Columbus State University Outcomes: $61K Earnings (2026)

How much do Columbus State University graduates earn?

The reported median is $60,912 four years after completion. The peer comparison uses $57,301 as its benchmark; the difference is $3,611 per year.

Columbus State University has a return record stronger against than its earnings position. Azimuth places its return in the 50th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Graduates earn about $6,125 more than the model expects for similar students. That earnings beyond expectations, the gap between graduate earnings and model expectations for similar students, sits in the 74th percentile 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 $4,219. The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain adds $1,906.

Federally aided completers working and not enrolled have median earnings of $60,912 four years after completion, in the 54th percentile. The peer median, the middle value for comparable institutions (same type and size), is $57,301; the university is $3,611 above it. Above-peer earnings and model gap point the same way.

The earnings scenarios show that earnings can differ widely across the program mix at the university. The downside earnings scenario is $38,771 and the upside scenario is $80,033; both are scenarios rather than observed groups of graduates.

Four years after completion, program median earnings are $89,659 in Nursing, $80,694 in Computer and Information Sciences, and $65,380 in Finance. These field results occupy different parts of the modeled range, so the schoolwide median does not stand in for every program.

Further study changes who appears in the earnings figures. An estimated 27.3% of graduates continue to graduate study, a figure estimated from the program mix.

Since four-year earnings cover completers who are working and not enrolled, graduates continuing study are outside that earnings snapshot.

Median earnings · four years after completion: $60,912
Rank for difference from expectations: 74th percentile

Four-year median earnings against two benchmarks

Columbus State University reported median: $60,912
Peer schools comparable schools · $3,611 below Columbus State University: $57,301
Model expectation what similar students would be expected to earn · $6,125 below Columbus State University: $54,787

School and program earnings use pooled 2017–18 and 2018–19 completion cohorts, measured in 2022 and 2023 and expressed in 2024 dollars. How the model works.

How could earnings differ from the median?

Earnings four years after completion

Planning rangeReported median

Lower estimate: $38,771
Median · reported: $60,912
Higher estimate: $80,033

Downside shows a lower-earning scenario based on the college’s mix of programs; upside shows a higher-earning scenario. Typical is the school’s reported median four years after completion. These are planning scenarios, not a forecast of your salary or percentiles of individual graduates.

Why the downside matters explores the risk hidden by medians, using older ten-year entrant data. Read about the move to four-year earnings.

Do Columbus State University graduates earn more than expected?

Azimuth models what we would expect graduates to earn based on who the college enrolls, how selective it is and its local economy. The difference between that expectation and reported earnings is what Azimuth calls value added.

Columbus State University graduates’ reported earnings are $6,125 above that expectation, the 74th percentile for this measure. Unlike a peer comparison, it adjusts for who enrolls.

The breakdown separates the contribution attributed to observed factors from the remaining difference. Neither component establishes how much attending Columbus State University caused a student to earn. Read how expected earnings are estimated.

Which fields at Columbus State University report the highest earnings?

At Columbus State University, prominent programs show markedly different median earnings four years after completion. Nursing reported $89,659 across 122 degrees awarded; Azimuth ranks it #159 nationally among nonprofit four-year institutions in its field.

Health Sciences had median earnings of $45,997 and 62 degrees awarded, with an Azimuth rank of #68 nationally among nonprofit four-year institutions in its field. Communication and Media Studies recorded $48,499 across 68 degrees awarded; Azimuth places it #207 nationally among nonprofit four-year institutions in its field.

The higher earnings in the first field sit alongside more moderate medians in the other two fields.

Columbus State University has 17 ranked bachelor’s fields. Azimuth ranks Business/Commerce #66 nationally among nonprofit four-year institutions; it awarded 55 degrees and had median earnings of $53,246 four years after completion.

Health Sciences ranks #68 nationally in Azimuth among nonprofit four-year institutions, with 62 degrees awarded and median earnings of $45,997 four years after completion. Azimuth ranks Drama/Theatre Arts and Stagecraft #109 nationally among nonprofit four-year institutions; it awarded 38 degrees and shows median earnings of $34,931 four years after completion. The ranked fields span markedly different earnings levels.

Further analysis

Field choice shapes the modeled earnings range: Nursing reaches $89,659 four years after completion, while Psychology, the lowest-earning large program, reaches $41,266. Grounded in the program mix, downside, typical, and upside earnings scenarios are $38,771, $60,912, and $80,033. These scenarios, rather than observed groups, show variation by field.

Four years after completing a degree, Columbus State University graduates who are working and not enrolled earn a median of $60,912. That figure is $3,611 above the $57,301 median for comparable institutions (same type and size), based on an earnings cohort of 1,608.

Graduates earn about $6,125 more than the model expects for similar students, placing the gap at the 74th percentile. An estimated 27.3% of graduates continue to graduate study, based on the program mix.

Earnings scenarios estimated from the program mix put typical earnings at the same level as the observed median, with a downside scenario of $38,771 and an upside scenario of $80,033. The range between the downside and upside scenarios is wide.

Data & methodology

Sources and reporting periods: methodology.

Analysis and methodology by Daniel Rogers, founder of College Azimuth.

Explanatory text is AI-assisted drafting checked against those figures; it is not an additional data source.

Figure notes link to sources and limitations. About College Azimuth.