Columbia University

{{Main|History of Columbia University}}

File:Johnson2.JPG, the first president of Columbia]]

Discussions regarding the founding of a college in the Province of New York began as early as 1704.{{cite book|last=McCaughey|first=Robert|title=Stand, Columbia : A History of Columbia University in the City of New York|publisher=Columbia University Press|year=2003|isbn=978-0-231-13008-0|location=New York, New York|page=1}}{{cite book|last=Keppel|first=Fredrick Paul|url=https://archive.org/details/columbia01keppgoog|title=Columbia|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1914|location=Oxford, England|page=[https://archive.org/details/columbia01keppgoog/page/n49 26]}}

Classes were initially held in July 1754 and were presided over by the college's first president, Samuel Johnson who was an Anglican Priest.{{cite book|last=Matthews|first=Brander|url=https://archive.org/details/ahistorycolumbi02unkngoog|title=A History of Columbia University: 1754–1904|author2=John Pine|author3=Harry Peck|author4=Munroe Smith|publisher=Macmillan Company|year=1904|location=London, England}}{{rp|8–10}}{{cite book|last=Butler|first=Nicholas Murray|title=An Official Guide to Columbia University|publisher=Columbia University Press|year=1912|location=New York, New York}}{{rp|3}} The college was officially founded on October 31, 1754, as King's College by royal charter of George II,{{Cite book |last= |first= |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a3wwAQAAMAAJ |title=Ecclesiastical Records of the State of New York |publisher=J. B. Lyon Company |year=1905 |editor-last=Hastings |editor-first=Hugh |volume=V |location=Albany |pages=3506 |language=en |access-date=March 15, 2023 |archive-date=April 28, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230428064451/https://books.google.com/books?id=a3wwAQAAMAAJ |url-status=live }}{{Cite journal |last=Pine |first=John B. |date=1919 |title=King's College and the Early Days of Columbia College |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/42890076.pdf |journal=Proceedings of the New York State Historical Association |publisher=Fenimore Art Museum |volume=17 |pages=116 |jstor=42890076|access-date=March 15, 2023 |archive-date=March 15, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230315090452/https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/42890076.pdf |url-status=live }} making it the oldest institution of higher learning in the State of New York and the fifth oldest in the United States.

In 1763, Johnson was succeeded in the presidency by Myles Cooper, a graduate of The Queen's College, Oxford, and an ardent Tory. In the charged political climate of the American Revolution, his chief opponent in discussions at the college was an undergraduate of the class of 1777, Alexander Hamilton.{{rp|3}} The Irish anatomist, Samuel Clossy, was appointed professor of natural philosophy in October 1765 and later the college's first professor of anatomy in 1767.{{cite journal|last1=Stookey|first1=Byron|date=1964|title=Samuel Clossy, A.B., M.D., F.R.C.P. of Ireland: First Professor of Anatomy, King's College (Columbia), New York|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44451190|journal=Bulletin of the History of Medicine|volume=38|issue=2|pages=153–167|issn=0007-5140|jstor=44451190|pmid=14133620|access-date=October 15, 2020|archive-date=October 16, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201016060217/https://www.jstor.org/stable/44451190|url-status=live}}

File:Columbia1790.jpg

The American Revolutionary War broke out in 1776, and was catastrophic for the operation of King's College, which suspended instruction for eight years beginning in 1776 with the arrival of the Continental Army. The suspension continued through the military occupation of New York City by British troops until their departure in 1783. The college's library was looted and its sole building requisitioned for use as a military hospital first by American and then British forces.{{cite book|last=Schecter|first=Barnet|url=https://archive.org/details/battlefornewyork00sche|title=The Battle for New York: The City at the Heart of the American Revolution|publisher=Walker & Company|year=2002|isbn=978-0-8027-1374-2}}{{cite book|last=McCullough|first=David|title=1776|title-link=1776 (book)|publisher=Simon & Schuster|year=2005|isbn=978-0-7432-2671-4|author-link=David McCullough}}

File:Columbia1797.jpg of New York City, showing "The Colledge [sic]" at its Park Place (then Robinson Street) location and its earlier location, Trinity Church, on the lower left]]

The legislature agreed to assist the college, and on May 1, 1784, it passed "an Act for granting certain privileges to the College heretofore called King's College". The Act created a board of regents to oversee the resuscitation of King's College, and, in an effort to demonstrate its support for the new Republic, the legislature stipulated that "the College within the City of New York heretofore called King's College be forever hereafter called and known by the name of Columbia College", a reference to Columbia, an alternative name for America which in turn comes from the name of Christopher Columbus. The Regents finally became aware of the college's defective constitution in February 1787 and appointed a revision committee, which was headed by John Jay and Alexander Hamilton. In April of that same year, a new charter was adopted for the college granted the power to a separate board of 24 trustees.Moore, Nathanal Fischer (1846). A Historical Sketch of Columbia. New York, New York: Columbia University Press.{{rp|65–70}}

For a period in the 1790s, with New York City as the federal and state capital and the country under successive Federalist governments, a revived Columbia thrived under the auspices of Federalists such as Hamilton and Jay. President George Washington and Vice President John Adams, in addition to both houses of Congress attended the college's commencement on May 6, 1789, as a tribute of honor to the many alumni of the school who had been involved in the American Revolution.{{rp|74}}File:Columbia_law_madison.gif style, on the Madison Avenue campus]]

File:Detroit_Photographic_Company_(0671).jpg, {{circa|1900}}]]

File:Almamater.jpg, by Daniel Chester French (1903)]]

In November 1813, the college agreed to incorporate its medical school with The College of Physicians and Surgeons, a new school created by the Regents of New York, forming Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons.{{rp|53–60}} In 1857, the college moved from the King's College campus at Park Place to a primarily Gothic Revival campus on 49th Street and Madison Avenue, where it remained for the next forty years.

During the last half of the 19th century, under the presidency of Frederick A. P. Barnard, for whom Barnard College is named, the institution rapidly assumed the shape of a modern university. Barnard College was created in 1889 as a response to the university's refusal to accept women.{{cite web|last=McCaughey|first=Robert|date=December 10, 2003|title=Leading American University Producers of PhDs, 1861–1900|url=http://beatl.barnard.columbia.edu/stand_columbia/phdleaders1861-1900.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060909114704/http://beatl.barnard.columbia.edu/stand_columbia/phdleaders1861-1900.html|archive-date=September 9, 2006|access-date=August 10, 2006|work=Stand, Columbia – A History of Columbia University|publisher=Columbia University Press}}

In 1896, university president Seth Low moved the campus from 49th Street to its present location, a more spacious campus in the developing neighborhood of Morningside Heights.{{Cite book|last=Hewitt|first=Abram S|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/264897|title=Selected writings, with Introduction by Nicholas Murray Butler|date=1965|publisher=Kennikat Press|editor-last=Nevins|editor-first=Allan|location=Port Washington, N.Y.|pages=315–337|language=en|chapter=Liberty, Learning, and Property : Dedication of the New Buildings of Columbia University, Morningside Heights, May 2, 1896|oclc=264897|quote=the time has come for a new and nobler civilization," ... when ... "the wealth which has accumulated in this city by the joint association of its people, and to which every human being contributes by his industry, shall come to be regarded as a sacred trust to be administered in the public interest for works of beneficence to all.|author-link=Abram Hewitt|orig-year=First published 1937 by Columbia University Press|chapter-url=http://www.digifind-it.com/njhistoricalportal/data/ringwood//Selected%20Writings%20of%20Abram%20S.%20Hewitt.pdf#page=328 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181025030640/http://www.digifind-it.com/njhistoricalportal/data/ringwood/Selected%20Writings%20of%20Abram%20S.%20Hewitt.pdf |archive-date=October 25, 2018 |url-status=live}} Under the leadership of Low's successor, Nicholas Murray Butler, who served for over four decades, Columbia rapidly became the nation's major institution for research, setting the multiversity model that later universities would adopt. Prior to becoming the president of Columbia University, Butler founded Teachers College, as a school to prepare home economists and manual art teachers for the children of the poor, with philanthropist Grace Hoadley Dodge. Teachers College is currently affiliated as the university's Graduate School of Education.

{{See also|Columbia University protests of 1968|Student activism at Columbia University}}

In the 1940s, faculty members, including John R. Dunning, I. I. Rabi, Enrico Fermi, and Polykarp Kusch, began what became the Manhattan Project, creating the first nuclear fission reactor in the Americas and researching gaseous diffusion.{{Cite news|last=Broad|first=William J.|date=October 30, 2007|title=Why They Called It the Manhattan Project|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/30/science/30manh.html|access-date=October 30, 2007|archive-date=July 7, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200707172414/https://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/30/science/30manh.html|url-status=live|url-access=limited}}

In 1928, Seth Low Junior College was established by Columbia University in order to mitigate the number of Jewish applicants to Columbia College.{{cite web |title=Seth Low College Added to Columbia |date=3 April 1928 |work=Columbia Spectator |url=http://spectatorarchive.library.columbia.edu/cgi-bin/columbia?a=d&d=cs19280403-01.2.7 |access-date=April 23, 2024 |via=Columbia Spectator Archive |archive-date=April 24, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160424053505/http://spectatorarchive.library.columbia.edu/cgi-bin/columbia?a=d&d=cs19280403-01.2.7 |url-status=live}} The college was closed in 1936 due to the adverse effects of the Great Depression and its students were subsequently taught at Morningside Heights, although they did not belong to any college but to the university at large.Asimov, I. (1979) In Memory Yet Green, Avon Books, pp. 156–157, 159–160, 240{{cite web |url=http://www.columbia-current.org/seth_low_junior_college.html |title=Columbia for Jews? The Untold Story of Seth Low Junior College |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170620184233/http://www.columbia-current.org/seth_low_junior_college.html |archive-date=June 20, 2017 |first=Leeza |last=Hirt |work=The Current |date=Fall 2016 |access-date=April 23, 2024 |url-status=live}} There was an evening school called University Extension, which taught night classes, for a fee, to anyone willing to attend.

