Photo: Greg Goebel · CC BY-SA 2.0Air Force Academy is a college town: 65 of every 100 residents are students
United States Air Force Academy (4,124 students on campus) is inside the town. Across Colorado, 6 of every 100 residents are enrolled in college.
From the U.S. Department of Education (College Scorecard, June 2026; IPEDS fall 2023 enrollment) and the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, 2020–24. Straight-line distances from the center of Air Force Academy. Colleges are described, not graded.
What stands out about college in Air Force Academy
Facts about the town and its distance to campus; each college’s own figures follow.
What it’s like to live in Air Force Academy
How much the colleges shape the town, from the Census Bureau’s survey of residents.
65 of every 100 Air Force Academy residents are in college (CO: 6).
How students change Air Force Academy’s other numbers
Read the town’s other grades with this in mind. How TownRatings handles college towns →
Students who live off campus count in the Census poverty figures: 17.9% of Air Force Academy residents are below the poverty line, 20.0% when college students are left out (that estimate could be off by 19 points either way). 4% of the students themselves are below the line. In college towns, the Jobs & income grade uses the rate without students and leaves unemployment out.
The Cost grade leaves out the share of renters paying 30% or more of income on rent wherever students are a quarter of residents or more (65% here): it would mostly measure student incomes.
CDC’s estimates follow each place’s age mix, and Air Force Academy’s median age is 21.0 (Colorado 37.7), so the adult figures describe a young population.
Crime is counted per resident, and students who live here count as residents. A college with its own police department reports its incidents under that department, not the city.
Colleges within 15 miles of Air Force Academy
Four private colleges within 11.9 miles, and two public colleges within 7.8 miles.
Degree-granting colleges with 100 or more students on campus (fall 2023 enrollment, minus students who study only online). Admitted: share of applicants offered a place. Net price: the average a year after grants, for students on federal aid. Graduate: within 6 years (4-year colleges) or 3 (2-year). Earnings: median, 10 years after starting.
What would your family pay?
The average a year after grants, for families on federal aid, at the colleges within 15 miles. Pick your family’s income.
Starts at $48–75k, where Air Force Academy’s median household income ($69,474) falls.
The average a year after grants and scholarships, for first-time, full-time students on federal aid, from the College Scorecard. Your own price depends on your aid package; every college has a net price calculator. For community colleges the net price counts housing and food at full cost, so tuition is shown beside it. “—”: not reported for that income.
Do students finish, and does it pay?
Each dot is a college within 15 miles of Air Force Academy: across is the share who graduate, up is what they earn ten years after starting.
Graduation: first-time, full-time students within 6 years (4-year colleges) or 3 years (2-year). Earnings: median, 10 years after starting, for students who got federal aid. *Reported for all the campuses that file together: Pima Medical Institute-Colorado Springs (13).
What students study in Air Force Academy
Share of bachelor’s and associate degrees by field at United States Air Force Academy, weighted by undergraduates; then the biggest programs.
College Scorecard: degree shares (PCIP; each college’s six largest fields are kept, the rest count as everything else) and the field-of-study file, median earnings 4 years after graduating.
Questions about college in Air Force Academy
Is Air Force Academy a college town?
Yes. 65 of every 100 Air Force Academy residents are enrolled in college (Census, 2020–24), against 6 across Colorado. United States Air Force Academy has 4,124 students on campus, next to 6,727 residents.
What colleges are in Air Force Academy?
United States Air Force Academy is inside the town. Pikes Peak State College is 16.4 miles away in Colorado Springs.
What is the closest community college to Air Force Academy, and what does it cost?
Pikes Peak State College in Colorado Springs, 16.4 miles away. Tuition and fees are $4,510 a year for Colorado residents; the federal net price, $6,007, counts housing and food at full cost.
How hard is it to get into United States Air Force Academy?
United States Air Force Academy admitted 14% of applicants in the Scorecard’s latest year; the middle half of admitted students scored 1,230–1,440 on the SAT.
Neighbors talk college
Students, parents, alumni and the neighbors next door.
Colleges: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard and IPEDS (Scorecard 06/10/2026 · IPEDS 2024 · fall 2023 enrollment). “On campus” is fall enrollment minus students who study only online. Distances are straight-line from the center of Air Force Academy. Residents in college, age, rent and poverty (including poverty without college students, table B14006): U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020–24. Colleges are described, not graded; the College town label marks towns where 15% or more of residents are enrolled. How TownRatings describes colleges →