Business Administration, Management and Operations at Columbia International University

Based on comparable business programs in South Carolina, this degree path suggests earnings around $42,000 against debt of $27,000—a debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.64 that falls within manageable territory. However, these peer-program estimates sit at the bottom of what business graduates in the state actually earn. The top-performing business programs at Charleston Southern and Southern Wesleyan report first-year earnings above $52,000, while even mid-tier schools like Anderson and Furman place graduates around $49,000. That $7,000 to $23,000 gap represents real money when you're starting to repay loans.

The challenge is visibility. With Columbia International's actual outcomes data suppressed due to small graduate cohorts, you're making a decision in the dark about whether this specific program delivers value closer to the state median or significantly below it. The school's 98% admission rate and relatively low Pell grant enrollment (28%) suggest a different student profile than the schools reporting stronger outcomes, but without actual earnings data, it's impossible to know if graduates are launching careers or struggling to find traction.

If your child is set on Columbia International for other reasons—perhaps the Christian mission or campus culture—understand you're accepting substantial uncertainty about career outcomes. Otherwise, several SC schools with documented track records of placing business graduates in the upper $40,000s to $60,000s offer clearer risk profiles for a similar investment.