In 1947, the program was reorganized as an undergraduate college and designated the School of General Studies in response to the return of GIs after World War II.{{cite web |title=History |url=https://www.gs.columbia.edu/content/history |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240406201539/https://www.gs.columbia.edu/content/history |archive-date=April 6, 2024 |access-date=April 23, 2024 |website=Columbia University School of General Studies}} In 1995, the School of General Studies was again reorganized as a full-fledged liberal arts college for non-traditional students (those who have had an academic break of one year or more, or are pursuing dual-degrees) and was fully integrated into Columbia's traditional undergraduate curriculum.{{cite web|title=What makes GS different from Columbia's traditional undergraduate colleges?|url=https://gs.columbia.edu/what-makes-gs-different-columbias-traditional-undergraduate-colleges|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161123053937/https://gs.columbia.edu/what-makes-gs-different-columbias-traditional-undergraduate-colleges|archive-date=November 23, 2016|access-date=November 24, 2016|website=Columbia University School of General Studies}} The same year, the Division of Special Programs, later called the School of Continuing Education and now the School of Professional Studies, was established to reprise the former role of University Extension.{{cite web|title=University Senate|url=http://senate.columbia.edu/archives/resolutions_archives/resolutions/01-02/CEres.htm|access-date=November 24, 2016|website=Senate.columbia.edu|archive-date=February 13, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170213134229/http://senate.columbia.edu/archives/resolutions_archives/resolutions/01-02/CEres.htm|url-status=dead}} While the School of Professional Studies only offered non-degree programs for lifelong learners and high school students in its earliest stages, it now offers degree programs in a diverse range of professional and inter-disciplinary fields.{{cite web |title=Our History |url=https://sps.columbia.edu/school/our-history|access-date=November 24, 2016|website=Columbia University School of Professional Studies|archive-date=December 27, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231227043636/https://sps.columbia.edu/school/our-history|url-status=live}}

In the aftermath of World War II, the discipline of international relations became a major scholarly focus of the university, and in response, the School of International and Public Affairs was founded in 1946, drawing upon the resources of the faculties of political science, economics, and history.{{cite web |title=Looking Out on a City and a World |url=https://www.columbia.edu/content/university-history |access-date=April 23, 2024 |website=Columbia University |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240408163625/https://www.columbia.edu/content/university-history |archive-date=April 8, 2024 |url-status=live}} The Columbia University Bicentennial was celebrated in 1954.{{Cite news |date=August 19, 1953 |title=Columbia Removing 116th St. Pavement |work=The New York Times |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1953/08/19/83852003.html?pageNumber=31 |access-date=July 16, 2022 |archive-date=July 18, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220718131025/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1953/08/19/83852003.html?pageNumber=31 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription}}

During the 1960s, student activism reached a climax with protests in the spring of 1968, when hundreds of students occupied buildings on campus. The incident forced the resignation of Columbia's president, Grayson Kirk, and the establishment of the University Senate.{{cite book|last=Kurlansky|first=Mark|url=https://archive.org/details/196800mark/page/194|title=1968: The Year That Rocked The World|publisher=Random House|year=2005|isbn=978-0-345-45582-6|location=New York, New York|pages=[https://archive.org/details/196800mark/page/194 194–199]}}{{cite book|last=Bradley|first=Stefan|title=Harlem vs. Columbia University: Black Student Power in the Late 1960s|publisher=University of Illinois|year=2009|isbn=978-0-252-03452-7|location=New York, New York|pages=5–19, 164–191}}

Though several schools in the university had admitted women for years, Columbia College first admitted women in the fall of 1983,{{Cite news |last=Fiske |first=Edward B. |date=January 23, 1982 |title=Columbia plans to take women beginning in '83 |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/01/23/nyregion/columbia-plans-to-take-women-beginning-in-83.html |access-date=April 28, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=April 28, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230428221812/https://www.nytimes.com/1982/01/23/nyregion/columbia-plans-to-take-women-beginning-in-83.html |url-status=live }} after a decade of failed negotiations with Barnard College, the all-female institution affiliated with the university, to merge the two schools.[http://www.columbiaspectator.com/2009/03/31/reception-honors-anniversary-cc-coeducation Reception honors anniversary of CC coeducation | Columbia Daily Spectator] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210115064855/http://www.columbiaspectator.com/2009/03/31/reception-honors-anniversary-cc-coeducation |date=January 15, 2021 }}. Columbiaspectator.com. Retrieved on September 7, 2013. Barnard College still remains affiliated with Columbia, and all Barnard graduates are issued diplomas signed by the presidents of Columbia University and Barnard College.{{Cite web |title=Our Partnership with Columbia University |url=https://barnard.edu/boldly-barnard/columbia-university |access-date=April 23, 2024|website=Barnard College |archive-date=August 29, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190829011912/https://barnard.edu/boldly-barnard/columbia-university |url-status=live}}

During the late 20th century, the university underwent significant academic, structural, and administrative changes as it developed into a major research university. For much of the 19th century, the university consisted of decentralized and separate faculties specializing in Political Science, Philosophy, and Pure Science. In 1979, these faculties were merged into the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.{{cite web|title=GSAS at a Glance – Columbia University – Graduate School of Arts and Sciences|url=http://gsas.columbia.edu/content/gsas-glance|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140310122351/http://gsas.columbia.edu/content/gsas-glance|archive-date=March 10, 2014|access-date=November 24, 2016}} In 1991, the faculties of Columbia College, the School of General Studies, the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, the School of the Arts, and the School of Professional Studies were merged into the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, leading to the academic integration and centralized governance of these schools.

Lee C. Bollinger became Columbia's 19th president in June 2002,{{Cite web |title=Columbia Daily Spectator 29 May 2002 — Columbia Spectator |url=https://spectatorarchive.library.columbia.edu/?a=d&d=cs20020529-01&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN------- |access-date=2025-03-24 |website=spectatorarchive.library.columbia.edu}} succeeding George Rupp.{{Cite web |title=Columbia Daily Spectator 5 March 2001 — Columbia Spectator |url=https://spectatorarchive.library.columbia.edu/?a=d&d=cs20010305-01&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN------- |access-date=2025-03-24 |website=spectatorarchive.library.columbia.edu}} Appointed in October 2001 after arriving from the University of Michigan,{{Cite web |title=Columbia Daily Spectator 8 October 2001 — Columbia Spectator |url=https://spectatorarchive.library.columbia.edu/?a=d&d=cs20011008-01.2.6&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN------- |access-date=2025-03-24 |website=spectatorarchive.library.columbia.edu}}{{Cite web |title=Presidents of the University of Michigan |url=https://bentley.umich.edu/legacy-support/um/umpresid.php |access-date=2025-03-24 |website=bentley.umich.edu}} his presidency emphasized campus expansion, globalization, and science, while navigating national debates.

Key initiatives included the ambitious Manhattanville campus expansion into West Harlem, addressing critical space needs{{Cite web |title=Lee C. Bollinger's Inaugural Address {{!}} Office of the President |url=https://president.columbia.edu/content/lee-c-bollingers-inaugural-address |access-date=2025-03-24 |website=president.columbia.edu}} and aiming to build new academic facilities, especially for sciences. Bollinger prioritized globalization, launching the World Leaders Forum{{Cite web |title=Columbia Daily Spectator 31 March 2003 — Columbia Spectator |url=https://spectatorarchive.library.columbia.edu/?a=d&d=cs20030331-01&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN------- |access-date=2025-03-24 |website=spectatorarchive.library.columbia.edu}} and aiming to increase international student numbers. He appointed key leaders like Jeffrey Sachs (Earth Institute),{{Cite web |title=Columbia Daily Spectator 8 April 2002 — Columbia Spectator |url=https://spectatorarchive.library.columbia.edu/?a=d&d=cs20020408-01&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN------- |access-date=2025-03-24 |website=spectatorarchive.library.columbia.edu}} Alan Brinkley (Provost), Nicholas Lemann (Journalism), David Hirsch (Research),{{Cite web |title=Office of the President Lee C. Bollinger: David Hirsh Appointed Executive Vice President for Research |url=https://www.columbia.edu/cu/president/docs/communications/2003-2004/030725-hirsh-evp-research.html |access-date=2025-03-24 |website=www.columbia.edu}} and Nicholas Dirks (Arts & Sciences),{{Cite web |title=Office of the President Lee C. Bollinger: Nick Dirks Appointed Vice President for Arts and Sciences |url=https://www.columbia.edu/cu/president/docs/communications/2004-2005/040805-ndirks-announcment.html |access-date=2025-03-24 |website=www.columbia.edu}} and planned a Neuroscience Institute.

Bollinger was the defendant in the Supreme Court's 2003 affirmative action cases (Gratz and Grutter), resulting in a split decision. He consistently defended free speech principles during campus controversies involving faculty and students.

{{citations needed |section|date=March 2025}}

The Manhattanville expansion plan progressed, entering environmental review and the city's land-use review process. Concerns about eminent domain grew [with Bollinger calling its potential use necessary to secure land for projects like the Greene Science Center, funded by a landmark $200 million gift.

The university publicly launched a record $4 billion capital campaign in September 2006. Financial aid was improved, eliminating loans for undergraduates from families earning under $50,000, supported by a major gift from trustee Gerry Lenfest.

Globalization efforts continued with the World Leaders Forum and the creation of the Committee on Global Thought, chaired by Joseph Stiglitz. Columbia faculty received multiple Nobel Prizes: Richard Axel and Linda Buck (Medicine, 2004), Edmund Phelps (Economics, 2006), and Orhan Pamuk (Literature, 2006). Václav Havel joined the faculty.

