University of Colorado Denver

CU Denver has an online school offering fully online degrees for students who prefer to study remotely. The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) reports that 15% of undergraduate students study entirely online, while 44% only take some online classes as part of their on-campus degree program. 

Many consider CU Denver a good school based on graduates' earnings and tuition affordability. College Scorecard shows the median earnings for its alumni is ~$60,100, which is $9,700 higher than the midpoint for other four-year universities. Meanwhile, tuition costs are $5,600 less than other four-year schools. It's also an accredited school that's been evaluated by a third-party education agency. CU Denver is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission, an institutional accreditation agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.

OnlineU only includes accredited online institutions on its site.

CU Denver is best known for its online education and teacher programs. In fact, 30 of the school's 48 online programs fall within the field of education. This includes endorsement programs for teacher librarians, early childhood education specialists, and middle school teachers. There are also graduate programs for areas such as classroom assessment and digital education experiences, and three fully online master's degrees in early childhood education. 

The highest earning majors at CU Denver are in the fields of mechanical, electrical, and civil engineering. However, no such majors are available for online degrees. The highest earning online major is the Bachelor of Arts in Communication, which can earn graduates a median annual salary of approximately $47,200, according to College Scorecard. There's also the Bachelor of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies with an expected salary of around $38,800. 

OnlineU's Salary Score is another helpful metric for estimating earnings. This proprietary metric compares alumni salaries from different schools using the same degree in order to generate a score from 1 to 100. CU Denver scores a 61 for bachelor's degrees and 56 for master's degrees. 

CU Denver's most notable major is physics. Four of the school's physics graduates have become Nobel laureates for their discoveries and achievements in the field between 2001 and 2012. Prior to their awards, a chemistry major earned a Nobel prize in 1989 for the discovery of catalytic properties in living molecules.

Some may consider CU Denver easier to get into than other four-year universities because of its higher-than-average acceptance rate. According to College Scorecard, 72% of its applicants are accepted for enrollment. Compare this to the roughly 60% acceptance rate average for four-year schools around the country. 

All students applying to college online at CU Denver are admitted based on the middle 50% of freshmen who achieved GPAs between 3.23 and 3.93. Keep in mind that certain degrees may have their own GPA minimum requirements. 

First-year online students must complete the following steps to apply: 

• Fill out the CU Denver's online application.
• Pay the nonrefundable $50 application fee. 
• Submit high school transcripts.