Colorado Technical University Online: Cost, Outcomes (2026)

Colorado Technical University’s average net price was $17,860 for 2024-25, and 26% of students who started in 2017-18 earned a credential within eight years, according to College Scorecard’s October 2026 data.

If this is your own hard-earned money on the line, start with those two numbers. CTU is a for-profit school, and its price list, its graduates’ debt and its owner’s 2019 FTC settlement are all public records.

CTU is a for-profit, mostly online university accredited by HLC

Colorado Technical University is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission (HLC), which reaffirmed that accreditation in July 2023. It is one of Perdoceo Education Corporation’s schools and keeps a ground campus in Colorado Springs.

Fact	CTU
Control	Private for-profit
Part of	Perdoceo Education Corporation
Accreditor	Higher Learning Commission (HLC)
Federal school ID (UNITID)	126827, filed as Colorado Springs
Undergraduates studying only online (fall 2024)	99%
Degree-seeking undergraduates (fall 2024)	28,086
Graduate students (fall 2024)	3,584
Undergraduates 25 or older (fall 2023)	87%
Undergraduates studying part-time (fall 2024)	41%
Admission	Open admission; admission rate Not published

Scorecard and College Navigator file this profile’s federal ID, 126827, under the name of CTU’s Colorado Springs campus. That ID carries CTU’s online students: 99% of its undergraduates and 100% of its graduate students took only online courses in fall 2024, and 94% of first-time undergraduates came from outside Colorado.

CTU’s online tuition schedule carries the same Colorado Springs address. Its other campus, Denver South in Aurora, is not accepting new enrollments, CTU’s site says. To run the same checks on any online school, use the five checks for whether an online school is legit.

CTU online runs in 10-week terms of two 5-week sessions

CTU’s online schedule runs 10-week terms, each split into two 5-week sessions, and charges tuition per credit at the start of each term. CTU counts three terms as a full-time academic year, generally eight months long.

CTU’s catalog says a 5-week class takes about twice the weekly work of a 10-week one. Its tuition calculator lists three course loads: one course per session for part-time, one or two for standard and two for full-time.

CTU charges $352 per quarter credit for most associate and bachelor’s degrees

CTU’s online tuition schedule, effective November 17, 2026, sets these per-credit rates for its online programs.

Online program level	Tuition per quarter credit
Associate degrees	$352
Bachelor’s degrees (most programs)	$352
BS in Artificial Intelligence	$370
RN-to-BSN completion	$260
Master’s degrees (most programs)	$632
Doctoral degrees (business, computer science, management, and the DNP)	$598

Fees come on top: a $170 setup fee each time you enroll, including when you re-enter, a $265 technology fee each term and a $150 graduation fee for undergraduates. Students who use VA education benefits do not pay the setup or technology fee, and CTU’s military schedule charges $210 a credit for associate and bachelor’s degrees.

Example, our arithmetic from CTU’s own schedule: the BS in Business Administration is 180 quarter credits over 14 terms. Rebuilt from the rates and fees, it comes to CTU’s listed total, which includes course materials.

BS in Business Administration, online	Cost
Tuition: 180 quarter credits x $352	$63,360
Technology fee: 14 terms x $265	$3,710
Setup fee, one enrollment	$170
Graduation fee	$150
Total, as CTU lists it	$67,390
Per CTU academic year: $67,390 / 14 terms x 3 terms	$14,441

So at the schedule’s pace, one three-term CTU year costs about $14,441. Scorecard lists $12,752 in tuition and fees for 2025-26, while this schedule takes effect November 17, 2026, so the two figures cover different years.

Transfer credit can lower the total, and failed, dropped or withdrawn courses raise it, the schedule says. CTU says up to 30 courses can transfer into a bachelor’s, and that its Fast Track exams can cut tuition by up to 30%, depending on how many you pass, though not every program qualifies. Fast Track credits do not transfer to other schools.

CTU takes federal aid, and its average net price is $17,860

CTU takes federal financial aid: College Navigator lists it as a school where eligible students may receive Pell Grants and other federal aid such as Direct Loans. 61% of CTU undergraduates had a Pell Grant in 2024-25, and for 2026-27 Pell pays up to $7,395 a year to eligible undergraduates.

Scorecard lists $12,752 in tuition and fees for 2025-26, the same for students in every state. Net price is the full cost of attendance, including housing and living costs, minus grants and scholarships.

Family income	Average net price, 2024-25
$0 to $30,000	$17,713
$30,001 to $48,000	$18,037
$48,001 to $75,000	$18,323
$75,001 to $110,000	$18,963
$110,001 and up	$23,671

The average covers 533 full-time, first-time undergraduates who got federal aid in 2024-25. It barely moves for incomes up to $110,000, from $17,713 to $18,963.

Your own net price depends on your income, family size and state. The aid check stacks Pell, state and campus grants and federal loan limits for your numbers in about two minutes, and shows the result before it asks for an email.

26% of CTU students earn a credential within eight years

Measure	CTU	Who and when
Earned a credential within 8 years	26%	All students who started in 2017-18
Graduated within 6 years	19%	First-time, full-time students, fall 2019 cohort
Median earnings 6 years after starting	$37,738	Aided students who entered in 2015-16 and 2016-17
Median earnings 10 years after starting	$44,720	Aided students who entered in 2011-12 and 2012-13
Graduates’ median earnings 4 years after finishing	$60,707	Graduates who finished in 2017-18 and 2018-19
Graduates’ median federal loan debt	$29,971	Graduates who entered repayment in fiscal 2024 and 2025
Undergraduates with a Pell Grant	61%	2024-25
Undergraduates with a federal loan	61%	2024-25

74% of students who started in 2017-18 had not earned a CTU credential eight years later. Only 19% of first-time, full-time students who started in fall 2019 graduated within six years.

