Columbia College Chicago
Vs. Peer Institutions
Admissions Profile
ROI Sensitivity Analysis
This analysis tests three cost scenarios (Scholarship, Average Net Price, Full Sticker Price) to show how college costs impact your long-term return compared to the average student and a high school graduate.
Lifetime Value Added (NPV)
ROI Efficiency Metrics
- Starting Salary: Estimated from the 10-year median earnings (assuming 2% annual growth from graduation).
- Comparisons: "Vs Median Peer" compares to the median student nationwide in a similar level program. "Vs HS Grad" compares to a median high school graduate.
- Break-Even: The age at which the college investment net income exceeds the median high school graduate's lifetime earnings.
- NPV: Net Present Value of all future earnings minus costs and taxes, discounted at 7.8%.
Social Impact ROINew
Measures the societal return on a donor's investment. Calculated as the incremental pre-tax lifetime earnings vs. HS grad, divided by the tax-adjusted donation cost.
Gov. Pell Grant ROINew
Measures the government's return on Pell Grants via increased tax revenue. Calculated as the portion of incremental lifetime taxes (discounted at 5.4%) attributed to the Pell Grant investment.
Program ROI Analysis
Bachelor's Degrees
American Sign Language
Arts, Entertainment,and Media Management
Audiovisual Communications Technologies/Technicians
Business Administration, Management and Operations
Dance
Design and Applied Arts
Drama/Theatre Arts and Stagecraft
Ethnic, Cultural Minority, Gender, and Group Studies
Film/Video and Photographic Arts
Fine and Studio Arts
Graphic Communications
Health and Physical Education/Fitness
Journalism
Marketing
Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies, Other
Music
Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied Communication
Radio, Television, and Digital Communication
Rhetoric and Composition/Writing Studies
Master's Degrees
Arts, Entertainment,and Media Management
Film/Video and Photographic Arts
Journalism
Movement and Mind-Body Therapies and Education
Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies, Other
Rhetoric and Composition/Writing Studies
Note: Lifetime Value Added is the Net Present Value (NPV) of estimated career earnings relative to a median high school graduate, accounting for this institution's average cost and taxes. Computed over a career to retirement age.
For graduate programs (Master's, Doctoral, etc.), the calculation assumes a starting age of 22 (after undergraduate completion) and does not include the sunk costs of prior degrees. It represents the value added of the graduate degree decision moving forward. These Lifetime Value Added results should not be compared with those Undergraduate Certificates, Associates or Bachelors starting at age 18.