multiple, and payback are free to cite/reuse under CC-BY 4.0.

Frequently asked

Is Colorado School of Mines worth the cost compared to other colleges?

By value added net of cost, Colorado School of Mines ranks #27 of 918 (top 4%) of the 918 four-year colleges we rank, and returns about 3.68x the money invested over a decade.

Is Colorado School of Mines expensive compared to other colleges?

Its $28,690 average net price is above the $20,299 median for the colleges in this snapshot, making it cheaper than 21% of them.

Do Colorado School of Mines graduates earn more than average?

Median earnings of $97,335 ten years out are above the $54,768 median, higher than 97% of the colleges here.

How hard is it to get into Colorado School of Mines compared to other colleges?

Its 60.7% acceptance rate is below the 75.7% median, making it more selective than 74% of the colleges in the snapshot.

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