Columbia State Community College Programs, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt
- Public college
- Columbia, TN
- 3,897 undergraduates
College Scorecard June 2026 release
The short answer
6 Columbia State Community College associate's programs report what graduates earn. Nursing pays the most in the first year ($65,077), and Liberal Arts and General Studies the least ($26,438). The median program pays $39,904. Columbia State Community College also has one certificate program that reports pay.
All 6 associate's programs, ranked
Each figure is the median for the program's graduates. "Rank in Tennessee" compares first-year pay with the same field's associate's programs across Tennessee. Programs that don't report a figure are listed last when you sort by it.
Program names link to the program's own page, and Tennessee 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 Tennessee programs in the field do too.
One certificate program
Each figure is the median for the program's graduates. "Rank in Tennessee" compares first-year pay with the same field's certificate programs across Tennessee.
Program names link to the program's own page, and Tennessee ranks link to the full ranking for the field.
Quick picks: associate's programs
Highest first-year pay
- Nursing$65,077
- Diagnostic and Treatment Professions$58,188
- Medical Laboratory Science$48,168
- Business Administration$31,640
- Veterinary Technology$30,761
Lowest median debt
- Liberal Arts and General Studies$8,517
- Diagnostic and Treatment Professions$13,000
- Nursing$18,841
Largest programs
- Liberal Arts and General StudiesAbout 541 graduates a year
- NursingAbout 84 graduates a year
- Business AdministrationAbout 38 graduates a year
- Diagnostic and Treatment ProfessionsAbout 25 graduates a year
- Veterinary TechnologyAbout 16 graduates a year
Common questions
Nursing graduates earn a median of $65,077 in their first year, the most of 6 Columbia State Community College associate's programs that report pay.
Liberal Arts and General Studies graduates leave with a median of $8,517 in federal loans, the lowest among 3 Columbia State Community College associate's programs that report debt.
In-state tuition and fees are $5,296 a year, and $18,112 for out-of-state students. After grants and scholarships, the average net price is $4,734 a year.
6 associate's programs and one certificate program at Columbia State Community College report first-year pay, and 4 of them also report federal debt.
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 Tennessee 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