Columbia College (Missouri) Liberal Arts and General Studies (Associate's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Associate's in Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities
- Private nonprofit college
- Columbia, MO
- About 342 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Columbia College (Missouri) liberal arts and general studies graduates earn more than graduates of most liberal arts and general studies programs nationally, $47,598 in their first year. Debt is high. The typical graduate leaves with $15,960 in federal loans, more than at 87% of liberal arts and general studies programs in the country. It is one of the higher-paying liberal arts and general studies 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 liberal arts and general studies associate's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, Columbia College (Missouri) graduates earn more than the national figure and about $14,538 more than the Missouri median.
Debt and first-year pay at every Missouri liberal arts and general studies 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 9% between the first and fifth year.
Year 1 and year 5 figures come from different graduating classes, so the growth rate is an estimate.
Does family income change the outcome?
Graduates who received Pell Grants, which go to students from lower-income families, earned $6,984 less in their first year than other graduates. They also borrowed more. Students who expect to rely on grants should weigh this gap.
Paying back the loans
On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $169 a month, or 4.3% 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. Separately, 48 parents took out Parent PLUS loans for these students, with a median of $9,370.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
21% of graduates (47 of 220) were working in Missouri one year after graduating. Prices in the Columbia area are about 11% below the national average, so a $47,598 salary here buys what about $53,219 buys in a typical US city.
About Columbia College (Missouri)
Liberal Arts and General Studies ranks 3rd of 6 associate's programs at Columbia College (Missouri) by first-year earnings. The top three are Nursing ($65,768), Criminal Justice ($47,941), and Liberal Arts and General Studies ($47,598).
Other liberal arts and general studies associate's programs near Columbia
Common questions
The median graduate earns $47,598 one year after graduating and $51,911 five years after. The median across liberal arts and general studies associate's programs in Missouri is $26,515.
The median federal loan balance is $15,960, which ranks 14th lowest of 14 liberal arts and general studies associate's programs in Missouri. That works out to about $169 a month over 10 years.
On the numbers, yes for most students. Debt equals 34% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 38%, and the share of borrowers in default two years into repayment is 5% or less.
Many leave. 21% (47 of 220) 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 liberal arts and general studies 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