Third-party drive tests with state-certified examiners.
Class, permit test, and 6 hours of lessons.
Course online, testing and lessons in person.
Behind-the-wheel lessons with patient and certified instructors.
Your teen takes Colorado's #1 online driving course, developed by American Driving Academy for new Colorado drivers. Denver teens complete the state-approved, self-paced 30-hour program from home. The course is just the start. Family-owned since 1999, we strive for the best safety record in the country by exceeding state and industry standards. We prepare teens for safe, confident driving and support your family with permit testing, driving lessons, the drive test, and post-license Driver Skills Day. We look forward to serving your family.
Build Your Denver Driver-Ed Plan
Students can begin the State-approved 30-hour online course as early as 14 years 6 months (14½). Every package includes that same self-paced course; compare the four below.
400K+
Students Taught
Colorado family-owned since 1999
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Flexible scheduling. Open 7 days a week. | |||
| Online 30-Hour Course $39.85 Get started → | Course + Permit + Lessons $510 Get started → | + Colorado Drive Test $599 Get started → | + Driver Skills Day $840 Get started → | |
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| Ready to Start? → | Enroll Now | Enroll Now | Enroll Now | Enroll Now |
Need a second opinion before enrolling? Call the Denver team at (303) 623-1404 and tell us your teen's age, permit status, and target licensing timeline.
The $39.85 option covers only the State-approved course, so you'll handle permit test, lessons, and drive test separately. Teens licensing before 16½ need six hours of driving lessons.
The $510 option covers the course, Permit Test, and six hours of driving lessons. The lessons cover many driving skills, and fulfill Colorado's requirement for students who plan to license before age 16½.
The $599 option covers the learning and testing requirements from permit to license. It bundles the online course, permit testing, three driving lessons, and the Colorado drive test.
The $840 option adds advanced post-license practice. Driver Skills Day covers skid recovery, emergency braking, and vehicle-control situations hard to rehearse in everyday driving.
Enroll in the 30-hour online course from home.
In every packageWritten knowledge test, with up to 4 attempts.
In $510 & upDMV appointment on or after the 15th birthday.
At the DMVThree 2-hr lessons, required to license before 16½.
In $510 & upPass the Colorado drive test and get licensed.
In $599 & upFour Denver Locations
Your teen does all 30 required hours from home. When your teen reaches the permit test, lesson, or drive testing stage, you can choose whichever of our 4 Denver locations is most convenient for your family.
Backed by American Driving Academy's statewide network of 16 locations across Colorado.
Online, Done Right
This State-approved course was created and taught by Colorado professionals who understand the permit process, licensing rules, local roads, and the mistakes new drivers commonly make. It is a complete driver-education program, not generic national test prep.
Safe driving takes a community. We are one of only two AAA Approved driving schools in Colorado and work with MADD, Bachus & Schanker, and Denver schools such as East High School, George Washington High School, and DSST Public Schools.
Students learn through instructor-led video lectures, interactive learning, readings, quizzes, practice tests, and more than 100 videos. The course explains both the rule and the judgment behind it.
Permit ages, DMV appointments, supervised practice, lessons, and test eligibility can be hard to line up. Our Denver team is real, local people who answer the phone 7 days a week and are ready to help every step of the way.
Inside the Course
Every safe decision behind the wheel follows four steps: identify what is happening around you, predict what could happen next, decide on the safest response, and execute that decision. American Driving Academy's online course builds the first three before formal driving lessons begin, so behind-the-wheel time can focus on the fourth: executing those decisions.
That judgment matters even more in Denver. A single trip can go from a quiet residential street to a busy multi-lane road, a freeway merge, or a stretch full of pedestrians, cyclists, and buses. The course trains teens to read the entire road, not just the car in front of them.
30 Hours, 15 Lessons
The course is organized into 15 connected lessons that give new Colorado drivers the road rules and safety concepts they need before getting behind the wheel.
Watch, Don't Just Read
Driving concepts are easier to understand and remember when teens can see them play out on the road. More than 100 videos combine our own lessons and demonstrations, filmed in Colorado with American Driving Academy instructors, and safety content from trusted sources like CDOT.
Your Instructors
Our certified team brings experience from education, law enforcement, behind-the-wheel instruction, driver testing, and parenting.
Behind the Wheel
The $510, $599, and $840 packages each include three 2-hour behind-the-wheel lessons, for six hours of professional instruction. Every lesson takes place in a dual-controlled, state-inspected vehicle with a patient and friendly state-certified instructor.
