Colorado is one of the most highly educated states in the country, but a new report shows a smaller share of those credentials translate into clear economic gains – like a bigger paycheck.
The latest data from the Lumina Foundation place Colorado among the top tier nationally for overall educational attainment. It also ranks high when measuring how many of those degrees and certificates deliver strong earnings.
About six in 10 Colorado adults ages 25 to 64 have completed education or training beyond high school, according to Lumina’s annual A Stronger Nation report analyzing 2024 data. That includes associate, bachelor’s and graduate degrees, along with certificates and industry certifications. But just over half of Coloradans have a “degree of value.”
“We define value as economic prosperity, that a person with that degree or credential is going to make 15% more than someone with just a high school degree,” said Courtney Brown, a vice president at Lumina Foundation.
Nationally, 54.8% of adults ages 25 to 64 hold some form of postsecondary credential compared to 64.3% in Colorado. The number of Coloradans with post-secondary credentials grew 18.5 percentage points from 2009 to 2024. Colorado ranks second nationally in overall attainment.
In Colorado, 6.5% of the population has a short-term credential, 4.5% has an associate degree, 24.5% has a bachelor’s degree, and 16% has a graduate or professional degree. The numbers reflect steady gains since 2008, when Lumina began tracking progress.
San Miguel County, where Telluride is the county seat, has the highest post-secondary attainment rate in the state at nearly 75%, while Crowley County in southeastern Colorado has the lowest at about 16%. While degree attainment is increasing across all racial and ethnic groups, progress is uneven and disparities persist, with gaps as high as 37.1 percentage points.
Within the Mountain West, Colorado outpaces most neighboring states. New Mexico and Wyoming trail well behind in overall attainment, while Utah and Arizona sit closer to the national average. Nebraska performs comparatively well but doesn’t surpass Colorado’s rate.
This year’s report introduces a new focus. Instead of counting all credentials equally, Lumina now tracks whether degrees and certificates produce at least 15% higher median earnings than those of a typical high school graduate. These are considered “credentials of value.”
Nationally, just 43.6% of adults in the labor force hold a credential that meets that earnings benchmark. Colorado performs better than the national average on this measure as well – 57.7%. Colorado ranks third in the nation after Washington, D.C., and Massachusetts.
Across the region, Utah performs strongly on credentials tied to workforce outcomes, driven in part by industry-aligned certificate programs. Wyoming and New Mexico lag in both attainment and credentials of value. Arizona sits near the national average on the economic-value measure.
Most bachelor’s and graduate degrees meet the earnings threshold. But economic returns vary widely for associate degrees and short-term certificates, depending heavily on field of study and connection to workforce demand.
Colorado’s credentials of value tend to cluster in industries the state has tagged as “Top Jobs” fields: health care, information technology, skilled trades/construction, advanced manufacturing and energy/aerospace.
Colorado’s comparatively high bachelor’s degree attainment boosts its overall standing. But short-term credentials do not consistently meet the earnings benchmark, contributing to the gap between attainment and economic value.
The gap highlights a new policy consideration: it’s not just how many people earn credentials, but whether those credentials pay off.
“Bachelor's degrees, graduate degrees in Colorado are really paying off for people and delivering, where some work probably needs to be done in the certifications and associates to make sure that they're aligning better with the labor market in Colorado,” said Brown.
She said different types of credentials will make sense for different regions of Colorado. The most important factor is that no pathway should be a dead end.
“People should be able to reskill and upskill continuously, so we're sure that they have the skills, the knowledge to get those good jobs and get better jobs.”
Lumina has set a national goal that 75% of working-age adults in the labor force will hold a degree or credential of value by 2040.
The new baseline data signals that while Colorado starts from a position of strength, simply increasing college completion will not be enough to meet the target. Brown said policymakers and higher education leaders face increasing pressure to align certificates and associate programs with high-demand industries and improve transparency about earnings outcomes by major.
She said the state will also need to ensure low-income students and communities of color have access to high-value pathways.
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