---
title: Columbia University in the City of New York — cost, debt & earnings (College Scorecard)
location: New York, NY
control: Private nonprofit
source: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard (2026-06-10 release)
sourceUrl: https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/
---

# Columbia University in the City of New York

New York, NY · Private nonprofit · Bachelor-granting

> Federal College Scorecard institution **medians** — not a prediction of any one student's outcome, and not a figure for any single program. Earnings/debt cover federally-aided students.

## The bottom line

| Figure | Value | Status |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Typical earnings, 10 yrs after entry | $102,491 | recorded |
| Earnings range (25th–75th pct) | $62,687 – $162,279 | recorded |
| Typical federal debt | $18,750 | recorded |
| Debt of students who withdrew | $13,275 | recorded |
| Completion rate | 96% | recorded |
| Average annual net cost | $89,472 | recorded |
| % earning above a $28k HS-grad wage | 88% | recorded |
| Debt ÷ a year's earnings | 0.18× | derived |
| Earnings premium vs $28k HS benchmark | $74,491 | derived |

**96% of students finish** — the loans are owed whether or not you graduate, so read every figure below next to this number.

Typical **federal** loan debt is $18,750 (≈ 18% of a year's typical earnings here). Note: this counts federal loans only — not private loans, Parent PLUS, or family savings — so true borrowing is usually higher; and because dropouts borrow less, low-completion schools can show a deceptively low debt figure.

## Earnings by major (the number that decides "worth it")

> **Different measure — read on its own terms.** These are median earnings **1 year after completing the program** (early career, graduates only) — NOT the 10-years-after-entry school-wide figure above. Do not compare a program figure to the school figure; compare majors to each other. The Dept. of Education omits programs with too few graduates.

By program, early-career pay ranges from $28,302 to $193,362 across 73 program(s).