Controversy erupted over a planned 2006 invitation to Iranian President Ahmadinejad, which was ultimately canceled due to logistical and security issues. Later that year, a campus event featuring Minuteman Project speakers was disrupted by protesters. Bollinger strongly condemned the disruption, reaffirming free speech principles while stating protesters do not have the right to silence speakers. Several students faced disciplinary action, and non-affiliated individuals involved were banned from campus.

The 2008 financial crisis impacted Columbia's endowment, but less than peers as only 13% of the operating budget reliant on the endowment (compared to higher percentages at peers like Harvard). The endowment recovered, hitting $8.2B in Oct 2013. Despite the downturn, Columbia pressed on with Manhattanville construction, receiving final state approval in June 2009. Major gifts fueled progress, including $400M from John Kluge upon his death, $50M from the Vagelos family for the Medical Center, $100M from Henry Kravis for the Business School, $30M from Gerry Lenfest for an Arts center, and $200M from Mortimer Zuckerman for the Mind, Brain, Behavior Institute.

Following the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," the University Senate voted 51-17 to invite ROTC back after a 40-year absence, and Bollinger announced an agreement with the Navy. Columbia expanded its Global Centers network (Amman, Beijing, Mumbai, Paris, Nairobi, Istanbul, Santiago), aiming to increase global engagement and international student enrollment (11% in CC in 2011, targeted higher).

From 2014 to 2021, Columbia University pursued significant physical expansion, notably opening major facilities on the Manhattanville campus (ZMBBI, Lenfest Center, The Forum). Key strategic initiatives launched included the Knight First Amendment Institute, Columbia World Projects, and the new Columbia Climate School (2020). A $5 billion university capital campaign was launched (with a $1.5B A&S target), major gifts like $50M for A&S's Uris Hall renovation were secured, and the endowment grew significantly ($14.35B by mid-2021). Columbia gynecologist Robert Hadden, indicted in 2014 for sexually assaulting patients and initially avoiding prison through a controversial plea deal amidst criticism of the university's handling, was ultimately federally convicted and sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2023.

The COVID-19 pandemic starting March 2020 prompted remote operations, hiring/salary freezes, budget cuts, substantial borrowing (~$700M cited), and unpopular retirement contribution cuts, intensifying financial pressures. In 2022, Columbia's reporting of metrics used for university ranking was criticized by Professor of Mathematics Michael Thaddeus, who argued key data supporting the ranking was "inaccurate, dubious or highly misleading."{{Cite news |last=Hartocollis |first=Anemona |date=March 17, 2022 |title=U.S. News Ranked Columbia No. 2, but a Math Professor Has His Doubts |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/17/us/columbia-university-rank.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220511190935/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/17/us/columbia-university-rank.html |archive-date=May 11, 2022 |access-date=May 12, 2022 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}{{Cite web |last=Diep |first=Francie |date=March 16, 2022 |title=Columbia Is Ranked No. 2 by 'U.S News.' A Professor Says Its Spot Is Based on False Data. |url=https://www.chronicle.com/article/columbia-is-ranked-no-2-by-u-s-news-a-professor-says-its-spot-is-based-on-false-data |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220421163643/https://www.chronicle.com/article/columbia-is-ranked-no-2-by-u-s-news-a-professor-says-its-spot-is-based-on-false-data |archive-date=April 21, 2022 |access-date=May 12, 2022 |website=The Chronicle of Higher Education}} Subsequently, U.S. News & World Report "unranked" Columbia from its 2022 list of Best Colleges saying that it could not verify the data submitted by the university.{{cite news |last1=Hartocollis |first1=Anemona |date=July 8, 2022 |title=Columbia Loses Its No. 2 Spot in the U.S. News Rankings |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/08/us/us-news-rankings-columbia.html?referringSource=articleShare |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220709165859/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/08/us/us-news-rankings-columbia.html?referringSource=articleShare |archive-date=July 9, 2022 |access-date=July 9, 2022 |newspaper=The New York Times}} In June 2023, Columbia University announced their undergraduate schools would no longer participate in U.S. News & World Report's rankings, following the lead of its law, medical and nursing schools. A press release cited concerns that such rankings unduly influence applicants and "distill a university's profile into a composite of data categories."{{Cite web |last=Mueller |first=Julia |date=June 7, 2023 |title=Columbia University no longer submitting data to US News college ranking |url=https://thehill.com/homenews/education/4038410-columbia-university-no-longer-submitting-data-to-us-news-ranking/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230607154527/https://thehill.com/homenews/education/4038410-columbia-university-no-longer-submitting-data-to-us-news-ranking/ |archive-date=June 7, 2023 |access-date=June 7, 2023 |website=The Hill |language=en-US}}

Beginning in fall 2023, escalating Columbia protests over the Gaza war, marked by debates on antisemitism, culminated in a major encampment, the police clearing of Hamilton Hall in April 2024, and President Minouche Shafik's subsequent resignation. Following critical reports on antisemitism, campus conflict continued into 2025 as the Trump administration threatened to revoke federal funding and demanded policy changes, prompting student expulsions, arrests of Palestinian students and alumni, and new university disciplinary measures. University leaders agreed to the government's demands to "overhaul disciplinary processes, ban masks at protests, add 36 officers with the authority to make arrests and appoint a new senior vice provost to oversee academic programs focused on the Middle East" among other demands.{{cite web |url=https://www.insidehighered.com/news/governance/executive-leadership/2025/03/21/columbia-agrees-trumps-demands| title=Columbia Agrees to Trump's Demands |work=Inside Higher Ed |first=Josh |last=Moody |date=March 21, 2025 |accessdate=April 14, 2025}} The university's capitulation has not resulted in the withheld $400 million being restored.{{cite web |url=https://www.insidehighered.com/news/governance/executive-leadership/2025/04/14/harvard-resists-trumps-demands |title=Harvard Resists Trump’s Demands |work=Inside Higher Ed |first=Josh |last=Moody |date=April 14, 2025 |accessdate=April 14, 2025}}

File:Columbia College Walk.jpg

The majority of Columbia's graduate and undergraduate studies are conducted in the Upper Manhattan neighborhood of Morningside Heights on Seth Low's late-19th century vision of a university campus where all disciplines could be taught at one location. The campus was designed along Beaux-Arts planning principles by the architects McKim, Mead & White. Columbia's main campus occupies more than six city blocks, or {{convert|32|acres|abbr=on}}, in Morningside Heights, New York City, a neighborhood that contains a number of academic institutions. The university owns over 7,800 apartments in Morningside Heights, housing faculty, graduate students, and staff. Almost two dozen undergraduate dormitories (purpose-built or converted) are located on campus or in Morningside Heights. Columbia University has an extensive tunnel system, more than a century old, with the oldest portions predating the present campus. Some of these remain accessible to the public, while others have been cordoned off.{{Cite web|title=Unearthing the Underground|url=http://features.columbiaspectator.com/eye/2016/04/13/unearthing-the-underground/|access-date=May 5, 2021|website=Columbia Spectator|language=en-US|archive-date=May 5, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210505231254/http://features.columbiaspectator.com/eye/2016/04/13/unearthing-the-underground/|url-status=dead}}

File:Butler_Library_-_1000px_-_AC.jpg]]

Butler Library is the largest in the Columbia University Libraries system and one of the largest buildings on the campus. It was completed in 1934 and renamed to Butler Library in 1946.{{cite web|title=Butler Library: Self-Guided Tour|url=http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/img/assets/5295/SelfGuided.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060922032835/http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/img/assets/5295/SelfGuided.pdf |archive-date=September 22, 2006 |url-status=live|access-date=April 11, 2011|publisher=Columbia University}} {{As of|2020}}, Columbia's library system includes over 15.0 million volumes, making it the eighth largest library system and fifth largest collegiate library system in the United States.{{Cite book |last1=Mian |first1=Anam |url=https://publications.arl.org/ARL-Statistics-2018-2019/ |title=ARL Statistics 2018–2019 |last2=Roebuck |first2=Gary |publisher=Association of Research Libraries |year=2020 |location=Washington, DC |pages=45 |access-date=July 30, 2021 |archive-date=July 29, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210729235011/https://publications.arl.org/ARL-Statistics-2018-2019/ |url-status=live }}

Several buildings on the Morningside Heights campus are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Low Memorial Library, a National Historic Landmark and the centerpiece of the campus, is listed for its architectural significance. Philosophy Hall is listed as the site of the invention of FM radio.Robert D. Colburn (July 2002) {{NHLS url|id=03001046|title=National Historic Landmark Nomination: Philosophy Hall}}, National Park Service and {{NHLS url|id=03001046|title=Accompanying 13 photos, exterior and interior, from c.1922–2001|photos=y}} Also listed is Pupin Hall, another National Historic Landmark, which houses the physics and astronomy departments. Here the first experiments on the fission of uranium were conducted by Enrico Fermi. The uranium atom was split there ten days after the world's first atom-splitting in Copenhagen, Denmark.{{cite web|author=Carolyn Pitts|year=1987|title=National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Low Memorial Library, Columbia|url=https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/NHLS/87002599_text|publisher=National Park Service|access-date=March 4, 2016|archive-date=December 25, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191225232646/https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/NHLS/87002599_text|url-status=live}}{{cite web|year=1983|title=National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Pupin Physics Laboratories, Columbia University—Accompanying photos|url=https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/NHLS/66000550_photos|publisher=National Park Service|access-date=March 4, 2016|archive-date=December 25, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191225232651/https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/NHLS/66000550_photos|url-status=live}} Other buildings listed include Casa Italiana, the Delta Psi, Alpha Chapter building of St. Anthony Hall, Earl Hall, and the buildings of the affiliated Union Theological Seminary.{{cite nycland|page=195}}{{Cite book|last=Department of the Interior. National Park Service. (3/2/1934–)|url=https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75319443|title=New York SP Delta Psi, Alpha Chapter|date=1996|series=File Unit: National Register of Historic Places and National Historic Landmarks Program Records: New York, 1964 – 2013|access-date=May 5, 2021|archive-date=May 5, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210505231252/https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75319443|url-status=dead}}{{Cite web|title=Earl Hall at Columbia University Listed on National Register of Historic Places|url=https://www.nyclgbtsites.org/2018/03/14/earl-hall-at-columbia-university-listed-on-national-register-of-historic-places/|access-date=May 5, 2021|website=NYC LGBT Historic Sites Project|language=en-US|archive-date=May 5, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210505194741/https://www.nyclgbtsites.org/2018/03/14/earl-hall-at-columbia-university-listed-on-national-register-of-historic-places/|url-status=live}}{{Cite book|last=Department of the Interior. National Park Service.|url=https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75320012|title=New York SP Union Theological Seminary|date=1980|series=File Unit: National Register of Historic Places and National Historic Landmarks Program Records: New York, 1964 – 2013|access-date=June 11, 2021|archive-date=June 11, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210611054131/https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75320012|url-status=dead}}

