Public · Community college

Arapahoe Community College

Littleton, Colorado · Large suburb

#3 for grad earnings in Colorado

40%
Transfer rate: $11,571
Avg net price: 29%
Grad / completion: $48,341
Median earnings

Arapahoe Community College is a public certificate-granting institution in Littleton, Colorado (large suburb setting), enrolling 5,383 undergraduates. Admission is open to all applicants.

PublicMidsize · 5,383 undergradsLarge suburbCold wintersSnowy

About Littleton, Colorado

Littleton is a home rule municipality city located in Arapahoe County, Colorado, United States. Richard Sullivan Little was an engineer from New Hampshire who came West to work on irrigation systems. Little soon decided to settle in the area at present day Littleton and brought his wife Angeline from the East in 1862. Since the late 1920s, Littleton has celebrated Western Welcome Week - an annual community celebration in the greater Littleton area. Western Welcome Week started in the late 1920s, and has been held every year since. (Wikipedia)

Setting: Large suburb
Highest degree offered: Bachelor's
Nearest big city: 9 miles to Denver, CO
To the ocean: 737 miles
Nearest airport: 21 miles to Rocky Mountain Metropolitan (BJC)

How Arapahoe Community College compares

#12 · Community Colleges with the Best Transfer Rates #74 · Community Colleges with the Highest Graduate Earnings

Graduation rate29%

Higher than 11% · #45 of 49 in Colorado

Earnings, 10 years after entry$48,341

Higher than 89% · #3 of 44 in Colorado

Average net price$11,571

Cheaper than 64% · #15 cheapest of 49 in Colorado

Median debt at graduation$11,884

Lower than 31%

Student–faculty ratio26 : 1

Lower than 9%

Undergraduate enrollment5,383

Larger than 92%

Percentiles compare Arapahoe Community College with the nation's 3,519 two-year and certificate schools, among schools reporting each statistic. State ranks count two-year and certificate schools in Colorado.

Student body

Undergraduates by gender

Women3,41964%
Men1,96436%

Undergraduates by race / ethnicity

White59%
Black4.5%
Hispanic21%
Asian4.2%
Other or multiracial12%

Graduate gender splits aren't published in this data, so the gender chart covers undergraduates only.

By the numbers

Undergraduate enrollment: 5,383
Student–faculty ratio: 26 : 1
Pell Grant recipients: 10%
First-generation students: 38%
Students over 25: 18%
Median family income: $29,736
Avg faculty salary (academic year): $81,999

Colleges don't publish true class-size data; student–faculty ratio (IPEDS) is the closest public measure of it.

Where students come from

Home state of the 1,297 first-year students who entered in fall 2023.

From Colorado98%
Other U.S. states2.3%

Most first-years stay in state — Arapahoe Community College draws overwhelmingly from Colorado.

Out-of-state students usually pay a higher tuition rate at public schools — check the cost card above for your bracket. Source: IPEDS residence & migration, fall 2023 entering class.

Cost

In-state tuition: $4,434
Out-of-state tuition: $17,034
Room & board: —
Books & supplies: $2,200
Total cost of attendance: $18,332
Average net price: $11,571

Outcomes

Graduated: 29%
First-year retention: —
Transferred to another college: 40%
Median earnings, 6 years after entry: $43,676
Median earnings, 10 years after entry: $48,341
Median debt at graduation: $11,884
Students with federal loans: 8%
Paying down their loans (1 year in): 40%

Graduating on time

By student background (4 years)

All students

29%

Low-income (Pell)

18%

First-generation

19%

When these bars run close together, students from every background tend to finish at similar rates — a sign the school supports the ~30% who are first-gen or low-income.

Campus life & athletics

On-campus housing: No
Application fee: Free

Campus safety

Safety grade: A
Reported offenses per 1,000 students: 0.1 / year
Violent offenses (2022–2024): 1
Property offenses (2022–2024): 4

Reported offenses in an average year

The same 2022–2024 Clery Act reports, divided down to one year.

1.7reported offenses a year

0.3 violent a year1.3 property a year

By offense type, per year

Burglary

0.7

Motor vehicle theft

0.7

Rape

0.3

Averages, not a forecast — a single year can run well above or below this. Bars are scaled against this campus's most-reported offense, so they compare types here rather than against other schools.

What you'll actually pay, by family income

Average net price (total cost minus grants and scholarships) paid by aided students in each family-income band.

< $30k

$8,588

$30–48k

$9,523

$48–75k

$10,868

$75–110k

$15,437

$110k+

$18,077

College Scorecard / IPEDS, most recent year. Family income is total household income; net price covers tuition, fees, room, board and supplies after grant aid, for students receiving federal aid.

