-46%
100%-time completion
100%-time completion at Columbia College fell 46% between 2021 and 2024 (48.9% → 26.2%).
South Carolina · Private nonprofit · Predominantly bachelor's
Columbia College
Columbia, South Carolina. 1,245 undergraduate students. 65 programs in the federal Field-of-Study dataset.
ANOMALY ENGINE · NOTABLE SIGNALS
What the data flags at Columbia College
Short-arc shifts (recent 3-year window), peer outliers, earnings trend breaks, completion drops, enrollment cliffs, and debt-to-earnings warnings — surfaced deterministically from the federal record. Multi-decade shifts are reported separately in the Long Arc section, since 25-year tuition drift isn't really an anomaly.
-100%
3-year cohort default rate
3-year cohort default rate at Columbia College fell 100% between 2021 and 2024 (1.5% → 0.0%).
-32%
150%-time completion
150%-time completion at Columbia College fell 32% between 2021 and 2024 (54.4% → 36.9%).
-10%
Earnings trend · post-entry horizons
Earnings 10 years post-entry at Columbia College are 10% below 6-year earnings ($45.9k → $41.3k).
SECTION 01 · OUTCOMES SNAPSHOT
The numbers, vs. South Carolina
Each tile compares this institution to the South Carolina median for the same metric. Sub-line shows the comparison value, not an interpretation. Sparklines trace the federally available history.
$41,338-10% · 6→10y
South Carolina median $39,325$45,863
Treasury earnings · 6y post-entry53.5%-35% · '97→'24
South Carolina median 44.4%$14,750+117% · '97→'20
At program completion1,245+9% · '96→'24
latest IPEDS52.9%+2% · '04→'24
first-time, full-time95.8%+25% · '01→'24
latest cohort$21,450+40% · '01→'24
out-of-state $21,450SECTION 02 · EARNINGS HORIZONS
How earnings spread, 4 to 10 years after entry
Treasury tax-record earnings for federally aided students who first enrolled at this institution. Each point is a horizon from the most-recent vintage. Single median per horizon (no p25/p75 publishing).
Earnings widen with time post-entry. Selection: federal-aid recipients only — not all graduates.Methodology →
SECTION 03 · DEBT-TO-EARNINGS
What loans cost relative to earnings
Annual debt service as a share of median earnings 10 years after entry, computed under federal Direct loan terms (10-year fixed at 6%). The 8% line is the gainful-employment threshold from federal regulation; above 12% has historically been considered “failing” under prior rule cycles.
Institution-wide
4.8%Median federal debt $14,750 amortized over 10 years vs. median earnings $41,338 (10y after entry).
SECTION 04 · LONG ARC
Ten-plus year arc
Federally available history. Coverage varies by metric — IPEDS publishes some series only after 2009 and others only before.
Undergraduate enrollment.
150%-time completion rate.
Median federal student debt at exit.
-35%
Columbia College · completion · 150% fell
56.4% → 36.9%
-44%
Columbia College · completion · 100% fell
46.6% → 26.3%
+40%
Columbia College · in-state tuition rose
$15,870 → $22,214
+40%
Columbia College · out-of-state tuition rose
$15,870 → $22,214
+117%
Columbia College · median debt rose
$10,500 → $22,750
-100%
Columbia College · cohort default rate fell
7.4% → 0.0%
+374%
Columbia College · pell share rose
11.4% → 54.0%
+20%
Columbia College · earnings_median_8yr rose
$33,900 → $40,843
+46%
Columbia College · earnings_median_6yr rose
$31,400 → $45,863
SECTION 05 · PROGRAMS
Ranked by 5-year earnings
Each row is one (CIP × credential) program reported by the institution in College Scorecard's Field-of-Study data. Cohort floor is 30 students; below this, federal data is suppressed.
Computer and Information Sciences and Support Services, Other.$68,038Business Administration, Management and Operations.$61,668Criminal Justice and Corrections.$60,613Education, Other.$50,843Communication and Media Studies.$47,742Special Education and Teaching.$42,958Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities.$42,435Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods.$41,415Social Work.$39,693Psychology, General.$38,554Communication Disorders Sciences and Services.$38,268Behavioral Sciences.$36,262
SECTION 06 · BY CIP FAMILY
12 programs with earnings, grouped
Programs are grouped by 2-digit CIP family. Programs without reported earnings are hidden to keep the list focused.
COMPUTER & INFORMATION SCIENCES · CIP 11
EDUCATION · CIP 13
LIBERAL ARTS & GENERAL STUDIES · CIP 24
MULTI/INTERDISCIPLINARY STUDIES · CIP 30
PSYCHOLOGY · CIP 42
HOMELAND SECURITY & PROTECTIVE SERVICES · CIP 43
PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION & SOCIAL SERVICES · CIP 44
HEALTH PROFESSIONS · CIP 51
BUSINESS, MANAGEMENT & MARKETING · CIP 52
COMMUNICATION & JOURNALISM · CIP 09
FINANCIAL OUTCOME · ILLUSTRATION
Estimate the financial outcome at Columbia College
Pick a program. Cost from Scorecard net price by family income; earnings from Treasury 5-year-post-completion median, projected forward with a Mincer age-earnings curve. The selection-bias toggle applies the Dale-Krueger shrinkage. Outcomes illustration, not a forecast — see methodology.
Shrinks the earnings premium toward the matched-applicant mean. STEM <15%, business ~40%, arts & education ~60%.
NET PRESENT VALUE
$83,208
Over 40 years, discounted 5.0%
BREAKEVEN
Year 25
First year cumulative discounted earnings cross zero
- Cost per year
- $22,849
- HS-only baseline · SC
- $33,700
- Years to complete
- 6
- CIP family
- 13
Outcomes illustration · not a forecast. Projects observed Scorecard earnings forward with a Mincer age-earnings curve under your assumptions. See methodology for the math.
SECTION 07 · SIMILAR INSTITUTIONS
Same sector and degree mix in South Carolina
Picked by Carnegie sector × predominant credential level. These are not rankings — just nearest-neighbour surfaces for comparison.
CAUSAL DISCIPLINE
“Columbia College graduates earn $X” — not “Columbia College makes you earn $X”
Median earnings describe what cohorts earned. They do not describe what attending Columbia College caused. Selection effects (who admits, who enrolls, who completes) are real. We publish federal data with strict descriptive phrasing — and link the methodology where you can read about the limitations directly.