File:Union_Theological_Seminary_NYC_001_002_combined.jpg]]

A statue by sculptor Daniel Chester French called Alma Mater is centered on the front steps of Low Memorial Library. The statue represents a personification of the traditional image of the university as an alma mater, or "nourishing mother", draped in an academic gown and seated on a throne. She wears a laurel wreath on her head and holds in her right hand a scepter capped by a King's Crown, a traditional symbol of the university. A book, representing learning, rests on her lap. The arms of her throne end in lamps, representing "Sapientia et Doctrina", or "Wisdom and Learning"; on the back of the throne is embossed an image of the seal of the university.{{Cite book |last=Durante |first=Dianne L. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QcwVCgAAQBAJ&q=alma+mater+statue+columbia |title=Outdoor Monuments of Manhattan: A Historical Guide |date=February 2007 |publisher=NYU Press |isbn=978-0-8147-1987-9 |language=en |access-date=September 27, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210928170910/https://books.google.com/books?id=QcwVCgAAQBAJ&newbks=0&printsec=frontcover&dq=alma+mater+statue+columbia&hl=en |archive-date=September 28, 2021 |url-status=live}}{{cite web|author=Smithsonian American Art Museum's Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture|title=Alma Mater (sculpture)|url=http://siris-artinventories.si.edu/ipac20/ipac.jsp?profile=all&source=~!siartinventories&uri=full=3100001~!20526~!0#focus|access-date=April 14, 2011|publisher=The Smithsonian Institution|archive-date=November 22, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181122051823/https://siris-artinventories.si.edu/ipac20/ipac.jsp?profile=all&source=~!siartinventories&uri=full=3100001~!20526~!0#focus|url-status=live}} The small hidden owl on the sculpture is also the subject of many Columbia legends, the main legend being that the first student in the freshmen class to find the hidden owl on the statue will be valedictorian, and that any subsequent Columbia male who finds it will marry a Barnard student, given that Barnard is a women's college.{{cite web|author=Meredith Foster|date=February 11, 2011|title=The Myth of the College Sweetheart|url=http://eye.columbiaspectator.com/article/2011/02/10/myth-college-sweetheart|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110307091227/http://eye.columbiaspectator.com/article/2011/02/10/myth-college-sweetheart|archive-date=March 7, 2011|access-date=April 14, 2011|work=The Eye|publisher=Columbia Spectator}}{{cite web|date=May 19, 1999|title=What Is the Mace? A Guide to Columbia's Icons|url=http://www.columbia.edu/cu/newrec/2423/tmpl/story.4.html|access-date=April 16, 2011|publisher=Columbia University Record|archive-date=December 16, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201216021347/http://www.columbia.edu/cu/newrec/2423/tmpl/story.4.html|url-status=live}}

"The Steps", alternatively known as "Low Steps" or the "Urban Beach", are a popular meeting area for Columbia students. The term refers to the long series of granite steps leading from the lower part of campus (South Field) to its upper terrace.{{cite web|author=Richard P. Dober|title=The Steps at Low Library|url=http://dlmplanners.org/notes/pdf/The%20Steps%20at%20Low%20Library.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110814190951/http://dlmplanners.org/notes/pdf/The%20Steps%20at%20Low%20Library.pdf|archive-date=August 14, 2011|access-date=April 11, 2011|publisher=Dober, Lidsky, Craig and Associates, Inc.}}

{{wide image|Columbia pano.jpg|1200px|Panoramic view of the Morningside Heights campus as seen from Butler Library and facing Low Memorial Library}}

File:LDEO_Entrance.jpg, New York]]

File:Columbia_University_College_of_Physicians_and_Surgeons_entrance.jpg in Washington Heights]]

In April 2007, the university purchased more than two-thirds of a {{convert|17|acre}} site for a new campus in Manhattanville, an industrial neighborhood to the north of the Morningside Heights campus. Stretching from 125th Street to 133rd Street, Columbia Manhattanville houses buildings for Columbia's Business School, School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia School of the Arts, and the Jerome L. Greene Center for Mind, Brain, and Behavior, where research will occur on neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's.{{Cite web|last=Columbia|first=Manhatanville|title=Manhattanville Columbia|url=https://manhattanville.columbia.edu/|access-date=June 23, 2020|archive-date=June 25, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200625081336/https://manhattanville.columbia.edu/|url-status=live}}{{cite web|title=Manhattanville in West Harlem|url=http://manhattanville.columbia.edu/|access-date=April 1, 2007|archive-date=December 12, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141212014956/http://manhattanville.columbia.edu/|url-status=live}} The $7 billion expansion plan included demolishing all buildings, except three that are historically significant (the Studebaker Building, Prentis Hall, and the Nash Building), eliminating the existing light industry and storage warehouses, and relocating tenants in 132 apartments. Replacing these buildings created {{convert|6.8|e6sqft|m2}} of space for the university. Community activist groups in West Harlem fought the expansion for reasons ranging from property protection and fair exchange for land, to residents' rights.{{Cite news|last=Williams|first=Timothy|date=November 20, 2006|title=In West Harlem Land Dispute, It's Columbia vs. Residents|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/20/nyregion/20columbia.html|access-date=February 6, 2017|archive-date=February 18, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170218103051/http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/20/nyregion/20columbia.html|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|last=Williams|first=Timothy|date=September 21, 2008|title=2 Gas Stations, and a Family's Resolve, Confront Columbia Expansion Plan|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/21/nyregion/21gas.html|access-date=March 28, 2010|archive-date=May 16, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120516153347/http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/21/nyregion/21gas.html|url-status=live}} Subsequent public hearings drew neighborhood opposition. {{As of|2008|12}}, the State of New York's Empire State Development Corporation approved use of eminent domain, which, through declaration of Manhattanville's "blighted" status, gives governmental bodies the right to appropriate private property for public use.{{Cite news|last=Astor|first=Maggie|author2=Kim Kirschenbaum|date=December 18, 2008|title=M'ville Expansion Clears Last Major Hurdle, State Approves Eminent Domain|work=Columbia Spectator|url=http://www.columbiaspectator.com/2008/12/18/mville-expansion-clears-last-major-hurdle-state-approves-eminent-domain|access-date=August 12, 2009|archive-date=January 15, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210115071425/https://www.columbiaspectator.com/2008/12/18/mville-expansion-clears-last-major-hurdle-state-approves-eminent-domain/|url-status=live}} On May 20, 2009, the New York State Public Authorities Control Board approved the Manhanttanville expansion plan.{{Cite news|date=May 20, 2009|title=Columbia Manhattanville Project|work=Press Release|url=http://www.empire.state.ny.us/columbia/|url-status=dead|access-date=August 12, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100506034150/http://www.empire.state.ny.us/columbia|archive-date=May 6, 2010}}

NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital is affiliated with the medical schools of both Columbia University and Cornell University. According to U.S. News & World Report{{'}}s "2020–21 Best Hospitals Honor Roll and Medical Specialties Rankings", it is ranked fourth overall and second among university hospitals.{{Cite web|last=Harder|first=Ben|date=July 28, 2020|title=2020–21 Best Hospitals Honor Roll and Medical Specialties Rankings|url=https://health.usnews.com/health-care/best-hospitals/articles/best-hospitals-honor-roll-and-overview|access-date=July 6, 2021|website=health.usnews.com|archive-date=July 10, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180710190628/https://health.usnews.com/health-care/best-hospitals/articles/best-hospitals-honor-roll-and-overview|url-status=live}} Columbia's medical school has a strategic partnership with New York State Psychiatric Institute, and is affiliated with 19 other hospitals in the U.S. and four hospitals in other countries. Health-related schools are located at the Columbia University Medical Center, a {{convert|20|acre|adj=on}} campus located in the neighborhood of Washington Heights, fifty blocks uptown. Other teaching hospitals affiliated with Columbia through the NewYork-Presbyterian network include the Payne Whitney Clinic in Manhattan, and the Payne Whitney Westchester, a psychiatric institute located in White Plains, New York.{{cite web|title=NYP: Weschster|url=http://www.cornellpsychiatry.org/about/westchester.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111004044827/http://www.cornellpsychiatry.org/about/westchester.html|archive-date=October 4, 2011|access-date=April 18, 2011|publisher=NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital}} On the northern tip of Manhattan island (in the neighborhood of Inwood), Columbia owns the {{convert|26|acre|adj=on}} Baker Field, which includes the Lawrence A. Wien Stadium as well as facilities for field sports, outdoor track, and tennis. There is a third campus on the west bank of the Hudson River, the {{convert|157|acre|adj=on}} Lamont–Doherty Earth Observatory and Earth Institute in Palisades, New York. A fourth is the {{convert|60|acre|adj=on}} Nevis Laboratories in Irvington, New York, for the study of particle and motion physics. A satellite site in Paris holds classes at Reid Hall.

