Columbia College (Missouri) History (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Bachelor's in History
- Private nonprofit college
- Columbia, MO
- About 25 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Columbia College (Missouri) history graduates earn more than graduates of most history programs nationally, $40,054 in their first year. Debt is high. The typical graduate leaves with $29,700 in federal loans, more than at 95% of history programs in the country. It is one of the higher-paying history degrees in Missouri.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The Missouri and national columns are the medians across all history bachelor's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, Columbia College (Missouri) graduates earn less than the national figure and about $2,714 less than the Missouri median.
Debt and first-year pay at every Missouri history program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Missouri medians.
Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.
What graduates earn over time
Pay rises about 7% between the first and fifth year.
Year 1 and year 5 figures come from different graduating classes, so the growth rate is an estimate.
Paying back the loans
On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $315 a month, or 9.4% of a graduate's typical monthly pay in the first year.
The government publishes these as ranges to protect privacy. They were measured in 2018 to 2020, partly during the pandemic pause on federal loan payments, so the forbearance share may be higher than usual.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
44% of graduates (21 of 48) were working in Missouri one year after graduating. Prices in the Columbia area are about 11% below the national average, so a $40,054 salary here buys what about $44,784 buys in a typical US city.
Careers this field leads to
These are the jobs that the federal crosswalk from fields of study to occupations links to history, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.
Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education
$59,240Median pay in Missouri. 24,380 people work in this job in Missouri. Nationally, jobs are projected to stay about the same in number from 2025 to 2035, with about 63,500 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
Natural Sciences Managers
$129,410Median pay in Missouri. 1,230 people work in this job in Missouri. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 8% from 2025 to 2035, with about 9,200 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus 5 years or more of related work experience.
Tour and Travel Guides
$31,980Median pay in Missouri. 1,360 people work in this job in Missouri. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 6% from 2025 to 2035, with about 11,900 openings a year. Typical education to start: high school diploma or equivalent.
Museum Technicians and Conservators
$49,170Median pay in Missouri. 850 people work in this job in Missouri. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 4% from 2025 to 2035, with about 1,600 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
About Columbia College (Missouri)
History ranks 13th of 18 bachelor's programs at Columbia College (Missouri) by first-year earnings. The top three are Nursing ($71,271), Computer and Information Science ($67,917), and Management Information Systems ($61,770).
Other history bachelor's programs near Columbia
Common questions
The median graduate earns $40,054 one year after graduating and $42,789 five years after. The median across history bachelor's programs in Missouri is $27,424.
The median federal loan balance is $29,700, which ranks 6th lowest of 6 history bachelor's programs in Missouri. That works out to about $315 a month over 10 years.
It depends on your other options. Debt equals 74% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 73%. Compare the cost with other Missouri programs before deciding.
Many leave. 44% (21 of 48) were working in Missouri one year after graduating.
About this data
- Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid (grants or loans).
- Earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school. Graduates who went straight to further study are not included.
- Debt only includes federal loans. Private loans and credit cards are not counted.
- 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 Missouri comparisons when their main campus is in another state.
- Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago. BLS wages are from May 2025.
- School-level numbers like tuition, admission rate, and graduation rate are for the whole school, not the history program.
Sources
- U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field of study and institution files, June 2026 release
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025 to 2035
- Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
- NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024