Columbia College
For-profit Community College in Vienna, VA. Six-year graduation rate 80%. Median 10-year earnings $22,160.
Median earnings ten years after entry come to $22,160, below what most undergraduate institutions return — the central fact to weigh against cost here. 80% graduate within six years, so most students who start here finish here. Borrowing stays contained, with median debt at graduation of $7,940.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ Graduation rate 80% — well above the national average
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Academics
80% of students finish within six years, putting completion well above the national norm. First-year retention of 85% shows the cohort holds together through the hardest year. A 12:1 ratio points to small classes and accessible faculty. As a for-profit two-year institution, outcomes here deserve a harder look than the sector average suggests: for-profit institutions vary enormously, and the sector's aggregate numbers hide both strong and very weak performers. This is a small school — 305 undergraduates — so cohorts are tight and the program list is necessarily short.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 305 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Students pay an average of $10,239 annually, well below typical undergraduate net price. The gap between the $0–30k and $48–75k bands is narrow ($10,042 versus $11,163), meaning aid is not strongly need-weighted. Grant aid is limited — 35% of students receive any. Federal borrowing is uncommon here at 16% of students.
Entering first-year students
A different, smaller group than the rates above: full-time students in their first year of college anywhere. The grant series here also excludes the "other sources" counted in the all-undergraduate figure, so the two are not comparable.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · 173 students
Net price by family income
The same students as the headline above, limited to those who received Title IV federal aid — a narrower group, with a lower overall average. IPEDS publishes no combined figure across these bands, so they should not be averaged into one.
| Family income band | Average net price |
|---|---|
| $0–30k | $10,042 |
| $30–48k | $10,246 |
| $48–75k | $11,163 |
| $75–110k | — |
| $110k+ | — |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 50 of these 305 students, totalling $229,566 — an average of $4,591 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Fairfax County) — budget these against any cost-of-attendance housing estimate.
HUD Fair Market Rents (40th-percentile gross rent incl. utilities) · FY2026
Veterans & GI Bill
VA GI Bill Comparison Tool (Veterans Affairs GIDS)