Colorado
Source: IPEDS Completions, 3-yr avg AY 2022–25 (NCES; 2024–25 provisional), bachelor’s degrees, CIP 14 + 11; China 33.2%: PRC Ministry of Education, 2022 bachelor’s graduates by discipline (NSF NCSES S&E Indicators Fig. HED-30: 32.8%, 2020); Population: Census NST-EST2025.
Colorado at China’s rate would graduate 10,025 engineers a year. It graduates 4,724.
Colorado produces 4,724 engineering and computer science bachelor's degrees a year out of 30,195 total, one of America's strongest engineering producers, from 20 institutions. At China's rate it would produce 10,025. Output is growing (+7.7% over three years). Gap Score: 47% of the China benchmark. Its own economy is projected to open 16,270 engineering, computing and technician jobs a year through 2034; in-state degrees, associate and bachelor's together, cover 32% of them.
The gap against China’s benchmark
Three-year trend: eng+CS share of degrees
Colorado is missing 5,301 engineers a year at China's rate, roughly 4x the annual output of University of Colorado Boulder.
Where Colorado’s engineers are made.
20 institutions produce engineering or computer science bachelor’s degrees in Colorado. The top 8 account for 94% of output.
Every producing institution. Circle area = eng+CS bachelor’s degrees per year
Top producers
| # | Institution | Eng+CS / yr | % of its degrees |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of Colorado Boulder | 1,411 | 20.4% |
| 2 | Colorado School of Mines | 1,193 | 94.4% |
| 3 | Colorado State University-Fort Collins | 705 | 13.5% |
| 4 | United States Air Force Academy | 363 | 38.3% |
| 5 | University of Colorado Denver/Anschutz Medical Campus | 256 | 10.2% |
| 6 | University of Colorado Colorado Springs | 234 | 12.2% |
| 7 | Metropolitan State University of Denver | 159 | 6.1% |
| 8 | University of Denver | 122 | 9.1% |
Jobs vs. degrees
Colorado's own labor-market projection, 2024–2034, for engineers, computer occupations and engineering technicians, against the degrees the state produces at every level.
Openings against output
Where the openings are
| Occupation | Openings / yr |
|---|---|
| Software Developers | 4,460 |
| Civil Engineers | 1,200 |
| Computer User Support Specialists | 1,180 |
| Computer Network Architects | 1,080 |
| Computer Occupations, All Other | 670 |
| Information Security Analysts | 670 |
Coverage: degrees ÷ openings
Openings are the state labor agency’s own 10-year projection: new jobs plus replacing workers who retire or leave the field (BLS method). Not every opening goes to a new graduate, so this is a coverage measure; it does not count vacant positions. Occupations: engineers (SOC 17-2), computer occupations (SOC 15-12) and engineering technicians (SOC 17-3, the associate-degree tier), the jobs CIP 14 + 11 degrees feed; degrees here include associate degrees to match. Source: Colorado labor-market projections via Projections Central (U.S. Dept. of Labor).
Two of Colorado's three big technology projects have already slipped
Colorado pursued CHIPS money, a federal quantum Tech Hub and Space Command in an economy that ranks near the bottom for covering its own engineering openings.
The drain.
Colorado is the nation's No. 2 state for bachelor's attainment because it imports graduates; it keeps fewer of its own than average, and the inflow of educated 25 to 35 year olds it has relied on just turned negative.
Sources: Strada Institute / W.E. Upjohn Institute Talent in Motion (via Fort Collins Coloradoan); Colorado State Demography Office (via Colorado Sun, Colorado Politics)
Who’s covering it.
Reporters already cover this, but no one has combined it into a single number the way the Index does.
The fix, in Colorado.
Fund service in the CCCS system
Associate degrees are only 10% of Colorado's engineering and CS output. A Digital ROTC service-for-tuition track at Colorado Community College System campuses in Colorado Springs, Arvada and Boulder County would feed Entegris, Microchip and the Quantum Commons technician roles that Elevate Quantum says will not need graduate degrees.
Tie CHIPS and quantum credits to grads
OEDIT's CHIPS refundable credits, Enterprise Zone credits and the $74 million quantum credit pool pay per job created. Condition a share on hiring Colorado graduates who owe a service term, so a pause like Microchip's still leaves trained Coloradans behind.
Keep the 39% who leave
Colorado retains 61% of its graduates and just lost population to other states for the first time in two decades. A tuition-for-service pledge at Mines, CU Boulder and CSU that binds engineers to Colorado employers for a few years is the cheapest way to stop importing talent for aerospace's 240,000 jobs.
What Digital ROTC would fund
Digital ROTC: federal student loans that cover two years of engineering, computer science, or cybersecurity school at a community college, whether those years end in an associate degree or transfer into a bachelor’s program. The loans are forgiven in full after 24 to 36 months of service in government technology roles. In Colorado, 10% of engineering-track credentials are associate degrees today. Digital ROTC is built to expand that community-college route.