Bachelor's · Chicago, Illinois

Is Marketing at Columbia College Chicago worth it?

Medium confidence Medium confidence: 40–99 graduates behind the earnings figures.

The verdict · all families, in-state, half paid with loans

Pays back slowly: graduates typically recover the cost in about 7.5 years.

Earnings 1 year after graduating: $46,619; Treasury AY2020-21, AY2021-22 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Earnings 4 years after graduating: $70,555; Treasury AY2017-2018, AY2018-2019 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Typical federal debt at graduation: $23,587; NSLDS pooled AY2022-23, AY2023-24 cohort
Net cost to graduate, all families: $155k (likely $155k – $192k); AcadYr 2024-25, reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26
Earnings bump, year 4: $31k a year vs high-school graduates aged 25–34 in IL; 2023 ACS 5-year pooled, adjusted to 2024 dollars
Payback: 7.5 years (likely 6.2–9.6); Bump vs net cost plus loan interest
10-year net return: −$66k (likely −$165k – $18k); Today's dollars
20-year net return: $327k (likely $126k – $530k); Today's dollars
Odds of finishing (school-wide): 47%; Fall 2019 or AcadYr 2019-20 cohort (differs by institutional calendar), reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26
Borrowers making progress / in default, 2 years in: not reported / ≤ 20%; NSLDS AY2016-17, AY2017-18 pooled cohorts measured in 2018-19, 2019-20