Behind-the-wheel instruction in Denver is tailored to your teen's current skill level, not a fixed route or one-size-fits-all lesson plan. The first session starts with the fundamentals: vehicle setup, steering, smooth acceleration and braking, turns, lane position, scanning, and intersections. From there, instruction progresses to lane changes, parallel parking, multi-lane roads, complex intersections, freeway entry and exit, and downtown driving around pedestrians, cyclists, buses, and heavier traffic.
Parents receive useful feedback on what their teen is doing well and where more supervised practice is needed. For students licensing before age 16½, the included six hours also satisfy Colorado's professional driving instruction requirement.
The Final Step
Colorado State Driver License offices no longer administer the driving skills test. As a state-approved third-party testing center, American Driving Academy conducts more drive tests than any other provider in Colorado.
The drive test is included in the $599 and $840 packages. That lets a family finish the online course, permit step, professional lessons, and final road test with the same school the whole way, instead of scrambling to find a tester at the end of the permit year.
A teen who begins the online course at 14½ can have their permit at 15, then use the required holding period to build real experience behind the wheel, and be ready to take the drive test and get licensed right when they turn 16.
After the License
A road test measures whether a student can demonstrate the skills required for a license. It cannot safely recreate a skid, a sudden hazard, or the split-second decision involved in an emergency stop. According to the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, new teen drivers are 50% more likely to crash in their first month of independent driving than after a full year of experience. Those are exactly the situations that can overwhelm a driver during the first months alone.
A newly licensed teen faces the riskiest stretch of driving right after the test. Driver Skills Day, a 3.5-hour post-license session in the $840 package, builds the emergency skills the drive test never measures, like skid recovery and emergency braking.
For a Denver teen, the value is controlled practice before the unexpected happens on the road. In a wide-open setting, your teen actually feels a skid and practices an emergency stop, developing calmer reactions for when pavement is slick, traffic stops abruptly, another road user enters the path, or the vehicle does not respond the way the driver expected.
One focused, hands-on session builds the reactions and practical knowledge that keep new drivers safe:
Driver Skills Day takes place after licensure on scheduled dates in large parking-lot environments around the Denver metro area, not at the Capitol Hill, Montbello, South-East Denver, or South-West Denver offices, and remains subject to availability, weather, safety, staffing, equipment, location, and program policies.
Behind Every Package
Our job is to help your teen become a safe, confident driver, and our support keeps going long after the final lesson. From lifetime course access to a lesson review promise and member benefits, your family has help at every stage.
Your teen may retake or review the 30-hour course free for life, subject to course, technology, platform, and program availability. They can return to the course before permit testing, during the year of supervised practice, and even after they start driving on their own. Students may also book time with an instructor to ask about a road situation or skill.
Every vehicle used for behind-the-wheel lessons has a dash camera. Tell us within 7 days of a concern, while the footage is still available, and we will review it and follow up. The Lesson Review Promise reflects our commitment to accountability; it does not guarantee a license, test result, refund, free lesson, instructor change, schedule change, or any other outcome.
Some insurers provide a discount when a young driver completes an approved course, professional instruction, or another recognized safety program. Eligibility, documentation, and savings differ by insurance company, so families should ask their own carrier what applies before assuming a specific discount.
Eligible teens who complete one of our courses may receive a free AAA membership if they are dependents of an active AAA Primary Member in Colorado. Full restrictions appear later on this page and on the linked AAA information page.
Beginning January 1, 2027, Colorado's new driver's education law (HB24-1021) will require all aspiring drivers under 21 to complete driver's education before they can receive a permit. Ages 15–17 will need the full 30-hour course, and ages 18–20 will need either the 30-hour course or a 4-hour driver awareness course.
Enrolling your teen in the 30-hour course now keeps your family ahead of the change. They will satisfy the new requirement early and will not need to repeat the course once the law is in effect.
The new law does not change the behind-the-wheel requirement. Teens who want to be licensed before age 16½ will still need six hours of professional driving lessons, exactly as they do today.
Read Colorado's 2027 Driver's Ed Guide for Parents →Reviewed by Kevin Hughes, Owner, for accuracy. Kevin is a Colorado driver-education expert who has created extensive Colorado-specific driver's ed content and provided driver-safety expertise to local news outlets. This Denver online driver's ed page reflects HB24-1021, Colorado DMV requirements, state-published guidance, and information confirmed directly with Colorado regulators. Last reviewed: August 2026
Straight From Families
The best package is only useful if the course teaches clearly, lessons build confidence, and the final test feels organized. These reviews reflect three different points in the driver-education journey.
