Columbia College

Academics & Admissions

Is It Hard to Get Into Columbia College? Acceptance Rate & Requirements

Columbia College, located in Vienna, Virginia, enrolls students across a range of programs. The graduation rate is roughly 75%.

Retention Rate

85%

Faculty Salary (mo)

$2,698

Student–Faculty Ratio

12:1

Diversity Index

0.60

First-Gen Students

65%

Cost & Financial Aid

How Much Does It Cost to Attend Columbia College? Tuition, Net Price & Aid

The average net price at Columbia College, the amount students actually pay each year after federal grants and scholarships, is about $10,171. Students from families earning under $30,000 typically pay closer to $10,042 after need-based grants. The median graduate leaves with about $7,940 in federal student loans.

Avg Net Price

$10,171

Median Debt

$7,940

Pell Grant Rate

34%

Federal Loan Rate

16%

Students Like You

Tell us a little about yourself to see what students like you have typically experienced at Columbia College — the net price for your income, your admission odds, and the outcomes that follow. These are patterns from federal data, not predictions.

Graduate Outcomes

Is Columbia College Worth It? Graduate Earnings & ROI

Ten years out, alumni of Columbia College report median earnings of $22,160, a figure worth comparing against the cost of attendance before enrolling.

6 Years After Entry

$23,950

8 Years

$26,186

10 Years

$22,160

Debt-to-Earnings

0.36x

Loan Repayment (3yr)

68%

Social Capital

Data: Opportunity Insights Social Capital Atlas

How Connected Is Columbia College? Social Capital & Cross-Class Networks

Social capital, the web of cross-class friendships that researchers link to long-run upward mobility, runs high at Columbia College. Its economic connectedness score is 1.18, where about 1.0 is the national norm. Its friending bias is low (0.02), a sign that students from different economic backgrounds actually mix rather than self-segregate. Around 10% of students take part in civic and volunteering activity.

Economic Connectedness

1.18

Cross-class friendships

Friending Bias

0.02

Lower = more inclusive

Volunteering Rate

10.0%

Support Ratio

0.97

Community support

Research & Teaching

Data: Times Higher Education World University Rankings

How Research-Intensive Is Columbia College? World Rank, Teaching & Citations

Times Higher Education places Columbia College at #18 worldwide, a mark of serious research standing. Its profile spans a research score of 74/100, teaching at 74/100, and citation impact of 93/100, reflecting both the volume of research output and how often that work is cited by scholars elsewhere.

World Rank

#18

Teaching

73.8

Research

73.8

Citations

92.6

International

90.9

Innovation & Knowledge Creation

Patents, inventors, and research influence · Opportunity Insights & Times Higher Education

Research Score

74/100

Times Higher Ed

Academic Influence

93/100

Citation impact (THE)

Top Programs

The fields Columbia College awards the most degrees in, by share of completions. Where federal field-of-study data exists, we show what graduates in that major earned early in their careers. Each links to its degree guide — or see what someone with your income, scores, and major would pay and earn here in the Students Like You simulator.

• Health Professions 64%
• Culinary & Personal Services 13%
• Business & Marketing 7%
• Education 7%
• English & Literature 5% $21,328 early-career
• Computer Science & IT 4%

Early-career median earnings by major (typically 1–2 years after completion, bachelor's level where available), in today's dollars (CPI-adjusted). Source: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard field of study. Distinct from the school-wide 10-year median; suppressed for small programs.