Columbia Southern University

What are the graduation rates for students at Columbia Southern University?

CSU's reported overall graduation rate is 33% in the 2024-25 institutional figures. Its reported four-year and six-year rates are 24% and 26%, respectively. These measures use defined student groups and observation periods; they should not be added together or read as the chance that any particular enrollee will graduate.

Federal graduation-rate measures often center on first-time, full-time students. That is an important limitation at a university with substantial transfer enrollment and many adult learners: a transfer student's path may not be represented by the familiar first-time-student measure. The reported retention rate is 71%, but retention and graduation measure different outcomes.

The practical question for an applicant is how their own remaining credits, planned course load and program sequence affect a realistic completion date. A part-time student's timeline may differ substantially from a four-year benchmark without that difference, by itself, indicating an unsuccessful academic outcome.

What is the earning potential for graduates at Columbia Southern University?

Federal College Scorecard program figures offer a limited look at earnings one year after completion for students represented in the underlying federal-aid records. They are not starting-salary offers or predictions for all CSU graduates.

In the October 2026 program figures, reported median earnings include approximately $70,128 for fire protection, $68,385 for quality control and safety technologies, $52,800 for criminal justice and corrections, and $50,330 for business administration, management and operations. These are separate fields of study, not a university-wide average. The figures should not be interpreted as pay for a particular job title.

One-year earnings can reflect a student's previous work experience, occupation, location and whether they worked while studying - especially relevant for an adult-serving university. They also omit outcomes for students outside the measured population. Compare a program's curriculum, total cost and likely career pathway alongside, rather than in place of, its reported earnings.