My son had a great experience. The instructor was knowledgeable and enthusiastic. Joshua covered everything students need to know before getting behind the wheel. From start to finish, it was an excellent experience. My son completed the driving course feeling confident and ready to put the theory into practice.
They did a very thorough job of teaching my son. I am very pleased with the instruction and driving lessons he received, and very happy knowing he is a good driver out on the streets. They were very accommodating when we needed to reschedule appointments, and made changes right on the website.
I really appreciated how easy it was to book an appointment, choose an instructor, and select a location. I had tried my driving test at another school before and didn't feel comfortable and didn't pass, so I switched to American Driving Academy. My instructor, Andy, was excellent, and I felt very comfortable taking the driving test with him.
A teen who completes an American Driving Academy course may qualify for a free AAA membership when they are a dependent of an active AAA Primary Member living in Colorado, and the teen membership expires on the Primary member's renewal date. The benefit is not a standalone membership, is not automatic for every student, and remains subject to AAA eligibility rules, enrollment, territory, and program terms. Already an AAA Member? Call 877-244-9790 to add your teen driver.
See AAA Eligibility and Membership DetailsOnline Driver Education Across Denver
Denver teens can complete American Driving Academy's State-approved 30-hour online driver's ed course at home, then continue with permit testing, behind-the-wheel lessons, and third-party drive testing through four local offices in Capitol Hill, Montbello, South-East Denver, and South-West Denver. The coursework is self-paced, with a local team ready when your teen gets behind the wheel.
We serve students throughout Denver Public Schools as well as private, charter, online, and homeschool programs, including families near Denver East, North, Northfield, George Washington, South, Thomas Jefferson, John F. Kennedy, DSST, Abraham Lincoln, Park Hill, Central Park, Montbello, and Westwood.
Prefer scheduled, face-to-face instruction? Explore our Denver classroom driver's ed packages with permit testing, driving lessons, and complete-program options.
The required 30-hour course is 100% online, State-approved, and self-paced. Permit testing, behind-the-wheel instruction, the drive test, and Driver Skills Day are separate in-person services. Families can buy the course alone or choose a Denver package that includes the local steps they need.
Students can begin the course at 14 years 6 months (14½), take the written permit test at 14 years 11 months, and receive the instruction permit at age 15 after completing the required DMV process. Passing the test before the birthday does not allow the permit to be issued early.
We offer in-person permit testing at all four Denver offices, Capitol Hill, Montbello, South-East Denver, and South-West Denver, by appointment. Packages that include the permit test provide Permit Test (4 Attempts).
The six-hour driving-school requirement applies to a student who wants to receive a license before age 16½. One exception applies: a student who lives more than 30 miles from the nearest licensed driving school may be exempt from completing these six hours with a driving school. The $510, $599, and $840 packages include those six hours in three 2-hour sessions with a state-certified instructor in a dual-controlled, state-inspected vehicle.
Yes. American Driving Academy is a state-approved third-party testing center and offers Colorado drive tests through four Denver locations, seven days a week. Colorado State Driver License offices no longer administer the driving skills test. The test is included in the $599 and $840 packages.
Beginning January 1, 2027, and based on the implementation guidance we have reviewed, new drivers under 21 must complete driver education before receiving a permit. Ages 15–17 will need the 30-hour course; ages 18–20 will need either the 30-hour course or a 4-hour driver awareness course. Families should confirm the final CDOT and DMV procedures when applying.
American Driving Academy does not guarantee permit approval, license approval, insurance discounts, AAA membership, or drive-test results.
If under the age of 16, you need to first complete a driver's ed course. In-person and online options are available.
This 25 multiple-choice test is offered at many of our locations.
After passing the course and the permit test, you will need to go to the DMV to get your driving permit. To make a DMV appointment…
If you are under 16.5 years of age, you are required to take six hours of driving lessons before getting your driver's license. Learn to drive with our state-certified, friendly, and patient instructors.
After holding your permit for one full year, it is time to take your driver's license test.
You need to pass this test to get your permit. It is 25 multiple choice questions. We offer this test at many of our locations.
After passing the permit test, you will need to go to the DMV to get your driving permit. To make a DMV appointment…
If you are new to Colorado or you don’t have driving experience, we offer driving lessons 7 days a week. These are 2-hour lessons with state-certified, patient, and friendly instructors.
You are required to pass the driver's license test in order to get your driver's license. After passing, you may be eligible to get your license that same day without even having to visit the DMV.
