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.
Westminster teens take Colorado's highest-rated 30-hour classroom course with American Driving Academy. The five-day class meets teen permit requirements, with our expert-written workbook and videos filmed on Colorado streets. The class is just the start. Family-owned since 1999, we strive for the country's best safety record by exceeding state and industry standards. We prepare teens for safe, confident driving and support your family through permit testing, lessons, the Colorado drive test, and the licensing process.
Four Ways Forward
Every package includes the live 30-hour class and permit test. Teens may begin as early as 14 years and 6 months. Compare lessons, the drive test, and Driver Skills Day.
400K+
Students Taught
Colorado family-owned since 1999
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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 → | |
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| Ready to Enroll? → | Enroll Now | Enroll Now | Enroll Now | Enroll Now |
Not sure which package fits? Call our Westminster team at (303) 623-1404, and we will help you choose.
Your teen needs the 30-hour class and permit test now, while your family would rather buy lessons and the drive test as those steps come up.
Your teen wants a license before 16½ and needs the six professional hours Colorado generally requires, with three private lessons included.
Your family wants the drive test bundled now because it costs less inside the package than purchasing that test on its own later on.
Your family wants the full licensing package plus Driver Skills Day, with controlled safety practice after your teen earns a license.
Finish the in-person 30-hour course in five days.
In every packagePass the written permit exam on road rules.
In every packageVisit the DMV on the 15th birthday or afterward.
At the DMVTake three private 2-hour lessons that year.
In Road Ready & upPass the Colorado drive test and apply for the license.
In License Ready & upNorth and Central Access
Westminster families can choose between North Westminster on Pecos Street and Central Westminster on West 84th Avenue. Both offices offer the class, permit testing, private lessons, and the Colorado drive test, so your teen can use whichever is easier.
Both Westminster offices are backed by American Driving Academy's statewide network of 16 Colorado locations.
In-Person Driver Education
Colorado sets the required hours and topics. We add a workbook written for local students, discussion, traffic observation, and exercises that ask teens to explain the safer choice instead of memorizing an answer.
American Driving Academy is one of only two AAA Approved driving schools in Colorado, partners with MADD Colorado and Bachus & Schanker, and works with Westminster-area high schools.
Permit timing, practice logs, lesson rules, and test eligibility can feel scattered. Call 7 days a week or visit either office, and a local team member will explain what your teen has completed and what comes next.
Support continues after the five-day course. ADA Safety Advantage™ lets your teen review the class again, progress notes guide practice at home, and dash-camera review holds us accountable for lesson quality.
Think Past the Rule
A safe choice can change when one detail changes. A light turns yellow, visibility drops, another driver hesitates, or a friend adds a distraction. In a live classroom, the instructor can stop the example, ask what each student noticed, and help the group work through why one response creates less risk than another.
American Driving Academy mixes direct teaching with a Colorado-specific workbook, videos, group exercises, games, quizzes, and traffic observation. Teens do more than repeat rules. They connect right-of-way, following distance, weather, impairment, and distraction to the choices they will make on Westminster streets and in downtown Denver traffic.
Inside the Curriculum
Fifteen topics take teens from core responsibilities to real-road judgment, with room for questions, discussion, practice, and review.
Who Is in the Room
State certification is only the starting point. We look for careers that already demanded patience, judgment, and clear teaching.
Behind the Wheel
Road Ready, License Ready, and Driver Complete each include three private 2-hour lessons. Your teen receives six hours of one-on-one coaching in a dual-control, state-inspected car with a patient, state-certified instructor. Westminster lessons run 7 days a week.
Your teen is never pushed past their current skill level, and the route changes with their ability. Early work may cover setup, steering, braking, turns, lane position, scanning, and intersections. As control improves, the instructor can introduce lane changes, parallel parking, freeway entry and exit, and downtown Denver traffic.
After each appointment, parents hear what their teen did well and what to work on next. Those notes help guide supervised practice at home. For a teen licensing before age 16½, the six hours also meet Colorado's professional instruction requirement. The Lesson Review Promise and progress tracker apply to every included lesson.
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 exams each year.
License Ready ($625) and Driver Complete ($860) include the exam, and drive-test appointments are offered 7 days a week. Your teen may schedule after meeting the applicable age, permit-holding, supervised-practice, and professional-training rules. Permit Ready and Road Ready families can purchase a drive test on its own later.
Examiners give calm directions and explain the result after the route. Eligible students can usually upgrade the permit online instead of returning to a DMV office. Colorado then mails the license.
After the License
The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety found that teen drivers are 50% more likely to crash in the first month of having a license than after a full year of experience. Passing the drive test confirms the skills Colorado evaluates in ordinary traffic, but it cannot safely recreate a skid, a sudden obstacle, or the split-second choice required in an emergency stop.
Driver Complete ($860) includes a 3.5-hour session after the license is earned. In a wide, controlled space, your teen practices emergency braking, skid recovery, hazard response, and precise vehicle control. The instructor can reset each exercise and coach additional attempts.
Students feel how the vehicle responds when traction changes, stopping room disappears, or an obstacle appears in the road.
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.
After your teen completes the 30-hour course, they may return to the full class at no additional charge whenever a refresher would help. Instructor time may also be scheduled to discuss a new vehicle, a confusing intersection, a safety concern, or the next practice goal. Availability and program terms apply.
