by our College Data Analytics TeamMany students will not be asked to pay the advertised price of a school. Instead, they will be provided a financial aid package that will include a combination of scholarships, grants, loans, and work-study. The price tag of going to Columbia College can appear tremendous, but do not forget that almost all students obtain some kind of financial help.
What financial aid options can Columbia College South Carolina offer, and what will you qualify for? Keep reading for more information. Keep reading to learn how much school funding will be available to you.
How much aid you qualify for depends largely on your family’s financial circumstances. Continue reading to find information to help you understand just how much assistance you can expect to receive from Columbia College.
Aid such as grants, loans, work-study, and scholarships helps colleges decrease the real cost of attendance for most students. Note that some aid is more valuable than the rest, and individual awards are far from uniform.
For incoming first-year students at Columbia College, 98% of entering full-time freshmen got some type of financial assistance approximately 189 incoming students).
| Type of Aid | % of Freshmen Receiving | Average Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Grant or scholarship aid (all sources) | 97% | $16,451 |
| Institutional grants & scholarships | 86% | $7,864 |
| Federal Pell grants | 67% | $6,213 |
| State/local grants | 71% | $6,856 |
| Federal student loans | 77% | $8,370 |
The best aid is gift aid: grants and scholarships that carry no repayment obligation. At Columbia College South Carolina, roughly 84% of undergraduates were awarded an average grant or scholarship of $12,718 (for some 1065 recipients).
| Award | % of Undergrads Receiving | Average Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Grant or scholarship aid (all sources) | 84% | $12,718 |
| Federal Pell grants | 54% | $5,828 |
| Federal student loans | 65% | $8,720 |
On-campus students receiving title-IV aid were awarded grants averaging $16,850.
How much a family pays depends heavily on income, because most aid is awarded on the basis of financial need.
| Family Income | Average Net Price |
|---|---|
| $0 – $48,000 | $22,364 |
| $30,001 – $75,000 | $21,498 |
| Over $75,000 | $26,585 |
These figures reflect what title-IV aid recipients pay after grant and scholarship aid is applied.
After grants and scholarships come off the published price, what remains is the net price — the best estimate of true out-of-pocket cost.
| Cohort | Average Net Price |
|---|---|
| On-campus title-IV students | $18,408 |
| Off-campus title-IV students | $23,650 |
For a personalized estimate based on your family’s financial situation, use Columbia College South Carolina’s net price tool: npc.collegeboard.org/app/columbiasc.
Graduating students at Columbia College South Carolina carry a median federal student debt of $14,750 of cumulative federal debt.
| Metric | Amount |
|---|---|
| Median federal debt (all student-aid borrowers) | $14,750 |
| Median federal debt (graduates only) | $22,750 |
| Typical 10-year monthly payment (graduates) | $241.19/mo |
At a typical 10-year repayment schedule, the median graduate would pay about the monthly figure above.
Percentiles reveal the spread — half of all borrowers fall between the 25th and 75th percentiles. The percentiles below describe the cumulative federal debt distribution for borrowers at Columbia College South Carolina.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,260 |
| 25th percentile | $5,960 |
| 75th percentile | $24,625 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $34,000 |
Median debt varies by family income, by first-generation status, and by dependency status.
Debt by Income Tier
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $12,000 |
| Middle income | $16,079 |
| High income | $18,781 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Median Debt
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $14,953 |
| Continuing-generation students | $14,750 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $14,500 |
| Independent students | $15,011 |
The figure below distills the debt data into a single burden category for Columbia College South Carolina.
Stafford loans make up the bulk of federal direct lending to undergraduates. Below is the annual Stafford program activity at Columbia College South Carolina:
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Stafford loan recipients | 9030 |
| Total Stafford loan amount | $199,860,505 |
If you are a veteran or active-duty service member, the GI Bill and DoD Tuition Assistance are the primary federal programs you can use at this school.
Post-9/11 GI Bill recipients
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| GI Bill recipients | 74 |
| Total GI Bill amount | $782,574 |
| Average GI Bill amount per recipient | $10,575 |
Active-duty Tuition Assistance recipients
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| DoD Tuition Assistance recipients | 7 |
| Total DoD amount | $21,250 |
| Average DoD amount per recipient | $3,036 |
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.