Columbia College (MO) Career Outcomes & Earnings

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.

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.

An estimated 27.0% of graduates continue to graduate study, a figure derived from the program mix rather than observed enrollment. Four-year earnings cover federally aided completers who are working and not enrolled, so graduates continuing their education sit outside that earnings snapshot. That estimate matters when reading the reported median.

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.

Computer and Information Sciences awarded 8 degrees and had median earnings of $81,090 four years after completion. Nursing awarded 44 degrees, with median earnings of $78,632 four years after completion.

Management Information Systems and Services awarded 55 degrees and had median earnings of $74,816 four years after completion. Business Administration and Management awarded 90 degrees, with median earnings of $64,997 four years after completion.

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