CO Course Availability: 44.3% Scarce, 15 Colleges (2026)

Colorado's community college system — CCCS, the Colorado Community College System — runs 15 colleges across a state that stretches from Front Range suburbs to mountain resort towns to eastern plains farm communities. The system has 28,079 sections, 2,610 unique course IDs, and a scarcity ratio of 44.3%. That puts Colorado well below North Carolina's 78.9%, Florida's 69.2%, and Virginia's 68.6% — but it doesn't mean every course is available at every campus.

For the conceptual framework — how community college catalogs split into universal, anchor-campus, and point-source tiers across every state — see the course availability hub article. This article covers the CO-specific numbers.

#The universal tier: 188 courses at every CCCS campus

Colorado uses a statewide Common Course Numbering (CCN) system tied to the GT Pathways general education framework. That is the primary reason 188 courses — 15.3% of the catalog — appear at all 15 colleges.

| Course | Title | Colleges | Sections | |---|---|---|---| | ENG-1021 | English Composition I: CO1 | 15 | 776 | | MAT-1340 | College Algebra: MA1 | 15 | 449 | | PSY-1001 | General Psychology I: SS3 | 15 | 340 | | ENG-1022 | English Composition II: CO2 | 15 | 327 | | COM-1150 | Public Speaking | 15 | 288 | | PSY-2440 | Human Growth & Development: SS3 | 15 | 254 | | MAT-1260 | Intro to Statistics: MA1 | 15 | 241 | | BUS-1015 | Introduction to Business | 15 | 239 | | COM-1250 | Interpersonal Comm: SS3 | 15 | 237 | | BIO-1111 | Gen Bio I: Molecular & Cell/Lab: SC1 | 15 | 218 |

ENG-1021 with 776 sections across 15 colleges is the most section-dense course in the CCCS catalog.

#Coverage distribution

| Tier | Courses | Share | |---|---|---| | Universal (≥80% of colleges) | 188 | 15.3% | | Common (50–79%) | 137 | 11.2% | | Selective (25–49%) | 359 | 29.3% | | Scarce (<25%, ≥3 sections) | 511 | 41.6% | | Point-source (1 college, ≥5 sections) | 32 | 2.6% |

The 32 point-source courses are the lowest raw count of any system covered in this cluster. The 554 multi-choice courses give real scheduling flexibility across a large portion of the catalog.

#Where courses concentrate: the anchor campus structure

| College | Exclusive Courses | Share of Point-Source | Total Sections | |---|---|---|---| | Aims Community College | 10 | 31.3% | 2,215 | | Colorado Mountain College | 6 | 18.8% | 314 | | Northeastern Junior College | 5 | 15.6% | 2,124 | | Pikes Peak State College | 5 | 15.6% | 3,736 | | Front Range Community College | 3 | 9.4% | 3,910 |

Aims holds 10 exclusive courses — 31.3% of all point-source programs — including workforce programs in petroleum technology and ESL infrastructure.

Colorado Mountain College's 6 exclusive courses include ESL-9060 (Beginning English Language Skills, 15 sections) and ESL-9061 (Intermediate English Language Skills, 15 sections). CMC serves resort-economy communities in the Roaring Fork Valley and Steamboat Springs.

Pikes Peak State College holds WEL-1022 (Structural Welding II, 19 sections) and WEL-2005 (Intro to Ornamental Iron, 10 sections) — the top two point-source courses by section count in the CCCS system.

#The scarcest subject areas

Five subject-area prefixes in CCCS are 100% scarce:

• CIE (Customized Intensive English): 8 courses, all scarce.
• AVT (Aviation Technology): 14 courses, all scarce. The largest entirely-scarce prefix.
• FVM (Film/Video/Media): 10 courses, all scarce.
• RTV (Radio/Television Broadcasting): 5 courses, all scarce.
• MOT (Motorcycle/Outdoor Power Equipment Technology): 6 courses, all scarce.

If you are planning to pursue aviation technology, film production, or broadcasting in Colorado, your first question is which campuses actually offer the program sequence.

#The campus-size gap

CCCS section counts vary significantly. Front Range Community College runs 3,910 sections; Colorado Mountain College runs 314.

CMC's 122 unique courses represent the narrowest catalog in the system. A student at CMC who needs a selective-tier course has a reasonable chance it is not at CMC. CCCS colleges generally allow in-state residents to take online sections from any other CCCS college at in-state rates. The Colorado course search at Community College Path indexes sections across all 15 CCCS colleges.

#What to check before you register

For GT Pathways gen-ed requirements: The 188 universal courses will be at your campus. ENG-1021, MAT-1340, PSY-1001, and BIO-1111 are all universally available with substantial section counts.

For welding and trades: Pikes Peak State College is the anchor campus for WEL courses in Colorado.

For aviation technology: Check which specific campuses hold AVT courses before enrolling anywhere.

For mountain community students at Colorado Mountain College: CMC's 122-course catalog is the narrowest in the system. Online sections from other CCCS colleges are the practical path to courses CMC doesn't schedule.

The comparison to other systems: Kentucky's KCTCS has a nearly identical ratio (44.4%) across 16 colleges. Tennessee's TBR has a more favorable 40% scarcity ratio but an unusually high point-source count. Colorado's profile is different: a standardized universal tier built on GT Pathways, a low point-source count (32), but concentrated subject areas in trades and technical media.