Columbia College (MO)

Columbia College publishes a cost of attendance of $37,207, with tuition and fees at $25,826 and room and board at $9,552. For aid recipients, the average net price—what students pay after grants and scholarships—is $22,715, which is $4,656 below the $27,371 median for comparable institutions (same type and size).

Aid covers about 39% of the published cost for the average aid recipient, a savings of $14,492 against the sticker price. Azimuth ranks the university #737 for affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions.

At Columbia College, aid recipients face prices after aid that remain below the published cost of attendance, $37,207. Average net price, what aid recipients pay after grants and scholarships, is $23,967 for the lowest family-income band, $21,168 for the lower-middle band, $21,550 for the middle band, $23,015 for the upper-middle band, and $21,545 for the highest family-income band.

The spread between the lowest and highest bands is $2,422. Azimuth ranks the university #737 for affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Aid covers about 39% of the published cost for the average aid recipient, an average offset of $14,492. Across all aid recipients, the average net price is $22,715, which is $4,656 below the peer median of $27,371 at comparable institutions (same type and size).

Published tuition and fees are $25,826, and room and board are $9,552. The aid offset and lower peer comparison point toward a lower average price than comparable institutions.

Among federal-loan borrowers who completed, median federal student loan debt is $23,879, and 70.9% of federal aid recipients borrow federal loans. The peer median at comparable institutions (same type and size) is $24,199, placing Columbia College $320 below that benchmark.

That debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $271 a month if repaid over ten years. Median Parent PLUS borrowing is $10,000.

Four years after completing a degree, federally aided graduates who are working and not enrolled earn a median of $57,679. That is at the 42nd percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions, and $10,571 below the $68,250 median for comparable institutions (same type and size).

Graduates earn about $5,626 more than the model expects for similar students. That puts the gap at the 73rd percentile.

Azimuth places the university at the 58th percentile for return among nonprofit four-year institutions. The part the model attributes to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market) adds $8,569. The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts $2,943.

At Columbia College, graduates earn about $5,626 more than the model expects for similar students, a favorable modeled result alongside a lower national earnings placement. Among federally aided completers who are working and not enrolled, median earnings are $57,679 four years after completion.

Among nonprofit four-year institutions, that median falls in the 42nd percentile. The measure draws on an earnings cohort of 2,501 completers.

Program-mix earnings scenarios put typical earnings at $57,679, with a downside scenario of $48,079 and an upside scenario of $68,779. An estimated 27.0% of graduates continue to graduate study, a figure estimated from the program mix.

The expected-earnings result and the national earnings placement point in different directions.

Graduates earn about $5,626 more than the model expects for similar students. At Columbia College, federally aided completers who are working and not enrolled have median earnings of $57,679 four years after completion, placing them in the 42nd percentile.

The peer median, the middle value for comparable institutions (same type and size), is $68,250, and the college sits $10,571 below that benchmark. Earnings beyond expectations, the gap between what graduates earn and what the model expects for similar students, is in the 73rd percentile.

The part the model attributes to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market) adds $8,569. The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts $2,943.

Within the measured factors, the STEM component subtracts $365. Earnings scenarios grounded in the program mix range from $48,079 on the downside to $68,779 on the upside.

Azimuth places the return pillar in the 58th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. Above-expected earnings and a below-peer median point in different directions.

Business/Commerce is the largest program, with 264 degrees awarded and median earnings of $61,958 four years after completion. Computer and Information Sciences had 8 degrees awarded and median earnings of $81,090 at the same point.

Nursing recorded 44 degrees awarded and $78,632 in median earnings, while Management Information Systems and Services had 55 degrees awarded and median earnings of $74,816. The reported figures vary across these programs.

Program choice is associated with a broad modeled earnings range at Columbia College. Across scenarios based on the program mix, the downside is $48,079 and the upside is $68,779; these are earnings scenarios, not observed groups of graduates.

Published program medians four years after completion are $81,090 in Computer and Information Sciences, $78,632 in Nursing, and $74,816 in Management Information Systems and Services. The program figures show why a single institution-wide median leaves out substantial variation by field.

At Columbia College, the cost and debt picture sits below the median for comparable institutions, while graduates earn about $5,626 more than the model expects for similar students. The average net price, what aid recipients pay after grants and scholarships, is $22,715, which is $4,656 below the $27,371 median for comparable institutions (same type and size).

The published cost of attendance is $37,207, and aid covers about 39% of that for the average aid recipient. The spread between the lowest and highest income bands is $2,422, so net prices are fairly flat across the income scale.

Borrowers who finish carry a median of $23,879 in federal student loans, $320 below the median for comparable institutions. That debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $271 a month if repaid over ten years. Parents who borrow hold a separate median of $10,000.

Columbia College serves an undergraduate body shaped by both federal grant use and transfer entry. The mix suggests that the university’s enrollment includes people arriving through more than one academic pathway, rather than only students beginning college immediately after high school.

Four years after completion, Columbia College’s program earnings span higher-paying technical and health fields alongside more moderate human-services study. Computer and Information Sciences records median earnings of $81,090 with 8 degrees awarded, and Nursing records $78,632 with 44 degrees awarded.

Management Information Systems and Services sits between those fields and the more moderate end, at $74,816 across 55 degrees awarded. Human Services records $46,785 and 103 degrees awarded, showing that the larger fields do not all share the same earnings level.

Business accounts for 42.3% of bachelor’s degrees awarded, making it the largest program family at Columbia College. Published earnings data cover 18 fields, with several higher-earning options outside the largest fields.

The program mix includes both large business offerings and smaller fields with higher reported earnings.

Columbia College awards bachelor's degrees across 18 programs with published four-year earnings data. The program mix is anchored by Business, which accounts for 42.3% of degrees awarded, followed by Liberal Arts & General Studies at 18.0% and Security & Protective Services at 8.6%.

The largest programs with published earnings are Business/Commerce and Liberal Arts and General Studies, each at 264 degrees awarded, with Criminal Justice third at 119. The highest-earning program is a small one: Computer and Information Sciences graduates report median earnings of $81,090 four years after completion, from 8 degrees awarded a year.

Nursing follows at $78,632, with 44 degrees awarded. Management Information Systems and Services is the third-highest at $74,816, from 55 degrees awarded.

The largest programs and the best-paid ones pull in different directions. Business/Commerce, the largest, earns $61,958, which is below the national median for its field at 0.91x.

The highest-earning programs are concentrated in technical and health fields, but they award far fewer degrees. 7.8% of degrees are in STEM.

The earnings picture is shaped more by the large business and general studies programs than by the smaller technical ones.