Quad
Columbia
U. Southern California

Key differences on Outcomes

  1. 1

    Columbia grads earn $10K more ten years out than U. Southern California's ($102,491 vs. $92,498)

    Median earnings, 10 yrs
  2. 2

    U. Southern California graduates 0 pts more of its students than Columbia (93% vs. 93%)

    Graduation rate

Outcomes

Outcomes

Earnings and finishing

Median earnings, 10 yrs
Columbia$102.5K
U. Southern California$92.5K
Graduation rate
Columbia93%
U. Southern California93%
Retention rate
Columbia98%
U. Southern California95%

Borrowing

Median debt
Columbia$21.5K
U. Southern California$18K
Undergrads with a federal loan
Columbia14%
U. Southern California24%
Median debt, Pell Grant recipients
Columbia$21.6K
U. Southern California$17.1K

Eight-year outcomes

Credential within 4 years, all students
Columbia84%
U. Southern California83%
Credential within 8 years, all students
Columbia94%
U. Southern California93%
Enrolled at another college, 8 years on
Columbia1%
U. Southern California3%

Graduation by group

Graduated in 6 years, Pell Grant recipients
Columbia93%
U. Southern California90%
Graduated in 6 years, neither Pell nor subsidized loan
Columbia97%
U. Southern California92%
Pell graduation gap
Columbia4 pts lower
U. Southern California2 pts lower

Graduated in 6 years, by race and ethnicity

GroupColumbiaU. Southern California
White97%92%
Asian99%95%
Hispanic/Latino94%91%
Black97%85%
Two or more races96%92%
International93%91%

All outcome numbers in the table

Sources:College Scorecard, most recent release;Columbia University in the City of New York Common Data Set 2025–26, Entered fall 2024;College Scorecard, 2023–24;IPEDS Outcome Measures survey, Students entering fall 2016;IPEDS Graduation Rates survey (Pell Grant and subsidized loan recipients), Entered fall 2018;University of Southern California Common Data Set 2025–26, Entered fall 2024About the data(retrieved 2026-10-12)

Figures are the newest each college has published; years can differ between colleges. Each value's ⓘ shows its source and year. Why