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.
Denver teens learn with American Driving Academy in Colorado's highest-rated 30-hour classroom course. The five-day class fulfills teen permit requirements, with our expert-written workbook and videos filmed on Colorado roads. The class is only the beginning. Family-owned since 1999, we pursue the country's best safety record by exceeding state and industry standards. We prepare teens for safe, confident driving and help your family through permit testing, lessons, the drive test, and post-license Driver Skills Day.
Four Ways to Start
Every Denver package starts with the five-day, 30-hour class. Students may begin as early as 14 years and 6 months. Compare the four options and pick your teen's path to a license.
400K+
Students Taught
Colorado family-owned since 1999
|
In-person classes. Open 7 days a week. | |||
| Permit Ready $195 Enroll now → | Road Ready $535 Enroll now → | License Ready $625 Enroll now → | Driver Complete $860 Enroll now → | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| — | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| — | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| — | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| — | — | ✓ | ✓ | |
| — | — | ✓ | ✓ | |
| — | — | — | ✓ | |
| ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Ready to Enroll? → | Enroll Now | Enroll Now | Enroll Now | Enroll Now |
Not sure which package fits? Call our Denver team at (303) 623-1404, and we will help you choose.
Your teen needs the class and permit test now, and your family would rather buy lessons and the drive test later, closer to when your teen uses them.
Your teen wants a license before 16½, which takes the six professional hours Colorado generally requires, included here as three private lessons.
You would rather have the Colorado drive test included now than purchase it on its own later, because it costs your family less inside a package.
Your family wants the licensing package plus Driver Skills Day, with controlled post-license practice during the first months of driving.
Begin the five-day, in-person 30-hour class.
In every packagePass the written test on Colorado road rules.
In every packageVisit the DMV on the 15th birthday or later.
At the DMVTake three 2-hour lessons before licensing.
In Road Ready & upPass the Colorado drive test and get licensed.
In License Ready & upFour Denver Offices
All four Denver offices offer the class, permit test, lessons, and drive test. Choose Montbello, Capitol Hill, Southwest, or Southeast based on the part of the city and schedule that work best for your family.
All four Denver offices are backed by American Driving Academy's statewide network of 16 Colorado locations.
In Person, Done Right
Colorado sets the required hours and topics. We add a Colorado workbook, professional videos filmed on Colorado roads, guided discussion, games, and classroom exercises that make teens explain the safer choice.
Safe driving is reinforced across the community. We are one of only two AAA Approved driving schools in Colorado, we partner with MADD and Bachus & Schanker, and we work with Denver high schools close to home.
Permit dates, practice-hour rules, lesson requirements, and test timing can be hard to sort out. Call us 7 days a week or visit any Denver office for a clear answer about what your teen needs next.
Support continues after class. ADA Safety Advantage™ covers complimentary retakes, progress notes guide practice at home, and the Lesson Review Promise holds us accountable for lesson quality.
More Than Memorizing
Traffic rules matter, but a new driver also needs to understand why a choice is safe, and how it shifts when the road gets busy, the weather turns, or there are friends in the car. The classroom gives your teen time to reason through those decisions before making them behind the wheel for the first time.
Our instructors combine clear teaching with videos, readings, group work, quizzes, games, and traffic observation. American Driving Academy created a Colorado-specific workbook instead of relying on a generic national text. The slides and many videos were also built in-house for new Colorado drivers. That mix connects following distance, right-of-way, seat belts, adverse conditions, and other topics to the judgment your teen will use on busy Denver streets every day.
What the Course Covers
Your instructor guides the class through all 15 Colorado topics, connecting each lesson to decisions teens make behind the wheel.
Who Is in the Room
We look for people who spent a career in work where preparation and judgment decide the outcome.
Behind the Wheel
Road Ready, License Ready, and Driver Complete each include three 2-hour lessons, giving your teen six hours of one-on-one practice in a dual-control, state-inspected car with a patient, state-certified instructor. Denver lessons run 7 days a week.
The route and pace follow your teen's skill level. Early work may cover vehicle setup, steering, braking, turns, lane position, scanning, and intersections. As control improves, lessons expand to lane changes, parallel parking, multi-lane roads, freeway entry and exit, and downtown Denver traffic around pedestrians, cyclists, buses, and frequent stops.
