Outcomes
What it pays
Former students earn a median $42,195 ten years after enrolling, more than at 18% of colleges; 55% graduate within six years. Four years of net price is about 3.0 years of that salary.
Earnings
Earnings climb with time
Staying and finishing
Retention
come back for year two
Graduation
graduate within six years
National median graduation rate: 59%
Everyone who starts here, 8 years later
Students who entered in fall 2016, including and part-time students. The graduation rate counts only first-time, full-time students and treats a transfer out as not finishing.
54 of 100 students who start here earn a degree or certificate here within 8 years; 27 more are enrolled at another college. (2,425 students)
All entering students, by whether they had a Pell Grant.
47 of 100 finish within 4 years, 53 within 6, and 54 within 8.
| Earned a credential within | 4 yrs | 6 yrs | 8 yrs |
|---|---|---|---|
| All students | 47% | 53% | 54% |
| Started in college here | 39% | 46% | 47% |
| Transferred in | 63% | 67% | 67% |
Transfer students' clock starts when they arrive here, not when they first started college.
National median: 60% of all entering students earn a credential at the college they started at within 8 years.
Do lower-income students finish?
Pell Grant recipients: 47%, 7 points below students with no need-based federal aid (54%). First-time, full-time students who finished within 6 years; entered fall 2018.
- Pell Grant recipients443 students
47% · 7 points below students with neither
- Subsidized loan, no Pell Grant328 students
55% · 2 points above students with neither
- Neither Pell nor subsidized loan523 students
54% · comparison group
By race and ethnicity
First-time, full-time students who finished within 6 years, from the College Scorecard's most recent release. Groups under 30 students aren't shown.
- White661 students
58% · 7 points above all students
- Asian54 students
65% · 13 points above all students
- Hispanic/Latino245 students
48% · 4 points below all students
- Black177 students
34% · 18 points below all students
- Two or more races79 students
41% · 11 points below all students
- International58 students
52% · the same as all students
- American Indian/Alaska Native4 students
Not shown: under 30 students
Cost vs. earnings
The 300 most-applied-to colleges plus Columbia College Chicago. Top-left is lower cost and higher earnings.
↑ Median earnings 10 years after entry (higher = more)
Sources:College Scorecard, most recent release;College Scorecard, Entered fall 2023;IPEDS Outcome Measures survey, Students entering fall 2016;IPEDS Graduation Rates survey (Pell Grant and subsidized loan recipients), Entered fall 2018;IPEDS Institutional Characteristics survey, 2023–24;IPEDS Student Financial Aid survey, 2023–24About the data(retrieved 2026-10-12)