unitid 450933 · Orange Beach, AL · private for-profit 4-year · town (fringe)
Columbia Southern University
- enrollment 2023
- 28,957
- predominant degree
- Bachelor's
scorecard 2026-06 · percentiles within private for-profit 4-years
The record
admission rate
not reported
undergraduates
12,176
97th pctl among private for-profit 4-years
Pell share
24%
undergrads on Pell grants
13th pctl among private for-profit 4-years
completion
33%
finish within 150% time
25th pctl among private for-profit 4-years
sticker cost / yr
$18,226
2nd pctl among private for-profit 4-years
avg net price / yr
$14,580
after aid, aided students
6th pctl among private for-profit 4-years
median earnings, 10 yr
$63,534
after entry, Title IV students
85th pctl among private for-profit 4-years
median grad debt
$21,339
58th pctl among private for-profit 4-years
what families actually pay
Cost
Sticker price is a fiction for most families — net price is what aided students pay after grants, by family income.
Average net price by family income, 2023–24 aid cohort
Families earning under $30k paid $12,913 per year after aid.
Dashed hollow marks are privacy-suppressed brackets — not zero. Band: middle half of private for-profit 4-years (all incomes).
Who enrolls, by family income
- 0-30k41%
- 30-48k16%
- 48-75k17%
- 75-110k14%
- 110k+12%
- Median family income
- $35,183
- First-generation students
- 54%
- In-state tuition & fees
- $6,760
earnings · debt · programs
Outcomes
Median earnings after entry, working grads with federal aid
Ten years out, the median graduate earns 3.0× the median graduate debt.
Earnings cover federally aided (Title IV) students only.
What programs pay — top fields of study
| program | grads | earn 5 yr | debt |
|---|---|---|---|
| Business Administration, Management and Operations. | 953 | $75,617 | — |
| Business Administration, Management and Operations. | 594 | $63,635 | $31,284 |
| Fire Protection. | 585 | $87,912 | $21,248 |
| Quality Control and Safety Technologies/Technicians. | 521 | $91,754 | $28,415 |
| Fire Protection. | 432 | $80,640 | $10,500 |
| Quality Control and Safety Technologies/Technicians. | 378 | $94,061 | — |
| Quality Control and Safety Technologies/Technicians. | 307 | $84,183 | $16,710 |
| Criminal Justice and Corrections. | 256 | $61,453 | $30,204 |
| Business Administration, Management and Operations. | 192 | $51,885 | $21,764 |
| Public Administration. | 149 | $80,102 | — |
| Homeland Security. | 131 | $83,721 | — |
| Health and Medical Administrative Services. | 128 | $60,480 | $38,210 |
— is privacy suppression at small programs, never zero. Earnings are median, 5 years after completing.
annual scorecard files, 1996–2026
Trajectory
Line breaks are years where the measure wasn't collected — a gap is not a zero.
Admission rate
no years reported
Price per year
- sticker
- net
Median earnings, 10 yrs after entry
Undergraduates
nearest neighbors in sector
Compare with peers
built 2026-07-17
Provenance
- U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard, 2026-06 release. Earnings cover federally aided (Title IV) students only. Suppressed values are null, never imputed.
- Annual Scorecard files 1996-2026. A null in early years usually means the measure was not yet collected, not zero.
- Coordinates and locale describe the campus address, not where students live.