Does the school pay you to attend?

Grant aid from the school's own funds — the discount off sticker, on top of any federal or state help.

of first-years get a grant from the school

$1,133

average award, among those who get one

Modest institutional aid: 5% of freshmen get a grant from the school, averaging $1,133. Most of what lowers the price here is federal or state money, not the school's own funds.

Blends need-based and merit aid — IPEDS doesn't split the two, so a high number can mean generous merit scholarships, deep need-based aid, or both. Figures cover 473 full-time first-year undergraduates, 2022–23. Source: IPEDS Student Financial Aid.

Is it worth it?

A rough return-on-investment read from what graduates earn versus what they borrow.

Median earnings (10 years): $48,341
Typical debt at graduation: $11,884
Debt vs. one year's pay: 25%
Out-earn a HS grad: 58%

Typical debt would take roughly 2.5 years to repay at about a tenth of median earnings.

Solid value

A reasonable return: earnings comfortably clear the debt over a few years for most students who finish.

Earnings are the College Scorecard median for former students (working, not enrolled) 10 years after entry — not a guarantee, and they vary a lot by major. Debt is the median federal loan balance at graduation.

The pay gap here

Median earnings 10 years after entry, split by gender.

Women

$45,192

Men

$54,252

Men out-earn women by $9,060 (20%) a decade out.

Federal figures for former students working and not enrolled, 10 years after they first entered. A gap this wide usually reflects which majors men and women here tend to choose — not different pay for the same job.

Campus climate

Summer high: 86°F
Winter low: 19°F
Annual rain: 16.6″
Annual snow: 34.1″

Average temperature

HighLow

Average precipitation (inches)

NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals, Marston Fltr Plt, CO US station (2.7 mi from campus).

What Arapahoe Community College graduates study — and earn

Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and HumanitiesAssoc.

450 grads$39k 1 yr$45k 5 yr$15k debt

450$38,592$45,421$15,125 Practical Nursing, Vocational Nursing and Nursing AssistantsCert.

200 grads$36k 1 yr— 5 yr$14k debt

200$36,234—$13,750 Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment ProfessionsCert.

105 grads$59k 1 yr— 5 yr$11k debt

105$59,024—$11,454 Computer and Information Sciences, GeneralCert.

96 grads— 1 yr— 5 yr— debt

96———Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and MethodsCert.

87 grads— 1 yr— 5 yr— debt

87———Cosmetology and Related Personal Grooming ServicesCert.

80 grads— 1 yr— 5 yr— debt

80———Criminal Justice and CorrectionsCert.

79 grads$54k 1 yr$62k 5 yr$21k debt

79$54,371$61,832$21,351 Computer and Information Sciences, GeneralAssoc.

76 grads— 1 yr— 5 yr— debt

76———Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical NursingAssoc.

72 grads$74k 1 yr$83k 5 yr$31k debt

72$73,926$82,903$30,750 Vehicle Maintenance and Repair Technologies/TechniciansCert.

71 grads— 1 yr— 5 yr— debt

71———Design and Applied ArtsAssoc.

50 grads$32k 1 yr$45k 5 yr$15k debt

50$32,100$44,854$15,000 Funeral Service and Mortuary ScienceAssoc.

41 grads$51k 1 yr$42k 5 yr$23k debt

41$50,953$42,016$22,675

Median earnings of this school's own graduates 1 and 5 years after finishing each program, and median federal-loan debt at completion (College Scorecard). Small programs are privacy-suppressed (—). Click a major to compare colleges nationally.

Colleges similar to Arapahoe Community College

Schools with a comparable profile — size, selectivity, cost, and graduate outcomes. Compare Arapahoe Community College side by side →

Red Rocks Community College

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Front Range Community College

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Students: 11,476
Tuition: $5k
Transfer: 26%
Earnings: $46k

Community College of Aurora

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Students: 3,250
Tuition: $4k
Transfer: 20%
Earnings: $45k

Aims Community College

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Students: 3,635
Tuition: $2k
Transfer: 6%
Earnings: $42k

Colorado Mountain College

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Glenwood Springs, Colorado · Remote town · 125 mi to Denver

Students: 2,816
Tuition: $3k
Transfer: 27%
Earnings: $44k

Colleges near Arapahoe Community College

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Colorado Christian University

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Source: US Department of Education College Scorecard (most recent cohorts), IPEDS institutional characteristics, Equity in Athletics (EADA) data, Clery Act Campus Safety and Security data, and NOAA US Climate Normals. Distances are straight-line from campus coordinates. Percentiles compare schools of the same level (four-year vs. two-year) that report each statistic.