Which Colorado psychology program has the lowest debt?

Fort Lewis College reports the lowest median federal debt, $20,264, with first-year pay of $27,019.

How much do psychology graduates earn in Colorado?

The median across 14 Colorado psychology bachelor's programs is $33,234 in the first year after graduating and $47,223 five years after.

How many psychology bachelor's programs are in Colorado?

14 Colorado programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 14 of them also report federal debt.

Psychology (Bachelor's) Programs in Colorado, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

14 programs report first-year pay
14 also report federal debt
Bachelor's in Psychology, General

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median Colorado psychology bachelor's program pays its graduates $33,234 in their first year, $1,755 more than the national median. Adams State reports the highest first-year pay ($37,943), and Fort Lewis College the lowest median debt ($20,264).

Median first-year pay$33,234National $31,479

Median pay after 5 years$47,223National $49,019

Median federal debt$23,869National $25,624

Debt-to-earnings74%National 78%

All 14 programs, ranked

Each figure is the median for the program's graduates. Programs that don't report a figure are listed last when you sort by it.

#	School	Year 1 pay	Year 5 pay	Debt	Debt to pay
1	Adams StateAlamosa · public	$37,943	Not reported	$22,745	60%
2	Metropolitan State University of DenverDenver · public	$37,702	$46,755	$24,591	65%
3	Colorado StateFort Collins · public	$37,121	$51,931	$23,147	62%
4	Colorado Christian UniversityLakewood · private nonprofit	$36,537	$43,868	$44,088	121%
5	CU DenverDenver · public	$36,482	$52,560	$28,000	77%
6	UCCSColorado Springs · public	$34,607	$45,563	$25,000	72%
7	Colorado Mesa UniversityGrand Junction · public	$34,116	$47,690	$26,648	78%
8	Western Colorado UniversityGunnison · public	$32,352	$50,522	$26,000	80%
9	University of Northern ColoradoGreeley · public	$32,351	$46,165	$23,000	71%
10	University of DenverDenver · private nonprofit	$31,955	$58,126	$21,083	66%
11	CU BoulderBoulder · public	$30,176	$58,599	$20,500	68%
12	CSU PuebloPueblo · public	$27,133	$45,923	$22,000	81%
13	Fort Lewis CollegeDurango · public	$27,019	$37,246	$20,264	75%
14	Naropa UniversityBoulder · private nonprofit	$17,708	$34,309	$33,250	188%

Debt and first-year pay at every Colorado psychology program

Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Colorado medians.

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 14 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Adams State$37,943
Metropolitan State University of Denver$37,702
Colorado State$37,121
Colorado Christian University$36,537
CU Denver$36,482

Lowest median debt

Lowest debt for the pay

Adams State60%
Colorado State62%
Metropolitan State University of Denver65%
University of Denver66%
CU Boulder68%

"Debt for the pay" is median debt divided by first-year pay. Only programs that report both figures are included.

Careers this field leads to

These are the jobs that the federal crosswalk from fields of study to occupations links to psychology, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.

Clinical and Counseling Psychologists

$113,290

Median pay in Colorado. 1,170 people work in this job in Colorado. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 12% from 2025 to 2035, with about 4,100 openings a year. Typical education to start: doctoral or professional degree.

Bottom 10%: $46,870Top 10%: $161,700

Social Science Research Assistants

$50,430

Median pay in Colorado. 100 people work in this job in Colorado. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 5% from 2025 to 2035, with about 4,900 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $42,590Top 10%: $63,610

Industrial-Organizational Psychologists

$193,950

Median pay nationwide. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 7% from 2025 to 2035, with about 300 openings a year. Typical education to start: master's degree.

Common questions

Adams State in Alamosa reports the highest median first-year pay, $37,943. Its median federal debt is $22,745.

Psychology (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked875 programs by pay and debt

About this data

Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid, and earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school.
Debt only includes federal loans. Private loans and credit cards are not counted.
Some schools with several campuses report one combined figure for all of them. We count each of those schools once, and leave them out of Colorado rankings when their main campus is in another state.
Medians are across the psychology bachelor's programs that report each figure, so the counts differ by figure. Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago. BLS wages are from May 2025.

Sources

U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field of study and institution files, June 2026 release
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025 to 2035
NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024