After each session, parents hear what their teen did well and what to work on next. For teens seeking a license before age 16½, the six hours also meet Colorado's professional instruction requirement. Every lesson includes the Lesson Review Promise and a progress tracker.
The Final Step
Colorado Driver License offices do not administer the drive test. American Driving Academy is a State-approved third-party testing center and Colorado's largest drive-testing provider, giving more than 35,000 drive tests across Colorado each year.
License Ready ($625) and Driver Complete ($860) include the exam. Your teen can test at any of our four Denver offices after meeting all age, permit-holding, supervised-practice, and training requirements. Families using Permit Ready or Road Ready may purchase a drive test on its own later.
Your examiner gives calm directions and explains the result at the end of the route. If your teen passes, eligible students can usually upgrade online without another DMV visit, and Colorado mails the physical license.
After the License
Passing the drive test shows your teen can meet Colorado's licensing standard. It cannot safely recreate a skid or the split-second braking call an emergency demands. Research from the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety puts new teen drivers at 50% higher crash risk in their first month with a license than after a full year. Driver Skills Day gives teens controlled practice during the first months after licensure.
Driver Complete ($860) includes a 3.5-hour session taken after licensure in a wide, controlled setting. Your teen rehearses emergency braking, skid recovery, hazard response, and precise vehicle control, skills ordinary street lessons cannot safely repeat at the same intensity.
They feel how the car responds when traction changes, traffic stops fast, or an obstacle appears. Instructors coach the reaction, reset the exercise, and let students keep working the drill with a clearer plan. The session also connects vehicle control to tire condition, dashboard warnings, and the safety checks every driver should understand.
Held after licensure on scheduled dates in large parking lots around the Denver metro area, not at our offices. Subject to availability, weather, staffing, and program policies.
Behind Every Package
Finishing the class does not end the support your family gets. Your teen can retake the course to review it, parents can request a lesson review, and eligible graduates may qualify for insurance or AAA benefits.
Your teen can return to the full 30-hour course at no additional charge whenever a refresher would help. They may also schedule time with an instructor to discuss a new car, a difficult intersection, or what to practice next. The benefit does not expire, subject to course and program availability.
Every lesson vehicle uses a dash camera. If a lesson concerns you, contact us within seven days while the footage is available. We will review what happened and follow up directly. The promise does not guarantee a license, test result, refund, free lesson, instructor change, schedule change, or another outcome.
Some insurers reduce premiums after driver education, professional lessons, or another approved safety program. Eligibility, documents, and savings differ by company and policy, so ask your insurer what applies before counting on a discount.
Eligible teen graduates may qualify for a free AAA membership when they are dependents of an active AAA Primary Member living in Colorado. The benefit follows AAA eligibility, enrollment, territory, renewal, and program terms.
Beginning January 1, 2027, HB24-1021 changes what first-time permit applicants must complete. Applicants ages 15 through 17 will need a 30-hour driver education course. Applicants ages 18 through 20 may complete either that course or a 4-hour driver awareness program.
The five-day class on this page already satisfies the 30-hour course requirement. Denver families who enroll before the change will not need a different classroom program when the new rule begins.
Behind-the-wheel training remains separate from the permit rule. A student planning to receive a license before age 16½ will still need six hours of professional instruction from an approved driving school. Road Ready, License Ready, and Driver Complete each include those six hours.
Read Colorado's 2027 Driver's Ed Guide for Parents →Accuracy reviewed by Kevin Hughes, Owner and Colorado driver-education expert. Kevin has created extensive Colorado-specific driver's ed content and provided driver-safety expertise to local news outlets. Denver classroom and licensing information is grounded in Colorado driver-education rules, DMV requirements, HB24-1021, and direct communications with state regulators. Last reviewed: August 2026
Straight From Families
American Driving Academy has been a wonderful experience! The place is welcoming. Gary is patient and kind, explains everything in a way that just clicks, and makes learning fun and stress free.
I took three private lessons and learned so many skills. My instructor Michael was respectful and kind and never made me feel bad about mistakes. You can tell they truly care about making people better drivers.
I passed!! Curtis made the experience easy and fun, cracking a few jokes here and there but ultimately explaining how I could improve in a welcoming manner and leaving me feeling confident on the road.
