We ditched the traditional schedule 50 years ago. Instead, we built something better: one class at a time, complete focus, and an entire community that challenges the ordinary. Because doing things differently is how you get different kinds of thinkers—exactly what the world is looking for. Turns out, it also put us in a class of our own.

CC’S IMPACT

Be part of something bigger.

Discover how a community of curious, driven students is shaping big change at CC—and how you can be part of it.
I’m interested
Top 4%

Most Innovative Liberal Arts College

US News and World Report

1 of 36
liberal arts colleges with the Carnegie Research designation
4×

Top Fulbright Producing Institution

BLOCK PLAN

Your brain isn’t built to juggle six classes at once. It’s built for focus.

You know the juggle: six periods, six sets of homework, a quiz here, a project due there. It’s mentally exhausting. So we switched things up. On the Block Plan, it's one class for 3½ weeks, with nothing else competing for space in your brain. Instead of rushing to your next class, you're measuring rock formations on a Pikes Peak trail, producing documentaries, debating climate policy until the conversation goes somewhere. And what you learn actually sticks.
class outside on grass
students studying
Students in lab class
Student reading book
1
class at a time
3½
weeks per block
8
blocks per year
4½
day block break every month
THE CC DIFFERENCE

One class at a time. Here’s what that makes room for.

What that means for you:
  • No 7 a.m. classes or scattered schedules. Just 9 to noon, then afternoons free.
  • One subject gets all of your best thinking, so you can go deep instead of skimming.
  • 25 students max, so your professor knows your name (and how you think).
  • Eight blocks a year = room to explore without locking into one path.
  • A 4½-day Block Break every month to recharge before you start something new.

Send Me the Details
Portrait of Vicente Blas-Taijeron ’24

“The Block Plan is the perfect way to immerse my mind into what I’m studying. Instead of having to constantly pivot from one subject to another, I can think deeply and thoughtfully about what I am learning and refine my skills in preparation for my career ahead.”

— Vicente Blas-Taijeron ’24 he/him

Hometown: Tamuning, Guam
Major: Feminist & Gender Studies

EXPERIENCE COLORADO FULLY

Colorado isn't just the view. It's the curriculum.

When you only take one class, you get the space and time to actually explore. Lucky for you, Colorado Springs is your backyard. A downtown of murals, indie shops, and sidewalk cafes is blocks from campus. Pikes Peak, all 14,115 feet of it, is 15 minutes away. America's highest zoo is built right into the side of a mountain. And here, professors take class outside—because textbooks are fine, but hands-on is better.

Students at Poor Richard's

Innovation & Social Enterprise

Downtown Colorado Springs
Work side by side with real local businesses as they operate, watch decisions get made in real time, and add your ideas to the mix.
astronomy class

PC133: Astronomy

Near Great Sand Dunes National Park
Study the stars from a certified DarkSky site, where the cosmos puts on a nightly show.
geology class

Geology Block

Garden of the Gods & the Rockies
Map rock formations, collect samples, and decode millions of years of history
study abroad

Study Abroad

Anywhere on Earth
70% of students explore beyond Colorado, choosing from 30+ faculty-led programs and 100+ more worldwide, all built into the Block Plan.

CC COMMUNITY

Here, you’ll find your people.

Leaving home is a big deal. But home has a way of finding you here. With just 2,300 students and 80% living on campus their first three years, nobody stays a stranger long. Classmates become friends by week one. Afternoons turn into mountain trails, coffee runs, concerts, and shared community service. And with 150+ clubs, you'll never run out of things to do, or people to do them with.
Tell me more
pride
soccer
students on couches
students at park
WHO THRIVES HERE?

CC isn’t for everyone. And that’s kind of the point.

CC is built for students who were never quite satisfied with how school was supposed to work—the intellectually restless, independently minded, question-everything types who want to leave the world better than they found it. Maybe that's you. It's definitely these CC students, who describe their experience better than we can.

Payton Crosby ’25

“The small classes and accessibility of professors have completely changed my education for the better.”

Kennedy Andrews ’26

“It’s great to know that you have professors here who care about not only your grades—but you as a person.”

Perilla Wang ’28

“I knew I wanted to be surrounded by passionate people in a place that combined a tight-knit community with the transformative Block Plan experience—and CC is exactly that.”

REAL-WORLD READY

Leave with skills no textbook can teach.

Here, we don't just hand you knowledge—we teach you what to do with it. Block by block, you learn to adapt fast, collaborate easily, and solve real problems without an instruction manual. You'll even do real research alongside professors, the kind of opportunity most students don't see until grad school. So by graduation, you're not hoping you're ready. You've been practicing all along.

88% employed, in grad school, or in service within six months
90% confident in their career readiness
98% satisfied with their post-graduate outcome

Guy Mossman '95

Guy Mossman ’95

Studio Art major

Director and cinematographer known for his work on award-winning documentaries, like Feels Good Man (2020).

Lilly Chen '19

Lilly Chen ’19

Mathematical Economics major

CEO and founder of Contenda, an AI startup blending machine and human expertise.

Josh Felton '22

Josh Felton ’22

Organismal Biology & Ecology

Won the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship, now pursuing a PhD at Cornell.

Connie Jiang '12

Connie Jiang ’12

Neuroscience major

Senior technical program manager at Meta, working on wearable technology.