For Colorado families with a student eyeing engineering, Colorado School of Mines just made its front door a lot easier to read. The school announced the Mines Golden Guarantee on Sept. 17: undergraduate admission is promised to Colorado residents graduating from a Colorado high school who meet a published set of academic marks and apply by the Nov. 1 priority deadline. It applies to students applying to begin in fall 2027 or later, and Mines calls it the first statewide guarantee of its kind in Colorado.
The numbers a student has to hit
- An unweighted GPA of 3.8 or higher, or a 3.6 or higher paired with at least a 1420 SAT or a 32 ACT composite.
- No math or science grade below B-minus, plus pre-calculus or trigonometry and three years of lab science.
- An application in by the Nov. 1 priority deadline. Students admitted this way have until May 1 to decide.
- Every student admitted through the guarantee receives a merit scholarship of at least $2,000 a year.
The guarantee builds on admission pathways Mines began with Jeffco Public Schools in 2025; the announcement also names DSST Public Schools and Mesa County Valley School District 51. Missing a mark is not a rejection. Students who fall short can still apply through regular review, and Mines says more than a third of the Colorado residents it admitted this fall did not meet at least one of the guaranteed-admission requirements. The school adds that more than 1,250 employers recruit its graduates each year.
One open question for homeschool families
The announcement speaks of students graduating from a Colorado high school and does not say how homeschool graduates are treated. If that is your family, ask Mines admissions directly before the Nov. 1 deadline rather than assuming either way. Our guide to what Colorado requires of homeschool families covers the records worth keeping for exactly this kind of question.
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