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. The teen membership ends on the Primary Member's renewal date. This benefit is not a standalone membership and is not automatic for every graduate. AAA eligibility, enrollment, territory, and program terms apply. Families should confirm current requirements before relying on it. Current AAA Members can call 877-244-9790 to add an eligible teen driver.
See AAA Eligibility and Membership DetailsTwo Ways to Learn
Both paths fulfill the same Colorado requirements for a permit and license.
Your teen focuses best with a live instructor, a set five-day schedule, and other new drivers working through the same Colorado material together.
All 30 course hours happen in person at a Denver office, where questions can be answered immediately and each topic can be discussed as a group.
Your teen prefers self-paced work, needs to fit driver's ed around school, sports, or a job, and feels comfortable learning independently at home.
The course remains Colorado-specific, and Denver online packages can still include permit testing, lessons, the drive test, and Driver Skills Day.
Denver classroom packages cost $195 for Permit Ready, $535 for Road Ready, $625 for License Ready, and $860 for Driver Complete. Every package includes the five-day, 30-hour class and permit test. Road Ready includes six hours of lessons, License Ready also includes the Colorado drive test, and Driver Complete includes Driver Skills Day.
Students may begin the 30-hour classroom course at 14 years and 6 months. Starting around 14½ gives a teen time to complete the class, take the permit test at 14 years and 11 months, and receive the permit on the 15th birthday or later.
Age 16 is the earliest a minor can be licensed. The student generally must hold a permit for 12 full months, log 50 supervised hours including 10 at night, complete required professional training, pass the drive test, and meet current DMV requirements.
Classes are offered on weekends during the school year and in fall, winter, spring, and summer breaks. Each class spans five days and usually meets from 9:00 AM to 3:30 PM. Current dates appear after a package is selected.
Six hours with an approved driving school are generally required for a teen who plans to receive a license before age 16½. Older teens may not need the six hours, although professional lessons can still strengthen safety, vehicle control, and confidence.
Driver Skills Day is a 3.5-hour, hands-on session included in Driver Complete. It takes place after the student is licensed and practices skid recovery, emergency braking, hazard response, vehicle control, and safety checks on scheduled metro-area dates.
ADA Safety Advantage™ applies only to the original student and cannot be transferred. Complimentary re-enrollment covers the American Driving Academy 30-hour driver education course only and may be completed online or in person, subject to course availability, platform availability, and enrollment policies. The benefit does not include behind-the-wheel lessons, drive tests, permit tests, private tutoring, state fees, third-party fees, or other paid services. Scheduled instructor support is subject to availability.
The benefit has no cash value and remains available for the original student's lifetime while American Driving Academy continues to operate and offer the applicable course or support service.
The Lesson Review Promise applies to American Driving Academy behind-the-wheel lessons. When a student or parent is dissatisfied with a lesson, American Driving Academy will review the lesson experience and follow up with the student or parent. The promise does not guarantee a license, drive-test result, test eligibility, skill level, refund, free lesson, instructor change, schedule change, or another specific outcome. Review and follow-up remain subject to documentation, footage availability, scheduling, and program policies.
Driver Skills Day is included with Driver Complete and is designed for students who have earned a license. Sessions are offered on scheduled dates and remain subject to availability, location availability, weather, safety requirements, staffing, equipment, and program policies. American Driving Academy may adjust station activities, vehicles, exercises, locations, or format based on safety, facility, staffing, equipment, weather, and operational needs.
If Driver Skills Day is not made available to a Driver Complete student, or is delivered without the core hands-on skills described on this page, American Driving Academy will refund $225 of the Driver Complete price. That refund is the student's sole remedy concerning Driver Skills Day. The rest of the package, including the 30-hour class, permit test, six hours of lessons, and drive test, remains unaffected.
Colorado permit and license requirements depend on the student's age, permit date, training history, supervised driving hours, documentation, and current DMV rules. Students may begin the 30-hour driver education course at 14 years and 6 months. They may take the permit test with American Driving Academy at 14 years and 11 months. A student may receive a permit at age 15 after completing the required course, passing the permit test, and completing the DMV steps.
Colorado minors must hold a permit for 12 full months before applying for a license. Students seeking a license before age 16½ generally need six hours of behind-the-wheel training with an approved driving school. Exceptions may apply. Families are responsible for confirming current Colorado DMV requirements before permit issuance, drive testing, or licensing.
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.
