Along with joining the ranks of prolific business leaders, including the multi-billionaire Warren Buffett, Columbia MBA grads are rewarded with eye-watering salary prospects and are highly competitive candidates at the world’s most elite companies.
But to profit from these advantages students have to pay an impressive fee. So, how much does the Columbia MBA cost?
Columbia charged entrants $88,300 in MBA tuition fees for the academic year 2023-24. For the two-year, full-time MBA program at Columbia, you can expect to pay double that. So you'll pay approximately $176,600 in tuition.
However, to calculate the total cost of the Columbia MBA in 2024, you need to look beyond Columbia’s MBA tuition fees and consider living expenses, healthcare cover, and the cost of the materials and books you’ll need for the duration of the program.
That’s what we did when putting together our BusinessBecause Cost of MBA Report, which calculates the total cost of an MBA at the world’s top business schools.
Columbia MBA Cost Breakdown
To come up with our Columbia MBA cost estimate, we broke down the total cost of the Columbia MBA, considering cost of tuition, additional fees, living expenses, healthcare cover, and additional costs such as books and materials.
Based on our research, a conservative estimate of the total cost of pursuing an MBA at Columbia in 2024 is around $257,409, the second most expensive to feature in our report.
Columbia MBA Cost
Total cost of pursuing the Columbia MBA in 2024, considering a two-year estimate for tuition fees, living expenses, healthcare insurance, and a one-year estimate for additional fees and other listed costs (such as books and materials):
Living expenses
Whether it's joining an MBA club, such as the Africa Business Club or the Columbia Entrepreneurs Association, attending networking events, or participating in a global study tour, Columbia MBA students will get involved in a variety of extra-curricular activities which will add expenses to the base cost.
Our living expenses for the Columbia MBA however are minimum estimates based on the lifestyle of a single student, covering on-campus accommodation and transport, and excluding these additional social activities.
It is worth noting that living expenses in New York are some of the highest in the country. Students attending MBAs in cities such as Phoenix, Atlanta, or Houston will incur much lower living costs.
In fact, according to Forbes Advisor the cost of living is 57% higher in New York than Atlanta.
In our Cost of MBA report, we have estimated the living expense of the Columbia MBA in 2024, which includes accommodation, transport, and food, at just below $64,000 for the two years.
Healthcare cover
Columbia’s healthcare costs covers the Columbia Student Medical Insurance Healthcare Platinum Plan, and any health service fees, which comes to $4,955.
We’ve doubled these costs to get a two-year estimate on healthcare cover at Columbia of $9,910.
Materials
Columbia charges additional expenses of $1,250 for books, supplies, and computer.
We have only calculated these additional expenses for one year instead of two since it is unlikely students will have to buy another laptop in their second year.
Columbia MBA cost comparison
The Columbia MBA is second fifth most expensive MBA program in the world in terms of overall cost, according to our most recent Cost of MBA Report (2024).
The only MBA where students incur greater expense than Columbia is Stanford. Stanford costs a grand total of $260,709, only $3k more than Columbia’s total estimated costs.
Columbia’s tuition fees are the highest across all the 21 schools featured in our report and are the main factor for pushing it so high up the table in terms of cost.
Columbia’s tuition fees are likely extremely high, due to the caliber of teaching and its number three position in the FT rankings.
While New York is a famously expensively city to live in, according to our report Columbia is tenth in terms estimated living costs for the two-year program, and only costs more than one of the other M7 business schools: Northwestern Kellogg.
Columbia’s healthcare cover is competitive with other US schools, costing much less than institutions such as Duke Fuqua and Stanford.
Funding your Columbia MBA
Columbia MBA scholarships
There are a broad range of scholarships available at Columbia. All admitted students have access to the need-based application and award amounts range from $10,000 to $30,000.
There are also merit-based fellowships and scholarships. These include the Feldberg Fellowship for those that demonstrate exceptional academic and leadership skills and the Perelman Scholarship Fund that provides full tuition waver for Columbia students from underrepresented groups.
Paying almost $260k for two years sounds like a weighty sum, but Columbia MBA alums are rewarded with a generous and long-lasting return on investment. According to the Financial Times 2024 Ranking, graduates from the Columbia MBA gain a 135% salary increase, and their average salary three years after graduation is more than the whole two-year MBA at $202,534.
If you're still concerned about affording those two years of an MBA program without working alongside your studies, we have spoken to business schools to find out how to save money during your MBA.
