The U.S. Department of Education has ranked Colorado Mountain College as the third most affordable four-year public college in the country in 2011-12.
CMC’s annual in-district tuition and fees for a beginning full-time student that year totaled $1,770, which is less than one-fourth of the national average cost of $7,135. This makes the college the third most affordable and the only Colorado institution on the list.
“We are very pleased to know that our efforts to provide a quality education at an affordable price have been so successful,” said Dr. Charles R. Dassance, interim president of Colorado Mountain College.
The list of the most affordable colleges was compiled by the College Affordability and Transparency Center to help students make informed decisions, according to the website http://collegecost.ed.gov/catc/#. To view the list on that website, choose the sector “public, 4-year or above,” report type “lowest tuition” and then “generate report.”
Recent lists showcase college’s affordability, quality
The ranking follows a recent report by CNNMoney that placed Colorado Mountain College among the top 20 out of nearly 800 community colleges from around the nation for successful graduation and transfer rates.
That report, compiled by College Measures, a leading researcher of comparative value within higher education, said that CMC’s “success rate” earned the college the No. 17 slot nationally, as well as the No. 1 ranking within Colorado. This places the college in the top 2 percent of success rates among all medium-sized public community colleges.
“CMC has focused for many years on making sure that the education we provide represents the best value possible,” Dassance said. “It is gratifying to be recognized nationally by both of these independent reports for having achieved that goal. We will continue to do all we can to improve our programs and services while remaining affordable.”
Colorado Mountain College started offering bachelor’s degrees in business administration and sustainability studies in 2011-12. The College Affordability and Transparency Center based its calculations on tuition and required fees for a beginning student that year. If the center’s calculations had averaged in-district tuition for beginning students with the higher tuition for upper-division classes, the college still would have been in the top 10 most affordable public schools in the country.
Currently, the college’s in-district tuition rate for lower-division classes is $56 per credit hour, or $840 for a typical full-time semester of 15 credits. For 300- to 400-level courses, in-district tuition is $95 per credit, or $1,425 for a 15-credit load. For more information on the college’s tuition and fees, go to https://coloradomtn.info/web/admissions/tuition_costs.
“Our board of trustees is to be commended for keeping a focus on affordability, and our faculty and staff deserve the credit for working constantly to provide a quality education,” Dassance said.