Colorado Free Application Days are one of the most exciting weeks of senior year. For three days, Colorado students can apply to colleges and universities across the state without paying application fees. This year, the DSST Class of 2027 made the most of it, and our community made sure students across Colorado heard about the opportunity too.
DSST students and staff were featured on 9News, CBS Colorado and Colorado Public Radio. In those stories, they shared their experiences applying to college and encouraged other students to take advantage of the week. A big thank you to Henry Whipple and Javier Tafoya from DSST: Montview, Tiffani Lopez and Antonio Ortiz-Monge Jr. from DSST: Aurora Science & Tech, and Joy Caraway and Dustyn Diaz from DSST: College View for representing our community so well. Be sure to check out their stories!
Back on our campuses, the week was even more impressive. Last year’s senior class set a DSST record, and this year’s seniors raised the bar again. Across the network, DSST seniors submitted 5,074 college applications, 9.6% more than last year.
Participation was almost universal. 95.1% of DSST seniors submitted at least one college application during the week, up from last year’s class and up 17% from the Class of 2025. On average, each senior submitted 5.5 applications, and every campus matched or beat last year's average. DSST: Elevate Northeast led the network with more than 900 applications, a new DSST record for Free Application Days. Its seniors averaged more than eight applications each. DSST: Cole grew its total applications by 46% over last year.
Students also planned strategically. Nearly half of all applications submitted this week (47.1%) were Early Action or Early Decision applications. These rounds can improve a student’s chances of admission and mean they hear about financial aid sooner. Students applied to colleges and universities across Colorado, and the top three destinations were Colorado State University–Fort Collins, the University of Colorado Denver and the University of Colorado Boulder.
These numbers weren’t luck. They came from weeks of preparation by our College Success team and educators across the network. They proofread essays, refined activity lists, answered countless questions and gave seniors the encouragement they needed to hit “submit.” Altogether, students saved hundreds of dollars each in application fees, which is a real difference for families. It also brings us closer to our mission of expanding access to higher education for every student.
To the Class of 2027: we are so proud of you, and we can’t wait to see where you go next.