Public · Fort Collins, CO

Colorado State University-Fort Collins

Q: What is Colorado State University-Fort Collins’s acceptance rate?

Colorado State University-Fort Collins admits 88.5% of applicants (2025 data).

Q: Does Colorado State University-Fort Collins require the SAT or ACT?

Colorado State University-Fort Collins’s testing policy is optional.

Q: When is the Colorado State University-Fort Collins application deadline?

Early Action: November 15, 2026. Regular Decision: January 15, 2027. These are the 2026 cycle dates. Confirm them on the college’s admissions site before you apply.

Q: How much does Colorado State University-Fort Collins cost after financial aid?

The average net price is $22,247 a year (2025). That is the sticker price minus grants and scholarships, averaged across students who receive aid. Your own price depends on your family’s finances.

Q: What is Colorado State University-Fort Collins’s graduation rate?

67% of students finish within six years.

Get to know the college, from admissions and cost to life on campus.

88.5%acceptance rate

Overview

89%

Acceptance rate

$21,279

Net price per year

5,496

Freshman class

College Town

Fort Collins, CO

colostate.edu

Website

CSU is a Tier 1 research university built on veterinary medicine and agricultural science first, with its vet school ranked third nationally and $622 million in annual research expenditures. Fort Collins itself is the draw as much as the degree: a fast-growing Colorado city students describe as the reason to pick CSU over a bigger, colder flagship, with real outdoor access built into daily life.

About Colorado State University-Fort Collins

Type: Public Research University
Setting: College Town
Undergraduates: 25,538

Admissions

Acceptance rate

89%

of 38,465 applicants

Application deadline

Nov 15

Test scoresTest not required

SAT, middle 50%

1080–1290

10801290

Early Decision/Early Action: Yes
Accepts Common App: —

Cost

Net price

$21,279 per year

Average after grants

What families pay, by incomeBars run to the $34,684 full cost

Tuition and aid

Full cost of attendance: $34,684per year
In-state tuition: $13,373
Out-of-state tuition: $34,783
Average family income: $85,721
Students with a school grant: 69%
Average school grant: $8,217
Average federal debt: $18,750at graduation
Need-blind: —
Meets full need: —
Merit scholarships: Yes
CSS Profile: —
International aid: —

Academics

Students per faculty

17:1

Majors offered: 71
Freshmen who return: 86%
Notable: 3rdnationally ranked veterinary medicine program

Students

Freshman class

5,496 students

25,538 undergraduates in all

Who studies here

White70%

Hispanic16%

Asian3%

Black3%

Two or more races5%

International2%

Other or not reported1%

Campus life

Setting: College Town
Location: Fort Collins, CO
Live on campus: —
Student organizations: —
Varsity sports: —

WHAT STUDENTS SAY

A research campus with real outdoor access built in

CSU houses students in traditional halls plus Aggie Village Apartments, and the Rocky Mountain Collegian, CSU's own independent daily student paper since 1891 and Colorado's only student-run daily, covers campus alongside a genuinely growing Fort Collins. Aggregate student reviews describe the town as the real selling point: a walkable, outdoorsy college city rather than an isolated campus, with the mountains close enough for regular weekend trips. The tradeoff some students name is size, at over 33,000 students CSU can feel large and spread out, so finding a smaller community inside a college or research lab matters more here than at a tighter campus.

Summarized by Spike from what students write: Rocky Mountain Collegian, CSU Housing & Dining.