In 2006, the university established the Office of Environmental Stewardship to initiate, coordinate and implement programs to reduce the university's environmental footprint. The U.S. Green Building Council selected the university's Manhattanville plan for the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Neighborhood Design pilot program.{{cite web|title=Manhattanville in West Harlem|url=http://manhattanville.columbia.edu/design-goals|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141212021255/http://manhattanville.columbia.edu/design-goals|archive-date=December 12, 2014|access-date=April 11, 2011|publisher=Columbia University}}{{cite web|title=Projects: Green Buildings|url=http://environment.columbia.edu/green-buildings|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140508230555/http://www.environment.columbia.edu/green-buildings|archive-date=May 8, 2014|access-date=April 11, 2011|publisher=Columbia Environmental Stewardship}}

{{cite web|title=Columbia Greenmarket|date=September 30, 2007|url=http://www.grownyc.org/columbiagreenmarket|access-date=April 11, 2011|publisher=GrowNYC|archive-date=October 25, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121025211657/http://www.grownyc.org/columbiagreenmarket|url-status=live}} Columbia has been rated "B+" by the 2011 College Sustainability Report Card for its environmental and sustainability initiatives.{{cite web |title=Columbia University Green Report Card |url=http://www.greenreportcard.org/report-card-2011/schools/columbia-university |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140312213441/http://www.greenreportcard.org/report-card-2011/schools/columbia-university |archive-date=March 12, 2014 |access-date=April 11, 2011 |publisher=The College Sustainability Report Card}}File:116th_Street_Columbia_University_Station.JPG subway station ({{NYCS trains|Broadway-Seventh north}}) on the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line.]]

According to the A. W. Kuchler U.S. potential natural vegetation types, Columbia University would have a dominant vegetation type of Appalachian Oak (104) with a dominant vegetation form of Eastern Hardwood Forest (25).{{cite web|title=U.S. Potential Natural Vegetation, Original Kuchler Types, v2.0 (Spatially Adjusted to Correct Geometric Distortions)|url=https://databasin.org/datasets/1c7a301c8e6843f2b4fe63fdb3a9fe39|access-date=August 14, 2019|archive-date=July 3, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190703145441/https://databasin.org/datasets/1c7a301c8e6843f2b4fe63fdb3a9fe39|url-status=live}}

Columbia Transportation is the bus service of the university, operated by Academy Bus Lines. The buses are open to all Columbia faculty, students, Dodge Fitness Center members, and anyone else who holds a Columbia ID card. In addition, all TSC students can ride the buses.{{Cite web|title=Columbia Transportation|url=https://transportation.columbia.edu/|access-date=May 6, 2021|website=transportation.columbia.edu|archive-date=May 6, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210506022708/https://transportation.columbia.edu/|url-status=live}}

In the New York City Subway, the {{NYCS Broadway-Seventh north|time=bullets}} train serves the university at 116th Street-Columbia University. The {{NYC bus link|M4|M104|M60|prose=y}} buses stop on Broadway while the {{NYC bus link|M11}} stops on Amsterdam Avenue.

The main campus is primarily boxed off by the streets of Amsterdam Avenue, Broadway, 114th street, and 120th street, with some buildings, including Barnard College, located just outside the area. The nearest major highway is the Henry Hudson Parkway (NY 9A) to the west of the campus. It is located {{convert|3.4|mi|km}} south of the George Washington Bridge.

File:Vanamquad.JPEG]]

{{Infobox U.S. college admissions|year=2021|ref={{cite web

|url=https://undergrad.admissions.columbia.edu/class-2025-profile

|title=Class of 2025 Profile

|publisher=Columbia University

|access-date=March 18, 2022

|archive-date=March 19, 2022

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220319072358/https://undergrad.admissions.columbia.edu/class-2025-profile

|url-status=live

}}|change ref=

{{cite web

|url=http://undergrad.admissions.columbia.edu/classprofile/2020

|title=Common Data Set 2015–2016

|publisher=Columbia University

|access-date=March 18, 2022

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170604152232/http://undergrad.admissions.columbia.edu/classprofile/2020

|archive-date=June 4, 2017 |url-status=dead}}

|admit rate=3.9%|admit rate change=-2.1|yield rate=66.5%|yield rate change=+1.4|SAT Total=1510–1560|SAT Total change=-10|float=right}}

Columbia University received 60,551 applications for the class of 2025 (entering 2021) and a total of around 2,218 were admitted to the two schools for an overall acceptance rate of 3.66%.{{Cite web|title=Columbia acceptance rate drops to record low 3.7 percent after 51 percent spike in applications|url=http://columbiaspectator.com/news/2021/04/07/columbia-acceptance-rate-drops-to-record-low-37-percent-after-51-percent-spike-in-applications/|access-date=May 15, 2021|website=Columbia Daily Spectator|archive-date=May 14, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210514030131/https://www.columbiaspectator.com/news/2021/04/07/columbia-acceptance-rate-drops-to-record-low-37-percent-after-51-percent-spike-in-applications/|url-status=live}} Columbia is a racially diverse school, with approximately 52% of all students identifying themselves as persons of color. Additionally, 50% of all undergraduates received grants from Columbia. The average grant size awarded to these students is $46,516.{{cite web|title=Financial Aid Statistics|url=http://cc-seas.financialaid.columbia.edu/eligibility/facts|publisher=Columbia University|access-date=May 10, 2016|archive-date=January 15, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210115065212/https://cc-seas.financialaid.columbia.edu/eligibility/facts|url-status=live}} In 2015–2016, annual undergraduate tuition at Columbia was $50,526 with a total cost of attendance of $65,860 (including room and board).{{cite web|title=Columbia University Tuition And Costs|url=http://www.collegedata.com/cs/data/college/college_pg03_tmpl.jhtml?schoolId=399|access-date=November 22, 2016|website=Collegedata.com|archive-date=September 11, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180911143110/https://www.collegedata.com/cs/data/college/college_pg03_tmpl.jhtml?schoolId=399|url-status=dead}} The college is need-blind for domestic applicants.{{cite web|url=http://cc-seas.financialaid.columbia.edu/how/aid/works|title=How Aid Works – Columbia Financial Aid and Educational Financing|publisher=|access-date=November 18, 2015|archive-date=November 18, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151118173614/http://cc-seas.financialaid.columbia.edu/how/aid/works|url-status=live}}

On April 11, 2007, Columbia University announced a $400 million donation from media billionaire alumnus John Kluge to be used exclusively for undergraduate financial aid. The donation is among the largest single gifts to higher education.{{Cite news|last=Lewin|first=Tamar|date=April 11, 2007|title=Columbia to Receive $400 Million for Student Aid|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/11/nyregion/11columbia.html|access-date=May 15, 2021|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=May 15, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210515050000/https://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/11/nyregion/11columbia.html|url-status=live}} However, this does not apply to international students, transfer students, visiting students, or students in the School of General Studies.{{Cite news|date=March 11, 2008|title=Columbia University to Offer Financial Aid to More Students|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/11/education/11columbia.html|access-date=March 28, 2010|archive-date=April 10, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090410212905/http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/11/education/11columbia.html|url-status=live}} In the fall of 2010, admission to Columbia's undergraduate colleges Columbia College and the Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science (also known as SEAS or Columbia Engineering) began accepting the Common Application. The policy change made Columbia one of the last major academic institutions and the last Ivy League university to switch to the Common Application.{{cite news|last=Steinberg|first=Jacques|date=March 23, 2010|title=Columbia, Michigan and Connecticut Among 25 Colleges to Add Common Application|newspaper=The New York Times|url=http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/23/common-2/|access-date=April 11, 2011|archive-date=January 6, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210106065427/https://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/23/common-2/|url-status=live}}

Scholarships are also given to undergraduate students by the admissions committee. Designations include John W. Kluge Scholars, John Jay Scholars, C. Prescott Davis Scholars, Global Scholars, Egleston Scholars, and Science Research Fellows. Named scholars are selected by the admission committee from first-year applicants. According to Columbia, the first four designated scholars "distinguish themselves for their remarkable academic and personal achievements, dynamism, intellectual curiosity, the originality and independence of their thinking, and the diversity that stems from their different cultures and their varied educational experiences".{{cite web|title=The Named Scholars|url=http://www.studentaffairs.columbia.edu/scholars/named|access-date=August 3, 2015|website=Studentaffairs.columbia.edu|archive-date=February 15, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150215165545/http://www.studentaffairs.columbia.edu/scholars/named|url-status=live}}

In 1919, Columbia established a student application process characterized by The New York Times as "the first modern college application". The application required a photograph of the applicant, the maiden name of the applicant's mother, and the applicant's religious background.{{cite news|author=Gross, Jessica|date=November 10, 2013|title=Who Made That College Application?|newspaper=The New York Times Magazine|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/10/magazine/who-made-that-college-application.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220101/https://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/10/magazine/who-made-that-college-application.html |archive-date=January 1, 2022 |url-access=limited|access-date=August 31, 2018}}{{cbignore}}

{| class="toccolours" style="float:right; margin-left:1em; font-size:90%; line-height:1.4em; width:300px"

! colspan="2" style="text-align: center;" |Columbia Graduate/Professional Schools{{Cite web|title=Structure {{!}} Faculty Handbook|url=https://facultyhandbook.columbia.edu/content/structure|access-date=April 25, 2024|website=Columbia University|archive-date=April 25, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240425200127/https://facultyhandbook.columbia.edu/content/structure|url-status=live}}

|-

|College/school

|Year founded

|-

|Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons

|1767

|-

|College of Dental Medicine

|1916

|-

|Columbia Law School

|1858

|-

|Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science

|1864

|-

|Columbia Graduate School of Arts and Sciences

|1880

|-

|Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation

|1881

|-

|Teachers College, Columbia University {{small|(affiliate)}}

|1887

|-

|Columbia University School of Nursing

|1892

|-

|Columbia University School of Social Work

|1898

|-

|Graduate School of Journalism

|1912

|-

|Columbia Business School

|1916

|-

|Mailman School of Public Health

|1922

|-

|Union Theological Seminary {{small|(affiliate)}}

|1836, affiliate since 1928

|-

|School of International and Public Affairs

|1946

|-

|School of the Arts

|1965

|-

|School of Professional Studies

|1995

|-

|Columbia Climate School

|2020

|}

{| class="toccolours" style="float:right; margin-left:1em; font-size:90%; line-height:1.4em; width:300px"

! colspan="2" style="text-align: center;" |Columbia Undergraduate Schools

|-

|College/school

|Year founded

|-

|Columbia College

|1754

|-

|Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science

|1864

|-

|Barnard College {{small|(affiliate)}}

|1889

|-

|Columbia University School of General Studies

|1947

|}

Columbia University is an independent, privately supported, nonsectarian and not-for-profit institution of higher education.[https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/135598093 "Columbia University In The City Of New York"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240228202119/https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/135598093 |date=February 28, 2024 }} ProPublica. Retrieved February 28, 2024. Its official corporate name is Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York.

