Columbia Southern University

What the IPEDS & College Scorecard Data Shows for Columbia Southern University

Columbia Southern University operates as a private for-profit institution located in Orange Beach, Alabama (town: fringe), with a total reported enrollment of 12,176 students of which 21,967 are undergraduates. Institution-level records in the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) classify each school by Carnegie category, ownership sector, and urban/rural locale, which is how this profile’s peer group and cost cohort are determined. Columbia Southern University is categorized as “18” under the Carnegie classification system, a meaningful signal when comparing like-to-like institutions.

Selectivity and financial signals give context to what applicants can expect. Admission rate data is not currently reported for this institution. The average net price after grants and scholarships is $14,580, with published in-state tuition of $6,760 and a Pell grant recipient share of 24.2%. Median federal student debt at graduation is $21,339, drawn from the U.S. Treasury-matched College Scorecard file.

Outcomes reveal whether the investment pays back. The 4-year completion rate is 35.3%, and the first-year retention rate is 71.0%. Graduates earn a median of $63,534 ten years after enrolling, compared with $55,140 six years post-enrollment. Within three years of entering repayment, 487700.0% of borrowers are making progress on their federal loans, and 87.7% of graduates earn above the high-school threshold. Treating these numbers as a single snapshot alongside the cost cohort is the standard approach for evaluating ROI under the College Scorecard methodology.