Which Columbia College Chicago major has the lowest debt?

Graphic Communications graduates leave with a median of $25,000 in federal loans, the lowest among 16 Columbia College Chicago bachelor's programs that report debt.

How much does Columbia College Chicago cost?

Tuition and fees are $34,088 a year for all students. After grants and scholarships, the average net price is $26,598 a year.

How many Columbia College Chicago programs report graduate pay?

16 bachelor's programs at Columbia College Chicago report first-year pay, and all of them also report federal debt.

Columbia College Chicago Programs, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

Private nonprofit college
Chicago, IL
5,368 undergraduates

College Scorecard June 2026 release

The short answer

16 Columbia College Chicago bachelor's programs report what graduates earn. Public Relations and Advertising pays the most in the first year ($39,794), and Theatre the least ($17,929). The median program pays $25,530.

Tuition and fees$34,088Per year, for all students

Average net price after aid$26,598Per year

Graduation rate52%Within 6 years

Admission rate89%Of applicants

All 16 bachelor's programs, ranked

Each figure is the median for the program's graduates. "Rank in Illinois" compares first-year pay with the same field's bachelor's programs across Illinois. Programs that don't report a figure are listed last when you sort by it.

#	Program	Year 1 pay	Year 5 pay	Debt	Rank in Illinois
1	Public Relations and AdvertisingAbout 27 graduates a year	$39,794	$56,607	$26,000	6th of 9
2	MarketingAbout 47 graduates a year	$36,386	$62,207	$26,250	21st of 22
3	Business AdministrationAbout 2 graduates a year	$34,798	$61,887	$27,000	37th of 38
4	American Sign LanguageAbout 19 graduates a year	$33,775	$48,564	$28,818	1st of 1
5	JournalismAbout 27 graduates a year	$31,369	$49,778	$26,000	8th of 8
6	Design and Applied ArtsAbout 258 graduates a year	$29,630	$46,082	$27,000	6th of 10
7	Graphic CommunicationsAbout 212 graduates a year	$26,309	$65,596	$25,000	1st of 3
8	Other Interdisciplinary StudiesAbout 14 graduates a year	$25,999	$38,616	$27,000	4th of 4
9	Writing and RhetoricAbout 46 graduates a year	$25,060	$39,240	$27,000	2nd of 5
10	Radio, TV, and Digital MediaAbout 42 graduates a year	$24,191	$44,985	$25,420	8th of 8
11	Film and PhotographyAbout 162 graduates a year	$23,905	$36,486	$26,000	2nd of 3
12	Arts ManagementAbout 90 graduates a year	$23,844	$37,460	$26,000	2nd of 2
13	Fine and Studio ArtsAbout 52 graduates a year	$22,765	$41,142	$26,000	13th of 15
14	Audiovisual TechnologyAbout 24 graduates a year	$20,927	$46,106	$27,000	1st of 1
15	MusicAbout 53 graduates a year	$19,943	$32,406	$27,000	11th of 13
16	TheatreAbout 140 graduates a year	$17,929	$33,746	$26,977	12th of 14

Program names link to the program's own page, and Illinois ranks link to the full ranking for the field. A program gets its own page when it reports both pay and debt and at least five Illinois programs in the field do too.

One more bachelor's program reports debt but not pay, so it isn't listed.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Public Relations and Advertising$39,794
Marketing$36,386
Business Administration$34,798
American Sign Language$33,775
Journalism$31,369

Lowest median debt

Graphic Communications$25,000
Radio, TV, and Digital Media$25,420
Public Relations and Advertising$26,000
Journalism$26,000
Film and Photography$26,000

Largest programs

Design and Applied ArtsAbout 258 graduates a year
Graphic CommunicationsAbout 212 graduates a year
Film and PhotographyAbout 162 graduates a year
TheatreAbout 140 graduates a year
Arts ManagementAbout 90 graduates a year

Common questions

Public Relations and Advertising graduates earn a median of $39,794 in their first year, the most of 16 Columbia College Chicago bachelor's programs that report pay.

About this data

Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid, and earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school.
Debt only includes federal loans. Private loans and credit cards are not counted.
Tuition, net price, graduation rate, and admission rate are for the whole school, not one program.
Some schools with several campuses report one combined figure for all of them. We count each of those schools once, and leave them out of Illinois rankings when their main campus is in another state.
Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago.

Sources

U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field of study and institution files, June 2026 release
NCES, IPEDS tuition and fees, 2023-24, for in-district tuition labels