In 1754, the university's first charter was granted by King George II; however, its modern charter was first enacted in 1787 and last amended in 1810 by the New York State Legislature.

Columbia has four official undergraduate colleges: Columbia College, the liberal arts college offering the Bachelor of Arts degree; the Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science (also known as SEAS or Columbia Engineering), the engineering and applied science school offering the Bachelor of Science degree; the School of General Studies, the liberal arts college offering the Bachelor of Arts degree to non-traditional students undertaking full- or part-time study; and Barnard College.{{Cite web|title=List of Schools {{!}} Columbia University in the City of New York|url=https://www.columbia.edu/content/academics/schools|access-date=October 25, 2021|website=www.columbia.edu|archive-date=October 17, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211017065128/https://www.columbia.edu/content/academics/schools|url-status=live}}{{cite web|title=Schools of Columbia University|url=http://www.columbia.edu/content/academics.html|access-date=April 17, 2011|publisher=Columbia University|archive-date=April 12, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110412041309/http://www.columbia.edu/content/academics.html|url-status=live}} Barnard College is a women's liberal arts college and an academic affiliate in which students receive a Bachelor of Arts degree from Columbia University. Their degrees are signed by the presidents of Columbia University and Barnard College.{{cite web|title=Frequently Asked Questions – Barnard College|url=https://barnard.edu/frequently-asked-questions-8|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190225231547/https://barnard.edu/frequently-asked-questions-8|archive-date=February 25, 2019|access-date=March 23, 2019|website=Barnard.edu}}{{cite web|title=CHARTERS AND STATUTES : Columbia University in the City of New York|url=https://provost.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/content/Faculty%20Affairs/Charters%20and%20Statutes%20September%202016.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180621075108/https://provost.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/content/Faculty%20Affairs/Charters%20and%20Statutes%20September%202016.pdf |archive-date=June 21, 2018 |url-status=live|access-date=March 23, 2019|website=Provost.columbia.edu}} Barnard students are also eligible to cross-register classes that are available through the Barnard Catalogue and alumnae can join the Columbia Alumni Association.{{cite web|title=Cross-Registration: Columbia and Barnard College – Office of the University Registrar|url=https://registrar.columbia.edu/cross-registration-columbia-and-barnard-college|access-date=March 23, 2019|website=Registrar.columbia.edu|archive-date=December 22, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181222041541/https://registrar.columbia.edu/cross-registration-columbia-and-barnard-college|url-status=live}}

Joint degree programs are available through Union Theological Seminary, the Jewish Theological Seminary of America,{{cite web|title=JTS Joint Program|url=https://gs.columbia.edu/jts-joint-program|access-date=January 19, 2018|website=Gs.columbia.edu|language=en|archive-date=December 23, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171223065810/https://gs.columbia.edu/jts-joint-program|url-status=dead}} and the Juilliard School.{{cite web|title=Columbia-Juilliard Program {{!}} Columbia Undergraduate Admissions|url=https://undergrad.admissions.columbia.edu/apply/first-year/juilliard-program|access-date=January 19, 2018|website=Undergrad.admissions.columbia.edu|language=en|archive-date=January 14, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180114204843/http://undergrad.admissions.columbia.edu/apply/first-year/juilliard-program|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|last1=Patti|first2=Jill|last2=Pasternak|first1=Joe|title=Crossing Boundaries from Past to Future: Pianist Conrad Tao on Crossover|language=en|url=http://wrti.org/post/crossing-boundaries-past-future-pianist-conrad-tao-crossover|access-date=January 19, 2018|archive-date=January 19, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180119235632/http://wrti.org/post/crossing-boundaries-past-future-pianist-conrad-tao-crossover|url-status=live}} Teachers College and Barnard College are official faculties of the university; both colleges' presidents are deans under the university governance structure.{{cite web|title=Charters and Statutes|url=http://secretary.columbia.edu/files/secretary/university_charters_and_statutes/University%20Charters%20and%20Statutes_June2017.pdf|website=Office of the Secretary - Columbia University|access-date=March 22, 2018|archive-date=September 29, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200929001737/https://secretary.columbia.edu/files/secretary/university_charters_and_statutes/University%20Charters%20and%20Statutes_June2017.pdf|url-status=dead}} The Columbia University Senate includes faculty and student representatives from Teachers College and Barnard College who serve two-year terms; all senators are accorded full voting privileges regarding matters impacting the entire university. Teachers College is an affiliated, financially independent graduate school with their own board of trustees.{{cite web |date=2017 |title=Election packet |url=http://senate.columbia.edu/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150809223936/http://senate.columbia.edu/ |archive-date=August 9, 2015 |access-date=August 5, 2015 |format=PDF}}{{cite web |title=Elections |url=http://senate.columbia.edu/topbar_pages/elections.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180227162639/http://senate.columbia.edu/topbar_pages/elections.html |archive-date=February 27, 2018 |access-date=September 7, 2017 |website=Senate.columbia.edu}} Pursuant to an affiliation agreement, Columbia is given the authority to confer "degrees and diplomas" to the graduates of Teachers College. The degrees are signed by presidents of Teachers College and Columbia University in a manner analogous to the university's other graduate schools.{{cite web|date=2017|title=Charters and Statutes|url=http://secretary.columbia.edu/files/secretary/university_charters_and_statutes/University%20Charters%20and%20Statutes_June2017.pdf|page=97|access-date=March 22, 2018|archive-date=September 29, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200929001737/https://secretary.columbia.edu/files/secretary/university_charters_and_statutes/University%20Charters%20and%20Statutes_June2017.pdf|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|title=Fact Sheet – Barnard College|url=https://barnard.edu/pressroom/fact-sheet|website=Barnard.edu|access-date=September 17, 2018|archive-date=September 17, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180917215323/https://barnard.edu/pressroom/fact-sheet|url-status=live}} Columbia's General Studies school also has joint undergraduate programs available through University College London,{{cite web|title=Joint LLB/Juris Doctor (JD) with Columbia University, New York|url=http://www.laws.ucl.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/llb-degrees/joint-llb-jd/|access-date=July 29, 2016|publisher=University College London|archive-date=July 19, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160719105700/http://www.laws.ucl.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/llb-degrees/joint-llb-jd/|url-status=live}} Sciences Po,{{cite web|title=Dual BA Program Between Columbia University and Sciences Po|url=https://gs.columbia.edu/sciences-po/|access-date=August 3, 2015|website=Gs.columbia.edu|archive-date=June 21, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190621190820/https://gs.columbia.edu/sciences-po/|url-status=live}} City University of Hong Kong,{{cite web|title=Joint Bachelor's Degree Program between City University of Hong Kong and Columbia University|url=https://gs.columbia.edu/cityu-hk|access-date=August 12, 2016|website=Gs.columbia.edu|archive-date=August 14, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160814025003/http://gs.columbia.edu/cityu-hk/|url-status=live}} Trinity College Dublin,{{cite web|title=Dual BA Program {{!}} Trinity College Dublin|url=https://gs.columbia.edu/tcd/dual-ba-program|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171211183902/http://gs.columbia.edu/tcd/dual-ba-program|archive-date=December 11, 2017|access-date=January 6, 2018|website=Gs.columbia.edu|language=en}} and the Juilliard School.{{cite web|title=Columbia-Juilliard Exchange|url=https://undergrad.admissions.columbia.edu/apply/first-year/juilliard-exchange|website=Undergrad.asmissions.columbia.edu|access-date=August 5, 2015|archive-date=August 10, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170810220516/http://undergrad.admissions.columbia.edu/apply/first-year/juilliard-exchange|url-status=dead}}

The university also has several Columbia Global Centers, in Amman, Beijing, Istanbul, Mumbai, Nairobi, Paris, Rio de Janeiro, Santiago, and Tunis.{{cite web|title=Columbia University Global Centers|url=http://globalcenters.columbia.edu/content/columbia-global-centers|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111028002315/http://globalcenters.columbia.edu/content/columbia-global-centers|archive-date=October 28, 2011|access-date=May 4, 2011|publisher=Columbia University}}

Columbia students can study abroad for a semester or a year at partner institutions such as Sciences Po,{{Cite web|last=Redden|first=Elizabeth|date=April 4, 2018|title=Columbia, Trinity College Dublin start new dual B.A. program|url=https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2018/04/04/columbia-trinity-college-dublin-start-new-dual-ba-program|access-date=September 21, 2020|website=Inside Higher Ed|language=en|archive-date=April 28, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210428234257/https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2018/04/04/columbia-trinity-college-dublin-start-new-dual-ba-program|url-status=live}} {{Lang|fr|École des hautes études en sciences sociales|italic=no}} (EHESS), {{Lang|fr|École normale supérieure|italic=no}} (ENS), Panthéon-Sorbonne University, King's College London, London School of Economics, University College London and the University of Warwick. Select students can study at either the University of Oxford or the University of Cambridge for a year if approved by both Columbia and either Oxford or Cambridge.{{Cite web|url=https://global.undergrad.columbia.edu/program/oxfordcambridge-scholars-program-academic-year|title=Oxford/Cambridge Scholars Program: Academic Year | Undergraduate Global Engagement|access-date=October 28, 2020|archive-date=October 31, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201031134310/https://global.undergrad.columbia.edu/program/oxfordcambridge-scholars-program-academic-year|url-status=live}} Columbia also has a dual MA program with the Aga Khan University in London.

