Photo: Jeffrey Beall · CC BY 3.0Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts-Boulder is 8.5 miles from Coal Creek
No college sits inside Coal Creek’s boundary, but Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts-Boulder’s campus in Boulder, with 8,571 students on campus, is 8.5 miles from the center of town, and Red Rocks Community College is 17.4 miles away in Lakewood. About 3% of Coal Creek’s residents are enrolled in college, below Colorado (6%).
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 Coal Creek. Colleges are described, not graded.
What stands out about college from Coal Creek
Facts about the town and its distance to campus; each college’s own figures follow.
Colleges within 15 miles of Coal Creek
Three private colleges within 13.4 miles, and two public colleges within 13.2 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 Over $110k, where Coal Creek’s median household income ($134,250) 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 Coal Creek: 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.
Questions about college near Coal Creek
Is Coal Creek a college town?
No. About 3 of every 100 Coal Creek residents are enrolled in college (Census, 2020–24), below Colorado (6). The nearest campus, Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts-Boulder, is 8.5 miles away in Boulder.
What colleges are near Coal Creek?
Within 15 miles: Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts-Boulder (8.5 miles, 8,571 students on campus), the University of Colorado Boulder (9 miles, 37,286), Naropa University (9.4 miles, 738), Colorado School of Mines (13.2 miles, 7,376) and Spartan College of Aeronautics and Technology (13.4 miles, 321).
What is the closest community college to Coal Creek, and what does it cost?
Red Rocks Community College in Lakewood, 17.4 miles away. Tuition and fees are $4,859 a year for Colorado residents; the federal net price, $9,044, counts housing and food at full cost.
How much does the University of Colorado Boulder cost if we live in Colorado?
Tuition and fees are $15,666 a year in-state and $44,918 from out of state. After grants, families on federal aid paid an average of $14,231 (under $30,000 income) to $34,818 (over $110,000), housing and food included.
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 Coal Creek. 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 →