Bachelor's · Columbia, South Carolina

Is Business Administration, Management and Operations at Columbia College 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 in time: graduates typically recover the cost in about 5.5 years.

Earnings 1 year after graduating: $59,355; Treasury AY2020-21, AY2021-22 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Earnings 4 years after graduating: $57,980; Treasury AY2017-2018, AY2018-2019 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Typical federal debt at graduation: $22,750; NSLDS pooled AY2022-23, AY2023-24 cohort
Net cost to graduate, all families: $92k (likely $92k – $107k); AcadYr 2024-25, reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26
Earnings bump, year 4: $21k a year vs high-school graduates aged 25–34 in SC; 2023 ACS 5-year pooled, adjusted to 2024 dollars
Payback: 5.5 years (likely 4.0–8.3); Bump vs net cost plus loan interest
10-year net return: −$56k (likely −$136k – $17k); Today's dollars
20-year net return: $134k (likely $1k – $277k); Today's dollars
Odds of finishing (school-wide): 41%; Fall 2019 or AcadYr 2019-20 cohort (differs by institutional calendar), reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26