These are school-wide medians. Your payoff depends on the program, the job you target and what you pay.

Business is CTU’s largest field by graduates

These are CTU’s largest fields by awards in 2023-24, from Scorecard’s field-of-study file. Scorecard shows every credential in each of them as fully online.

Field and credential	Awards, 2023-24	Median earnings, 4 yrs after	Median federal debt
Business Administration, Management and Operations (associate)	1,849	$43,781	$21,354
Business Administration, Management and Operations (bachelor's)	1,621	$65,877	$34,769
Business Administration, Management and Operations (master's)	790	$67,660	$38,010
Health and Medical Administrative Services (associate)	579	$35,294	$22,000
Criminal Justice and Corrections (bachelor's)	460	$46,981	$44,301
Computer Science (bachelor's)	293	$85,337	$36,444
Health and Medical Administrative Services (bachelor's)	247	$48,816	$37,387
Computer and Information Sciences, General (bachelor's)	202	$78,606	$39,159

Field and credential Business Administration, Management and Operations (associate)

Awards, 2023-24 1,849

Median earnings, 4 yrs after $43,781

Median federal debt $21,354

Field and credential Business Administration, Management and Operations (bachelor's)

Awards, 2023-24 1,621

Median earnings, 4 yrs after $65,877

Median federal debt $34,769

Field and credential Business Administration, Management and Operations (master's)

Awards, 2023-24 790

Median earnings, 4 yrs after $67,660

Median federal debt $38,010

Field and credential Health and Medical Administrative Services (associate)

Awards, 2023-24 579

Median earnings, 4 yrs after $35,294

Median federal debt $22,000

Field and credential Criminal Justice and Corrections (bachelor's)

Awards, 2023-24 460

Median earnings, 4 yrs after $46,981

Median federal debt $44,301

Field and credential Computer Science (bachelor's)

Awards, 2023-24 293

Median earnings, 4 yrs after $85,337

Median federal debt $36,444

Field and credential Health and Medical Administrative Services (bachelor's)

Awards, 2023-24 247

Median earnings, 4 yrs after $48,816

Median federal debt $37,387

Field and credential Computer and Information Sciences, General (bachelor's)

Awards, 2023-24 202

Median earnings, 4 yrs after $78,606

Median federal debt $39,159

Field names are the federal program categories Scorecard uses, not CTU’s program titles. Earnings are medians for graduates who finished in 2017-18 and 2018-19, measured in 2022 and 2023 in 2024 dollars; debt is the median federal loan balance of graduates who finished in 2022-23 and 2023-24, a different group.

The business fields hold the top three rows. The criminal justice bachelor’s carries the highest median debt in the list, $44,301. For computer science and IT, compare online technology programs at other schools on the same Scorecard measures.

CTU’s operator paid $30 million to settle FTC charges in 2019

In August 2019, Career Education Corporation (CEC), which operated CTU and now operates under the name Perdoceo Education Corporation, agreed to pay $30 million to settle Federal Trade Commission (FTC) charges. Two CTU companies, Colorado Technical University, Inc. and Colorado Tech., Inc., were also defendants.

The FTC charged that CEC used sales leads from lead generators that falsely told people they were affiliated with the U.S. military, posed as job or benefits help, and falsely said people’s information would not be shared. It also charged that CEC and its lead generators called people on the National Do Not Call Registry.

The order states: “Defendants neither admit nor deny any of the allegations in the Complaint, except as specifically stated in this Order.” It requires CEC to review all marketing its lead generators use, investigate complaints about them and not use or buy leads obtained deceptively. In June 2021 the FTC mailed about $30 million in refunds to more than 8,000 people.

Who CTU fits, and the watch-outs

It fits if

• You are a working adult. 87% of undergraduates were 25 or older in fall 2023, and 41% studied part-time in fall 2024.
• You want one course at a time. CTU’s part-time load is one 5-week course per session, charged per credit each term.
• You want business, health administration, criminal justice or computing. Those fields fill CTU’s largest award counts in 2023-24.
• You bring credits or know the material. CTU says up to 30 courses can transfer into a bachelor’s, and its Fast Track exams can lower tuition, depending on how many you pass.

Watch-outs

• Most 2017-18 starters did not finish. 74% of them had no CTU credential eight years later.
• Borrowing is common. 61% of undergraduates took a federal loan in 2024-25, and graduates owe a median $29,971.
• Quarter credits and Fast Track credits. Compare prices per semester credit ($528 at CTU’s $352 rate), and know that Fast Track credits do not transfer out.
• The marketing record. The FTC case was about how CEC’s lead generators reached people, so check any price or transfer claim a recruiter makes against CTU’s written schedule.

Check your own aid before you apply to CTU

CTU’s averages describe what other students paid. The aid check applies the federal aid rules for the year you start (2026-27 or 2027-28) to your income and family, takes about two minutes and shows the result before any email or school contact. CTU’s financial aid office sets the actual offer.

To compare on the same measures, see University of Phoenix (36% eight-year rate, $26,090 median debt) or Franklin University (53%, $20,571), from College Scorecard’s October 2026 data.

Degree Sources may refer readers to schools through partners. School matching is optional and comes after you see your aid result. The figures here come from federal data and CTU’s own pages, and this profile does not rank schools.