{{col-begin}}

{{col-break}}

{{Infobox US university ranking

| Forbes = 6

| USNWR_NU = 13 (tie)

| Wamo_NU = 6

| THE_WSJ = 14

| QS_W = 34 (tie)

| THES_W = 17

| USNWR_W = 9

| ARWU_W = 8 (tie)

}}

{{col-break}}

{| class="wikitable sortable collapsible" style="float:right; text-align:center"

|+ style="{{CollegePrimaryStyle|Columbia Lions|color=black}}" |National Program Rankings{{cite magazine|title=Columbia University – U.S. News Best Grad School Rankings|magazine=U.S. News & World Report|access-date=October 18, 2021|url=https://www.usnews.com/best-graduate-schools/columbia-university-190150/overall-rankings|archive-date=September 7, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210907204033/https://www.usnews.com/best-graduate-schools/columbia-university-190150/overall-rankings|url-status=live}}

! scope="col" | Program

! scope="col" | Ranking

|-

! scope="row" | Biological Sciences

| 11

|-

! scope="row" | Business

| 8

|-

! scope="row" | Chemistry

| 12

|-

! scope="row" | Computer Science

| 11

|-

! scope="row" | Earth Sciences

| 5

|-

! scope="row" | Economics

| 9

|-

! scope="row" | Engineering

| 13

|-

! scope="row" | English

| 8

|-

! scope="row" | Fine Arts

| 10

|-

! scope="row" | Health Care Management

| 15

|-

! scope="row" | History

| 5

|-

! scope="row" | Law

| 4

|-

! scope="row" | Mathematics

| 7

|-

! scope="row" | Medicine: Primary Care

| 75

|-

! scope="row" | Medicine: Research

| 3

|-

! scope="row" | Nursing: Doctorate

| 5

|-

! scope="row" | Nursing: Master's

| 6

|-

! scope="row" | Nursing–Anesthesia

| 22

|-

! scope="row" | Nursing–Midwifery

| 13

|-

! scope="row" | Occupational Therapy

| 8

|-

! scope="row" | Physical Therapy

| 25

|-

! scope="row" | Physics

| 9

|-

! scope="row" | Political Science

| 8

|-

! scope="row" | Psychology

| 12

|-

! scope="row" | Public Affairs

| 23

|-

! scope="row" | Public Health

| 4

|-

! scope="row" | Social Work

| 5

|-

! scope="row" | Sociology

| 11

|-

! scope="row" | Statistics

| 5

|}

{{col-break}}

{| class="wikitable sortable collapsible" style="float:right; text-align:center"

|+ style="{{CollegePrimaryStyle|Columbia Lions|color=black}}" |Global Program Rankings{{cite magazine|title=Columbia University – U.S. News Best Global University Rankings|magazine=U.S. News & World Report|access-date=April 27, 2020|url=https://www.usnews.com/education/best-global-universities/columbia-university-190150/overall-rankings|archive-date=October 9, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191009072505/https://www.usnews.com/education/best-global-universities/columbia-university-190150/overall-rankings|url-status=live}}

! scope="col" | Program

! scope="col" | Ranking

|-

! scope="row" | Arts & Humanities

| 18

|-

! scope="row" | Biology & Biochemistry

| 20

|-

! scope="row" | Cardiac & Cardiovascular Systems

| 3

|-

! scope="row" | Chemistry

| 33

|-

! scope="row" | Clinical Medicine

| 10

|-

! scope="row" | Computer Science

| 36

|-

! scope="row" | Economics & Business

| 8

|-

! scope="row" | Electrical & Electronic Engineering

| 102

|-

! scope="row" | Engineering

| 114

|-

! scope="row" | Environment/Ecology

| 36

|-

! scope="row" | Geosciences

| 4

|-

! scope="row" | Immunology

| 32

|-

! scope="row" | Materials Science

| 57

|-

! scope="row" | Mathematics

| 11

|-

! scope="row" | Microbiology

| 33

|-

! scope="row" | Molecular Biology & Genetics

| 18

|-

! scope="row" | Neuroscience & Behavior

| 7

|-

! scope="row" | Oncology

| 32

|-

! scope="row" | Pharmacology & Toxicology

| 46

|-

! scope="row" | Physics

| 12

|-

! scope="row" | Plant & Animal Science

| 202

|-

! scope="row" | Psychiatry/Psychology

| 4

|-

! scope="row" | Social Sciences & Public Health

| 8

|-

! scope="row" | Space Science

| 37

|-

! scope="row" | Surgery

| 27

|}

{{col-end}}

Columbia University is ranked 12th in the United States and seventh globally for 2023–2024 by U.S. News & World Report. QS University Rankings listed Columbia as fifth in the United States. Ranked 15th among U.S. colleges for 2020 by The Wall Street Journal and Times Higher Education, in recent years it has been ranked as high as second. Individual colleges and schools were also nationally ranked by U.S. News & World Report for its 2021 edition. Columbia Law School was ranked fourth, the Mailman School of Public Health fourth, the School of Social Work tied for third, Columbia Business School eighth, the College of Physicians and Surgeons tied for sixth for research (and tied for 31st for primary care), the School of Nursing tied for 11th in the master's program and tied for first in the doctorate nursing program, and the Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science (graduate) was ranked tied for 14th.

In 2021, Columbia was ranked seventh in the world (sixth in the United States) by Academic Ranking of World Universities, sixth in the world by U.S. News & World Report, 19th in the world by QS World University Rankings, and 11th globally by Times Higher Education World University Rankings. It was ranked in the first tier of American research universities, along with Harvard, MIT, and Stanford, in the 2019 report from the Center for Measuring University Performance. Columbia's Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation was ranked the second most admired graduate program by Architectural Record in 2020.

In 2011, the Mines ParisTech: Professional Ranking of World Universities ranked Columbia third best university for forming CEOs in the US and 12th worldwide.

In 2025, Columbia was ranked 250 out of 257 top colleges in "Free Speech Rankings" by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression and "College Pulse", after ranking 214 of 248 in 2024 and at the bottom of 203 in 2022/2023.{{Cite web |title=Free Speech Rankings |url=https://rankings.thefire.org/rank/school/columbia-university-in-the-city-of-new-york |access-date=2025-02-16 |website=rankings.thefire.org |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=2024 College Free Speech Rankings {{!}} The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression |url=https://www.thefire.org/research-learn/2024-college-free-speech-rankings |access-date=2025-02-16 |website=www.thefire.org |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=2022-2023 College Free Speech Rankings {{!}} The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression |url=https://www.thefire.org/research-learn/2022-2023-college-free-speech-rankings |access-date=2025-02-16 |website=www.thefire.org |language=en}}

In 2024 and 2025, Columbia received a D on the "Campus Antisemitism Report Card" of the Anti-Defamation League, which the advocacy organization first launched in spring 2024, in the lead-up to and in the context of campus conflict over the 2024 Columbia University pro-Palestinian campus occupations.{{Cite web |title=Columbia University |url=https://www.adl.org/campus-antisemitism-report-card/columbia-university |access-date=2025-03-23 |website=www.adl.org}}{{Cite web |last=Watson |first=Michelle |date=2025-03-04 |title=Columbia University: Federal government threatens to pull more than $50 million in contracts over 'harassment of Jewish students' |url=https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/03/us/columbia-university-federal-contracts-threatened/index.html |access-date=2025-03-23 |website=CNN |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Towfighi |first=John |date=2025-03-03 |title=US colleges are making substantial progress on campus antisemitism, but work remains, ADL says {{!}} CNN Business |url=https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/03/business/antisemitism-grades-colleges/index.html |access-date=2025-03-23 |website=CNN |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Lapin |first=Andrew |date=2024-04-12 |title=The ADL's new 'report card' for campus antisemitism gets an F from Hillel and some Jewish students |url=https://www.jta.org/2024/04/12/united-states/the-adls-new-report-card-for-campus-antisemitism-gets-an-f-from-hillel-and-some-jewish-students |access-date=2025-03-23 |website=Jewish Telegraphic Agency |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Bernstein |first=Noah |title=Live updates: Shafik testifies before Congress on Columbia's handling of antisemitism on campus |url=https://www.columbiaspectator.com/news/2024/04/17/live-updates-shafik-testifies-before-congress-on-columbias-handling-of-antisemitism-on-campus/ |access-date=2025-03-23 |website=Columbia Daily Spectator}}

File:HavemeyerFront.jpg, a National Historic Chemical Landmark, where deuterium was discovered in 1931. Research conducted in Havemeyer has been recognized with seven Nobel Prizes in Chemistry.{{Cite web|date=October 9, 1998|title=Havemeyer Hall|url=https://www.acs.org/content/dam/acsorg/education/whatischemistry/landmarks/havemeyerhall/havemeyer-hall-at-columbia-university-commemorative-booklet.pdf|website=American Chemical Society|access-date=July 6, 2021|archive-date=March 5, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210305072634/https://www.acs.org/content/dam/acsorg/education/whatischemistry/landmarks/havemeyerhall/havemeyer-hall-at-columbia-university-commemorative-booklet.pdf|url-status=live}}]]

