Columbia University

Columbia University Overview

Columbia University is a private, nonprofit school in an urban setting in New York, New York. Columbia was founded in 1754 and the school presently has around 6,716 students a year, which includes 6,716 undergrads. Columbia offers housing for students. The majority of students live on campus, and first year-students are required to live in campus housing.

📆 Mark your calendar! The deadline to apply regular decision to Columbia for Fall 2023 is January 1. Regular decision applicants for Fall 2023 should hear from Columbia by April 1.

Student Activities at Columbia

Love music or performing? Join a campus band, sing in a chorus, or perform with one of the school's theater groups.

Are you interested in journalism and communications? Columbia students can write for the campus newspaper, host a radio show or be a producer for the student-run television channel.

Interested in joining a fraternity or sorority? Columbia has fraternities and sororities.

Planning to play sports? Columbia has many options for athletes. See them all and learn more about life at Columbia on the Student Life page.

Is Columbia a Good School?

The definition of a "good school" varies. Some factors that can help you determine what a good school for you might be include admissions criteria, acceptance rate, tuition costs, and more.

Let's take a look at these factors to get a better sense of what Columbia offers and if it seems like a good choice for you.

Columbia Acceptance Rate 2022

Columbia is extremely difficult to get into. Around 4% of applicants get into Columbia each year. Out of 60,551 applications received in 2022, 2,355 students were offered admission.

Retention and Graduation Rates at Columbia

Retention refers to the number of students that stay enrolled at a school over time. This is a way to get a sense of how satisfied students are with their school experience, and if they have the support necessary to succeed in college.

Approximately 99% of students who start at Columbia return for their second year of college. Columbia's six-year graduation rate for undergrads is 97%. Compare this to the average six-year graduation rate for colleges and universities in the U.S., which is around 61% for public schools and 67% for private.

Job Outlook Columbia Graduates

Job placement statistics for recent graduates can give you a sense of the return on investment a school offers. 73% of graduates from Columbia recieve at least one full-time job offer within six months of graduating.

Recent Columbia grads have an average starting salary of $74,336 a year. The average starting salary for all 2021 graduates was around $60,000 a year, though these numbers vary widely by major.

Columbia University's Endowment

An endowment is the total value of a school's investments, donations, and assets. Endowment is not necessarily an indicator of the quality of a school, but it can give you a sense of how much money a college can afford to invest in expanding programs, improving facilities, and support students.

As of 2022, the total market value of Columbia University's endowment was $14.3 billion. The average college endowment was $905 million in 2021.

Tuition and Financial Aid at Columbia

Cost is another important factor when choose a college. Some colleges may have high tuition, but do a better job at meeting students' financial need.

Columbia meets 100% of the demonstrated financial need for undergraduates. The average financial aid package for a full-time, first-year student is around $67,818 a year.

Students in the class of 2022 who had taken out student loans graduated with an average of $26,531 of debt. For context, compare this number with the average national debt, which is around $36,000 per borrower.

The 2023-2024 FAFSA Opened on October 1st, 2022

Some aid is available on a first-come, first-served basis, so fill out the FAFSA early. Visit the FAFSA website to apply for student aid. Remember, the first F in FAFSA stands for FREE! No one should ever pay to fill out the FREE Application for Federal Student Aid, (FAFSA), so be very wary of anyone asking you for money.

Learn more about Tuition and Financial Aid at Columbia.

Based on this information, does Columbia seem like a good fit? Remember, a school that is perfect for one person may be a terrible fit for someone else! So ask yourself: Is Columbia a good school for you?

If Columbia University seems like a school you want to apply to, click the heart button to save it to your college list.

Still Researching Schools?

To learn more about Columbia, choose from the options below:

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Columbia Community Forums

Then use the college admissions predictor to take a data science look at your chances of getting admitted to some of the top schools in the U.S.

Where is Columbia University Located?

Columbia is located in the urban setting of New York, New York, in the suburbs of New York City.

You can also take a virtual campus tour to get a sense of what Columbia and New York are like without leaving home.

Considering Going to School in New York?

See a full list of colleges in New York and save your favorites to your college list.