Columbia State
Community College
Public Community College in Columbia, TN. Six-year graduation rate 30%. Median 10-year earnings $40,256.
Median earnings ten years after entry come to $40,256, below what most undergraduate institutions return — the central fact to weigh against cost here. The six-year graduation rate is 30% — low enough that finishing cannot be treated as the default outcome. Graduates leave owing a median of $8,500 — modest by four-year standards.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ Debt-to-income ratio 0.21 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
- ! Mobility score 1.0 — limited economic uplift documented
- ! Graduation rate 30% — below national average
Academics
Only 30% finish within six years, so roughly two in three students leave without the credential. 55% first-year retention is low enough to be the defining risk of enrolling here. That gap between coming back and finishing is where this school loses people — after the first year, not during it. A 17% transfer-out rate accounts for part of that gap: those students left for another institution rather than dropping out, and the graduation rate above counts them as non-completers here. The part-time picture is harder: 40% return, against 55% full-time.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 3,670 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price is $6,193 a year after grant aid — low for a four-year institution, though your own figure depends on aid eligibility. Net price varies modestly by income — $4,083 at $0–30k against $6,252 at $110k+ — so the average is a fair guide for most families. 77% of students receive grant aid, averaging $5,745 — common but not automatic. Only 7% take federal loans. Private borrowing is not captured in this figure.
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 · 1,137 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 | $4,083 |
| $30–48k | $4,125 |
| $48–75k | $5,995 |
| $75–110k | $5,706 |
| $110k+ | $6,252 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 265 of these 3,670 students, totalling $1,468,878 — an average of $5,543 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Maury 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)