Every lesson vehicle uses a dash camera. Contact us within 7 days if a lesson concerns you while footage may still be available. We will review the experience and follow up. The promise does not guarantee a license, test result, refund, free lesson, instructor or schedule change, or another outcome.
Some insurers lower premiums after driver education, professional lessons, or another approved safety program. Eligibility, required records, and savings vary by company and policy, so ask your insurer what applies before expecting 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. AAA eligibility, enrollment, territory, expiration, renewal, and other program terms apply.
Beginning January 1, 2027, HB24-1021 adds driver education requirements before a first Colorado permit. Ages 15 through 17 must complete a 30-hour course. Ages 18 through 20 may complete that course or a 4-hour driver awareness program.
The class on this page already meets the 30-hour requirement, so Westminster students who enroll now stay ahead of the change.
Behind-the-wheel training is separate. A student licensing before 16½ still needs six hours of professional instruction from an approved driving school.
Read Colorado's 2027 Driver's Ed Guide for Parents →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. This Westminster classroom page reflects Colorado driver-education requirements, current DMV guidance, HB24-1021, and details American Driving Academy has confirmed with state regulators. Last reviewed: August 2026
Straight From Families
American Driving Academy was great. Everything was explained in detail, and I was guided every step of the way. The price was incredible for how much information I received, and instructor Kevin was incredible.
I had a great experience learning with Mr. Ivan. He was patient and professional and explained everything clearly, which made me more confident behind the wheel. His guidance made learning much less stressful.
American Driving Academy was outstanding. They gave me a drive test the same day I contacted them. Nancy was friendly, professional, and easy to talk to. She eased my stress and gave helpful feedback.
A teen who completes an American Driving Academy course may qualify for a free AAA membership when the teen is a dependent of an active AAA Primary Member living in Colorado. The teen membership expires on the Primary Member's renewal date. The benefit is not automatic and is not a separate membership. AAA eligibility, enrollment, territory, and program terms control. Families should confirm the current requirements before relying on it. Existing AAA Members may call 877-244-9790 to add an eligible teen driver.
See AAA Eligibility and Membership DetailsTwo Ways to Learn
Both formats cover Colorado's 30-hour driver education requirement.
Your teen benefits from a live instructor, a set five-day schedule, and hearing how other new drivers reason through the same Colorado situations.
All 30 hours happen in person at the Westminster office your family selects, where questions can be answered immediately and difficult topics revisited.
Your teen prefers self-paced work, needs to fit driver's ed around school, sports, or a job, and is comfortable managing progress from home.
Westminster online packages use Colorado-specific content and can still include permit testing, lessons, the drive test, and Driver Skills Day.
Westminster 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 covers six hours of lessons, License Ready also covers the Colorado drive test, and Driver Complete extends training through 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 finish class, take the permit test at 14 years and 11 months, and receive the permit on the 15th birthday or later.
A minor can first become eligible at age 16. The student generally must hold the permit for 12 full months, record 50 supervised hours including 10 at night, complete any required professional instruction, pass the drive test, and satisfy current DMV rules.
Classes are scheduled 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 Westminster dates and office options appear when a package is selected.
Six hours through an approved driving school are generally required when a teen plans to receive a license before age 16½. A student licensing later may not need them, although professional lessons can still improve observation, control, confidence, and readiness.
Driver Skills Day is a 3.5-hour, hands-on session included in Driver Complete. Students attend after earning a license and practice skid recovery, emergency braking, hazard response, vehicle control, tire safety, and vehicle checks on scheduled Denver-metro dates.
ADA Safety Advantage™ belongs only to the original student and cannot be transferred. Complimentary re-enrollment applies to the American Driving Academy 30-hour driver education course and may be completed online or in person, subject to course availability, platform availability, and enrollment policies. It does not include permit tests, behind-the-wheel lessons, drive tests, private tutoring, state fees, third-party charges, or other paid services. Instructor support must be scheduled and remains subject to availability.
The benefit carries no cash value. It remains available during the original student's lifetime while American Driving Academy continues operating and continues to offer the applicable course or support service.
The Lesson Review Promise applies to behind-the-wheel lessons provided by American Driving Academy. When a student or parent is dissatisfied, American Driving Academy will examine 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. Documentation, footage availability, scheduling, and program policies govern the review and follow-up.
Driver Skills Day is included with Driver Complete for students who have earned a license. Sessions run on scheduled dates and are subject to availability, location availability, weather, safety requirements, staffing, equipment, and program policies. American Driving Academy may change station activities, vehicles, exercises, sites, or format when safety, facilities, staffing, equipment, weather, or operations require it.
If Driver Skills Day is not offered 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 related to Driver Skills Day. The remaining package services, including the 30-hour class, permit test, six hours of lessons, and drive test, are unaffected.
Colorado permit and license requirements vary with the student's age, permit date, training history, supervised hours, documents, and current DMV rules. A student may begin the 30-hour driver education course at 14 years and 6 months and may take the permit test with American Driving Academy at 14 years and 11 months. The permit may be issued at age 15 after course completion, a passing permit-test result, and the required DMV process.
A Colorado minor must hold the permit for 12 full months before applying for a license. A student seeking a license before age 16½ generally needs six hours of behind-the-wheel training through an approved driving school. Exceptions may apply. Families must confirm 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.
