Fortis College-Columbia
For-profit College in Columbia, SC. Six-year graduation rate 43%. Median 10-year earnings $36,368.
Ten-year median earnings of $36,368 are on the low side, which raises the bar for what this degree needs to cost. Six-year completion sits at 43%, near the national average for undergraduate institutions. Graduates leave owing a median of $12,547 — 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 0.35 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Academics
43% graduate within six years — average, but that average still hides a large group who do not. 66% of full-time first-years come back for year two, so about one in three are gone before sophomore year. Retention and graduation track closely, so most of the attrition shows up in the first year rather than after it. A 29:1 ratio means students need to be deliberate about getting faculty time. This is a for-profit two-year institution. That is not disqualifying, but it does mean verifying accreditation, transferability of credits, and job-placement claims directly rather than trusting the category.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 531 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Students pay an average of $20,510 annually once grants are applied. Aid is steeply need-based: families in the $0–30k band pay $19,599 while those at $110k+ pay $34,276. Grant aid reaches 79% of students at an average of $6,230. 72% of students borrow federally, so debt is the norm rather than the exception.
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 · 50 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 | $19,599 |
| $30–48k | $20,526 |
| $48–75k | $23,866 |
| $75–110k | $25,778 |
| $110k+ | $34,276 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 384 of these 531 students, totalling $2,621,232 — an average of $6,826 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Richland 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)