Columbus State Health Sciences (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Bachelor's in Health Services/Allied Health/Health Sciences, General
- Public university
- Columbus, GA
- About 61 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Columbus State health sciences graduates earn less than graduates of most health sciences programs nationally, $30,382 in their first year. Debt is high. The typical graduate leaves with $28,508 in federal loans, more than at 82% of health sciences programs in the country. Several Georgia programs report higher pay.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The Georgia and national columns are the medians across all health sciences bachelor's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, Columbus State graduates earn less than the national figure and about the same as the Georgia median.
Debt and first-year pay at every Georgia health sciences program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Georgia 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 36% 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 $302 a month, or 11.9% 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, 23 parents took out Parent PLUS loans for these students, with a median of $7,934.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
89% of graduates (49 of 55) were working in Georgia one year after graduating. Prices in the Columbus area are about 11% below the national average, so a $30,382 salary here buys what about $34,024 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 health sciences, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.
Health Education Specialists
$99,400Median pay in Georgia. 3,210 people work in this job in Georgia. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 6% from 2025 to 2035, with about 6,900 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
Community Health Workers
$50,680Median pay in Georgia. 490 people work in this job in Georgia. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 13% from 2025 to 2035, with about 7,000 openings a year. Typical education to start: high school diploma or equivalent.
About Columbus State
Health Sciences ranks 14th of 20 bachelor's programs at Columbus State by first-year earnings. The top three are Nursing ($74,454), Computer and Information Science ($56,660), and Management Information Systems ($53,153).
Common questions
The median graduate earns $30,382 one year after graduating and $41,178 five years after. The median across health sciences bachelor's programs in Georgia is $30,522.
The median federal loan balance is $28,508, which ranks 2nd lowest of 7 health sciences bachelor's programs in Georgia. That works out to about $302 a month over 10 years.
It depends on your other options. Debt equals 94% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 75%. Compare the cost with other Georgia programs before deciding.
Most do. 89% (49 of 55) were working in Georgia 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 Georgia 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 health sciences 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