University of Denver

Overview

Rankings

• #1 Best Business Colleges in Colorado
• #2 Best Online Colleges in Colorado
• #2 Best Psychology Colleges in Colorado
• #3 Best Biology Colleges in Colorado
• #4 Best Colleges in Colorado
• #4 Best Bachelor's Programs in Colorado
• #4 Best Master's Programs in Colorado
• #4 Best Computer Science Colleges in Colorado

Academics & Admissions

Is It Hard to Get Into University of Denver? Acceptance Rate & Requirements

As a private institution in Denver, Colorado, University of Denver admits most of the students who apply; the acceptance rate is roughly 78%. Admitted students typically arrive with an average SAT score near 1,355. The graduation rate is roughly 77%.

Acceptance Rate

78%

Retention Rate

89%

SAT Average

1355

ACT Midpoint

29

SAT Range

1240–1410

ACT Range

28–33

Full-Time Faculty

53%

Faculty Salary (mo)

$13,010

Student–Faculty Ratio

8:1

Diversity Index

0.52

First-Gen Students

19%

Applicants

19,342

Admitted

15,024

Inside the Admissions Office

School-reported Common Data Set · 2024-25

The acceptance rate tells you how hard University of Denver is to get into. Its Common Data Set tells you what happens once you are admitted: how many students say yes, how many arrived without test scores, and whether applying early tilts the odds. 9% of admitted students go on to enroll here, making it a school most admitted students ultimately pass on.

Yield Rate

9%

of admits enroll

Submitted SAT

24%

of enrolled freshmen

Submitted ACT

13%

of enrolled freshmen

Cost & Financial Aid

How Much Does It Cost to Attend University of Denver? Tuition, Net Price & Aid

Published tuition at University of Denver is $61,398, but few families pay that. The number to watch is net price, what students actually pay each year after federal grants and institutional scholarships. Here it averages about $36,131. Students from families earning under $30,000 typically pay closer to $20,097 after need-based grants. The median graduate leaves with about $21,844 in federal student loans.

In-State Tuition

$61,398

Out-of-State

$61,398

Avg Net Price

$36,131

Median Debt

$21,844

Pell Grant Rate

14%

Federal Loan Rate

28%

Students Like You

Tell us a little about yourself to see what students like you have typically experienced at University of Denver — the net price for your income, your admission odds, and the outcomes that follow. These are patterns from federal data, not predictions.

Graduate Outcomes

Is University of Denver Worth It? Graduate Earnings & ROI

Ten years out, alumni of University of Denver earn a median of $71,155, well above the national average for bachelor's degree holders.

6 Years After Entry

$57,118

8 Years

$63,910

10 Years

$71,155

Debt-to-Earnings

0.31x

Earning > $25K

79%

Social Mobility

Data: Raj Chetty's Mobility Report Card · 30M+ anonymized tax records

Does University of Denver Drive Upward Mobility? Economic Mobility & Low-Income Outcomes

University of Denver is a genuine engine of upward mobility. Its mobility rate, the share of students who start in the bottom income quintile and climb to the top, is 1.41%, well above the typical college. Access is narrower: only about 3% of students come from the bottom income quintile, typical of more selective, higher-income institutions. Among bottom-quintile students who attend, roughly 47.3% go on to reach the top of the income ladder. The median family income of students sits near $152,000, a snapshot of the campus's socioeconomic mix.

Mobility Rate

1.41%

Bottom 20% → Top 20%

Success Rate

47.3%

If bottom 20% get in

From Bottom 20%

3.0%

Share of students

Parent Median Income

$206,515

today's $ (2015 cohort data)

Social Capital

Data: Opportunity Insights Social Capital Atlas

How Connected Is University of Denver? Social Capital & Cross-Class Networks

Social capital, the web of cross-class friendships that researchers link to long-run upward mobility, runs high at University of Denver. Its economic connectedness score is 1.87, where about 1.0 is the national norm. Its friending bias is low (-0.01), a sign that students from different economic backgrounds actually mix rather than self-segregate. Around 11% of students take part in civic and volunteering activity.

Economic Connectedness

1.87

Cross-class friendships

Friending Bias

-0.01

Lower = more inclusive

Volunteering Rate

10.5%

Support Ratio

1.00

Community support

Innovation & Knowledge Creation

Patents, inventors, and research influence · Opportunity Insights & Times Higher Education

University of Denver produces inventors at a measurable rate, with 48 patents tied to its graduates.

Inventor Rate

0.73%

Top 31% nationally

Patents Produced

48

Linked to graduates

Patent Citations

240

Downstream influence

Inventors From Low-Income

1.32%

Bottom-20% families

Institutional Finances

Data: NCES IPEDS

Investment Income

$-55,527,738

Top Programs

The fields University of Denver awards the most degrees in, by share of completions. Where federal field-of-study data exists, we show what graduates in that major earned early in their careers. Each links to its degree guide — or see what someone with your income, scores, and major would pay and earn here in the Students Like You simulator.

• Business & Marketing 33% $82,387 early-career
• Social Sciences 15% $40,672 early-career
• Psychology 11% $42,383 early-career
• Biology & Biomedical 9% $41,235 early-career
• Visual & Performing Arts 6% $29,935 early-career
• Computer Science & IT 5% $88,611 early-career
• Communications 5% $47,491 early-career
• Engineering 3% $78,308 early-career

Early-career median earnings by major (typically 1–2 years after completion, bachelor's level where available), in today's dollars (CPI-adjusted). Source: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard field of study. Distinct from the school-wide 10-year median; suppressed for small programs.