| Major | Credential | Pay (1 yr out) | Median debt |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Law. | First Professional Degree | $193,362 | $198,924 |
| Business Administration, Management and Operations. | Master's Degree | $162,427 | $65,229 |
| Management Information Systems and Services. | Master's Degree | $153,730 | $43,335 |
| Computer Science. | Master's Degree | $133,851 | $41,000 |
| Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing. | Doctoral Degree | $115,222 | $175,663 |
| Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing. | Master's Degree | $111,569 | $116,593 |
| Operations Research. | Master's Degree | $111,312 | not reported |
| Advanced/Graduate Dentistry and Oral Sciences. | Graduate/Professional Certificate | $110,949 | $320,742 |
| Computer Science. | Bachelor's Degree | $108,903 | $19,594 |
| Biomathematics, Bioinformatics, and Computational Biology. | Master's Degree | $105,801 | $57,410 |
| Construction Management. | Master's Degree | $98,322 | $61,500 |
| Electrical, Electronics, and Communications Engineering. | Master's Degree | $96,504 | not reported |
| Communication and Media Studies. | Master's Degree | $95,483 | $73,250 |
| Statistics. | Master's Degree | $92,259 | $78,000 |
| Computer and Information Sciences, General. | Master's Degree | $92,223 | $53,545 |
| Operations Research. | Bachelor's Degree | $87,327 | not reported |
| Health and Medical Administrative Services. | Master's Degree | $86,682 | $66,000 |
| Civil Engineering. | Master's Degree | $81,566 | $32,685 |
| Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods. | Master's Degree | $81,069 | $61,130 |
| Real Estate Development. | Master's Degree | $80,322 | $94,551 |
| Mechanical Engineering. | Master's Degree | $78,476 | not reported |
| Ecology, Evolution, Systematics, and Population Biology. | Master's Degree | $78,251 | $74,333 |
| Public Health. | Master's Degree | $74,805 | $72,167 |
| Rehabilitation and Therapeutic Professions. | First Professional Degree | $74,449 | $152,583 |
| Public Administration. | Master's Degree | $74,201 | $71,000 |
| Economics. | Bachelor's Degree | $73,902 | $25,000 |
| Sustainability Studies. | Master's Degree | $73,816 | $61,500 |
| Mathematics. | Bachelor's Degree | $72,988 | not reported |
| Rehabilitation and Therapeutic Professions. | Master's Degree | $72,636 | $95,341 |
| Applied Mathematics. | Bachelor's Degree | $71,727 | not reported |
| Biotechnology. | Master's Degree | $70,194 | not reported |
| Mechanical Engineering. | Bachelor's Degree | $69,826 | $10,057 |
| Civil Engineering. | Bachelor's Degree | $69,428 | not reported |
| Chemical Engineering. | Master's Degree | $67,852 | not reported |
| International Relations and National Security Studies. | Master's Degree | $66,860 | $80,500 |
| Dentistry. | First Professional Degree | $66,443 | $324,057 |
| Chemical Engineering. | Bachelor's Degree | $65,500 | not reported |
| City/Urban, Community, and Regional Planning. | Master's Degree | $65,467 | $61,500 |
| Medicine. | First Professional Degree | $65,213 | $63,865 |
| Biomathematics, Bioinformatics, and Computational Biology. | Graduate/Professional Certificate | $65,089 | not reported |
| Middle/Near Eastern and Semitic Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics. | Bachelor's Degree | $62,257 | not reported |
| Public Health. | Graduate/Professional Certificate | $61,912 | $66,000 |
| Architectural Sciences and Technology. | Master's Degree | $61,687 | $111,550 |
| Ecology, Evolution, Systematics, and Population Biology. | Graduate/Professional Certificate | $60,803 | $87,000 |
| Sports, Kinesiology, and Physical Education/Fitness. | Master's Degree | $60,701 | $92,058 |
| Natural Resources Conservation and Research. | Master's Degree | $59,243 | $62,424 |
| Architecture. | Master's Degree | $58,013 | not reported |
| Dispute Resolution. | Master's Degree | $56,215 | $106,851 |
| Sociology. | Bachelor's Degree | $53,374 | $27,000 |
| Political Science and Government. | Bachelor's Degree | $52,096 | $21,500 |
| Social Work. | Master's Degree | $51,895 | $82,150 |
| Historic Preservation and Conservation. | Master's Degree | $50,313 | not reported |
| Area Studies. | Master's Degree | $50,211 | $50,000 |
| Sustainability Studies. | Bachelor's Degree | $46,855 | $18,070 |
| Biomedical/Medical Engineering. | Bachelor's Degree | $46,324 | not reported |
| Romance Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics. | Bachelor's Degree | $45,021 | $20,250 |
| Journalism. | Master's Degree | $44,977 | $69,000 |
| Social Sciences, Other. | Bachelor's Degree | $44,253 | $25,000 |
| History. | Master's Degree | $43,321 | $66,561 |
| Research and Experimental Psychology. | Bachelor's Degree | $41,906 | $19,347 |
| Ethnic, Cultural Minority, Gender, and Group Studies. | Bachelor's Degree | $41,618 | $19,500 |
| Nutrition Sciences. | Master's Degree | $40,618 | $64,900 |
| History. | Bachelor's Degree | $40,546 | $21,500 |
| Neurobiology and Neurosciences. | Bachelor's Degree | $40,198 | $24,812 |
| Rhetoric and Composition/Writing Studies. | Master's Degree | $40,027 | $88,235 |
| English Language and Literature, General. | Bachelor's Degree | $38,726 | $25,000 |
| Philosophy. | Bachelor's Degree | $38,546 | $20,937 |
| Anthropology. | Master's Degree | $38,086 | not reported |
| Visual and Performing Arts, Other. | Bachelor's Degree | $37,826 | $26,985 |
| Fine and Studio Arts. | Bachelor's Degree | $36,885 | $27,000 |
| Film/Video and Photographic Arts. | Master's Degree | $34,730 | $163,605 |
| Drama/Theatre Arts and Stagecraft. | Master's Degree | $31,068 | $131,963 |
| Anthropology. | Bachelor's Degree | $28,302 | $32,250 |

## What this is — and is NOT

Institution-wide medians from the U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard. **Not** a prediction of what you would earn or owe, **not** a figure for any single program (a CS and a fine-arts graduate of the same school diverge enormously), **not** proof the school caused the outcome (selection, not causation), and **not** a "best college" ranking. Explore Columbia University in the City of New York by field of study at the official Scorecard: https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/school/?190150

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Structured data (JSON-LD), each figure labeled by epistemic status: `/education/columbia-university-in-the-city-of-new-york-ny.jsonld` · all schools: `/education`