Source: IPEDS, as of September 29, 2026. Cost is resident tuition plus required fees, 2023-24.
Bachelor's Degrees in Colorado
2
Meet the Ranking Threshold
2
Median Resident Tuition and Fees
$12,613
General Studies Bachelor's Degrees in Colorado
General studies bachelor's degrees in Colorado are two programs, both at public universities, and both small enough that neither reached the national ranking threshold of 10 degrees a year, so they're ranked here within Colorado on the national formula. The University of Colorado Boulder awarded 8 general studies bachelor's degrees in the latest year, and Fort Lewis College in Durango awarded 4. In Colorado, general studies is mostly a two-year credential, with 20 colleges awarding the associate and only these two the bachelor's, so the question at this level is how the credits you already hold come in.
CU Boulder ranks first in the state at 51.3, and the reason is completion: its campus graduates 74% of first-time, full-time students, the highest figure attached to any general studies program in the state and the 97th percentile of the national pool. Residents pay $15,556 a year in tuition and required fees and nonresidents $41,943. Fort Lewis College ranks second at 22.9, graduating 36% and charging residents $9,670 and nonresidents $20,798, so it beats Boulder on cost, 52nd percentile against 26th, but graduation rate carries 45% of the score and settles the order. Durango is about as far from the Front Range as a Colorado campus gets.
Neither program is offered fully online, so you'll be in Boulder or Durango. Both universities are public, so GT Pathways, the state's general education framework, is built into their degrees by rule, and the College Opportunity Fund stipend can apply to your in-state tuition.
The 2 Best General Studies Bachelor's Degrees in Colorado
The general studies bachelor's degrees in Colorado are ranked below within the state. Each awarded fewer than the 10 degrees a year the national bachelor's degree ranking requires, so none is on the national list, but each is scored on the same formula and against the same national programs, so a score here means what it means there. The number on each card is the program's place in Colorado.
1
University of Colorado Boulder
Colorado
51.3- Public
- College graduation rate
- 74%
- In-state tuition and fees
- $15,556 a year
- Degrees awarded, latest year
- 8
About the Program
Boulder, Colorado is home to University of Colorado Boulder, a public university of 38,799 students. The program's last federal report shows 8 bachelor's degrees conferred, so it is larger than 1 in every 100 programs measured here. A 74% graduation rate puts the college at the 97th percentile, though that figure counts every student who started there and not this degree alone. Tuition and fees run $15,556 a year in state against $41,943 out of state, so on price it sits at the 26th percentile. About 78% of applicants are admitted, so an application is not a formality. On the graduation rate of its college it does best, reaching the 97th percentile.
2
Fort Lewis College
Colorado
22.9- Public
- College graduation rate
- 36%
- In-state tuition and fees
- $9,670 a year
- Degrees awarded, latest year
- 4
About the Program
Fort Lewis College is a public college in Durango, Colorado that enrolls 3,544 students. During the most recent year on record it awarded 4 bachelor's degrees, a count at the 1st percentile for size. Across the whole college, 36% of students finish, which is a higher rate than 16% of the institutions behind this list. Tuition and fees run $9,670 a year in state against $20,798 out of state, so on price it sits at the 52nd percentile. Admission is selective enough to plan for, with 77% of applicants accepted. On price it does best, reaching the 52nd percentile.
How Much Does a General Studies Bachelor's Degree Cost in Colorado?
A general studies bachelor's degree in Colorado costs $12,613 a year at the median, which with two programs is simply the midpoint between Fort Lewis College at $9,670 and the University of Colorado Boulder at $15,556 in 2023-24 resident tuition and required fees. The gap between them is $5,886 a year for a resident. For a nonresident it's far wider: Fort Lewis charges $20,798 to out-of-state students and CU Boulder $41,943, so an out-of-state student pays more than twice as much in Boulder as in Durango.
State aid at this level comes through the College Opportunity Fund, a stipend for eligible undergraduates at participating colleges that is paid on a per credit hour basis directly to the college you attend and reduces in-state tuition. It is a resident's benefit, since it goes toward in-state tuition, and because it's paid per credit hour it follows your enrollment term by term rather than arriving as a lump sum. If you're transferring in with an associate degree, the stipend applies to the credits you take at the four-year college, so a student who arrives with junior standing draws it for fewer terms than one who starts as a freshman.
How Does Credit Transfer Into a General Studies Bachelor's Degree in Colorado?
Credit transfers into a general studies bachelor's degree in Colorado through GT Pathways, the 31 credit-hour statewide general education framework that CU Boulder and Fort Lewis College, as public institutions, must include within their degree offerings. Every GT Pathways course you completed elsewhere in the state with a C- or better is guaranteed to transfer and apply in its GT Pathways category, and that guarantee holds for 10 years.
Whether you arrive as a junior depends on which associate degree you hold. Under the Statewide Transfer Articulation Agreements, a student who earns a 60-credit associate degree with designation transfers to a four-year institution with junior status, and AA and AS graduates with a 2.5 GPA have guaranteed admission to every Colorado public four-year institution except Mines, which takes in both CU Boulder and Fort Lewis. An Associate of General Studies is the exception, since AGS and AAS degrees are not included in STAAs: an AGS holder's GT Pathways courses come in under the guarantee and the university evaluates the rest. Ask admissions how many of your credits land.
If the bachelor's doesn't get finished, the Colorado Re-Engaged initiative, created by HB21-1330, lets a four-year public institution award an associate degree to a stop-out student who earned at least 70 credit hours there but no bachelor's degree.
What Do Jobs With a General Studies Bachelor's Degree Pay in Colorado?
Jobs open to a general studies bachelor's degree in Colorado pay the state medians below, from the May 2025 federal wage survey, with the national median beside each for comparison. Each row links to the salary guide for that job.
How to Choose a General Studies Bachelor's Degree Program in Colorado
How to choose a general studies bachelor's degree program in Colorado is a choice between two campuses that differ on almost every measure: completion, price, size and distance. CU Boulder graduates 74% of its students and charges residents $15,556. Fort Lewis College graduates 36% and charges $9,670, so the $5,886 a year you save in Durango comes with a campus where fewer than four in ten first-time students finish. Both programs are small, 8 and 4 degrees a year, which means you'll be one of a handful of general studies majors on either campus rather than part of a large cohort.
Since neither program is online, the practical question is which city you can live in. Then put three questions to the admissions office: whether your associate degree, if you hold one, carries junior status under the statewide agreements or is an Associate of General Studies that doesn't, how many of your non-GT Pathways credits the university will accept toward the bachelor's, and how the College Opportunity Fund stipend is applied to your bill. If you haven't started a two-year degree yet, the national associate degree ranking is where the Colorado programs that feed these two universities appear.
If you're starting with an associate degree, the general studies associate degrees in Colorado have their own page.