Columbia is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity".{{cite web|title=Columbia University in the City of New York |url=https://carnegieclassifications.iu.edu/lookup/view_institution.php?unit_id=190150|access-date=July 18, 2020|website=Carnegie Classifications Institution Lookup |publisher=Center for Postsecondary Education|archive-date=July 18, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200718061353/https://carnegieclassifications.iu.edu/lookup/view_institution.php?unit_id=190150|url-status=dead}} Columbia was the first North American site where the uranium atom was split. The College of Physicians and Surgeons played a central role in developing the modern understanding of neuroscience with the publication of Principles of Neural Science, described by historian of science Katja Huenther as the "neuroscience 'bible' ".{{cite book|last=Guenther|first=Katja|title=Localization and Its Discontents: A Genealogy of Psychoanalysis and the Neuro Disciplines |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0tkpCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA155 |publisher=University of Chicago Press|year=2015|isbn=978-0-226-28820-8|location=Chicago|page=155}} The book was written by a team of Columbia researchers that included Nobel Prize winner Eric Kandel, James H. Schwartz, and Thomas Jessell. Columbia was the birthplace of FM radio and the laser.{{cite web|title=Columbia To Go|url=http://studentaffairs.columbia.edu/admissions/university/pdf/Columbia_To_Go.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070605140310/http://studentaffairs.columbia.edu/admissions/university/pdf/Columbia_To_Go.pdf|archive-date=June 5, 2007|access-date=April 29, 2007|publisher=Columbia University}} The first brain-computer interface capable of translating brain signals into speech was developed by neuroengineers at Columbia.{{Cite web|last=Paez|first=Danny|title=Incredible New Brain-Computer Interface Can Translate Thoughts Into Speech|url=https://www.inverse.com/article/52812-brain-computer-interface-translates-thoughts-to-speech|access-date=January 30, 2019|website=Inverse|date=January 29, 2019|language=en|archive-date=January 31, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190131145247/https://www.inverse.com/article/52812-brain-computer-interface-translates-thoughts-to-speech|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|date=January 29, 2019|title=Artificial intelligence translates thoughts directly into speech in scientific first|language=en|newspaper=The Independent|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/brain-computer-interface-ai-translates-thoughts-speech-artificial-intelligence-columbia-university-a8753031.html|access-date=January 30, 2019|archive-date=January 31, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190131101958/https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/brain-computer-interface-ai-translates-thoughts-speech-artificial-intelligence-columbia-university-a8753031.html|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|title=Columbia Researchers Developed Technology That Can Translate Brain Activity Into Words|url=http://fortune.com/2019/01/30/columbia-ai-speech-synthesizer-translate-thoughts/|access-date=January 30, 2019|website=Fortune.com|language=en|archive-date=January 31, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190131012003/http://fortune.com/2019/01/30/columbia-ai-speech-synthesizer-translate-thoughts/|url-status=live}} The MPEG-2 algorithm of transmitting high quality audio and video over limited bandwidth was developed by Dimitris Anastassiou, a Columbia professor of electrical engineering. Biologist Martin Chalfie was the first to introduce the use of Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP) in labeling cells in intact organisms.{{cite news|last=Herper|first=Matthew|date=July 26, 2001|title=Biotech's Glowing Breakthrough|work=Forbes|url=https://www.forbes.com/2001/07/26/0726gfp_print.html|access-date=February 27, 2008|archive-date=February 25, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080225131356/http://www.forbes.com/2001/07/26/0726gfp_print.html|url-status=dead}} Other inventions and products related to Columbia include Sequential Lateral Solidification (SLS) technology for making LCDs, System Management Arts (SMARTS), Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) (which is used for audio, video, chat, instant messaging and whiteboarding), pharmacopeia, Macromodel (software for computational chemistry), a new and better recipe for glass concrete, Blue LEDs, and Beamprop (used in photonics).{{cite web|title=New Inventions / New Discoveries|url=http://stv.columbia.edu/assets/STV's%20Success%20Stories.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070613170734/http://stv.columbia.edu/assets/STV%27s%20Success%20Stories.pdf|archive-date=June 13, 2007|access-date=April 29, 2007|publisher=Columbia University Science and Technology Ventures}}

Columbia scientists have been credited with about 175 new inventions in the health sciences each year. More than 30 pharmaceutical products based on discoveries and inventions made at Columbia reached the market. These include Remicade (for arthritis), Reopro (for blood clot complications), Xalatan (for glaucoma), Benefix, Latanoprost (a glaucoma treatment), shoulder prosthesis, homocysteine (testing for cardiovascular disease), and Zolinza (for cancer therapy).{{cite web|title=Science and Technology Ventures – Success Stories|url=http://stv.columbia.edu/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=15&Itemid=34#2|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080221061844/http://stv.columbia.edu/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=15&Itemid=34|archive-date=February 21, 2008|access-date=February 27, 2008|publisher=Columbia University Science and Technology Ventures}} Columbia Technology Ventures (formerly Science and Technology Ventures), {{as of|2008|lc=yes}}, manages some 600 patents and more than 250 active license agreements. Patent-related deals earned Columbia more than $230 million in the 2006 fiscal year, according to the university, more than any university in the world.{{cite news|last=Reedy|first=Katie|date=November 28, 2006|title=Patents Bring in the Cash to Columbia|newspaper=Columbia Spectator|url=http://columbiaspectator.com/2006/11/28/patents-bring-cash-columbia|access-date=July 11, 2016|archive-date=September 17, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160917203427/http://columbiaspectator.com/2006/11/28/patents-bring-cash-columbia|url-status=live}} Columbia owns many unique research facilities, such as the Columbia Institute for Tele-Information dedicated to telecommunications and the Goddard Institute for Space Studies, which is an astronomical observatory affiliated with NASA.

Columbia is a long-standing participant of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs Yellow Ribbon Program, allowing eligible veterans to pursue a Columbia undergraduate degree regardless of socioeconomic status for over 70 years.{{cite web|title=U.S. Military Veterans|url=https://gs.columbia.edu/military-veterans|access-date=March 23, 2019|website=Gs.columbia.edu|archive-date=December 22, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181222204052/https://gs.columbia.edu/military-veterans|url-status=live}} As a part of the Eisenhower Leader Development Program (ELDP) in partnership with the United States Military Academy at West Point, Columbia is the only school in the Ivy League to offer a graduate degree program in organizational psychology to aid military officers in tactical decision making and strategic management.{{cite web|title=About – Teachers College, Columbia University|url=https://www.tc.columbia.edu/resiliencecenter/about/|access-date=March 23, 2019|website=Tc.columbia.edu|archive-date=March 27, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190327064445/https://www.tc.columbia.edu/resiliencecenter/about/|url-status=live}}

File:Lee C. Bollinger awarding the 2003 Pulitzer Prize to Jeffrey Eugenides.jpg Lee Bollinger presents the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction to Jeffrey Eugenides]]

Several prestigious awards are administered by Columbia University, most notably the Pulitzer Prize and the Bancroft Prize in history.{{cite web|last=Topping|first=Seymour|author-link=Seymour Topping|year=2008|title=History of The Pulitzer Prizes|url=https://www.pulitzer.org/historyofprizes|access-date=September 13, 2011|work=The Pulitzer Prizes|publisher=Columbia University|archive-date=July 23, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080723153951/https://www.pulitzer.org/historyofprizes|url-status=live}} Updated 2013 by Sig Gissler.{{Cite web|title=The Bancroft Prizes |url=https://library.columbia.edu/about/awards/bancroft.html|access-date=May 9, 2021|website=Columbia University Libraries |archive-date=May 9, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210509152809/https://library.columbia.edu/about/awards/bancroft.html|url-status=live}} Other prizes, which are awarded by the Graduate School of Journalism, include the Alfred I. duPont–Columbia University Award, the National Magazine Awards, the Maria Moors Cabot Prizes, the John Chancellor Award, and the Lukas Prizes, which include the J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize and Mark Lynton History Prize.{{Cite web |title=Prizes|url=https://journalism.columbia.edu/prizes|website=Columbia Journalism School|access-date=May 9, 2021|archive-date=October 29, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211029051113/https://journalism.columbia.edu/prizes|url-status=live}} The university also administers the Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize, which is considered an important precursor to the Nobel Prize, 55 of its 117 recipients having gone on to win either a Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine or Nobel Prize in Chemistry as of October 2024;{{Cite web|date=June 14, 2018|title=The Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize|url=https://www.cuimc.columbia.edu/research/louisa-gross-horwitz-prize|access-date=May 9, 2021|website=Columbia University Irving Medical Center|language=en|archive-date=October 16, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131016205105/http://www.cumc.columbia.edu/horwitz/|url-status=live}} the W. Alden Spencer Award;{{Cite web|date=August 1, 2018|title=40th Annual W. Alden Spencer Lecture and Award|url=https://zuckermaninstitute.columbia.edu/40th-annual-w-alden-spencer-lecture-and-award|access-date=June 11, 2021|website=zuckermaninstitute.columbia.edu|archive-date=August 16, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210816143057/https://zuckermaninstitute.columbia.edu/40th-annual-w-alden-spencer-lecture-and-award|url-status=live}} the Vetlesen Prize, which is known as the Nobel Prize of geology;{{Cite web|title=The Vetlesen Prize |work= Lamont–Doherty Earth Observatory|url=https://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/the-vetlesen-prize |access-date=April 24, 2024 |archive-date=April 9, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200409044857/https://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/the-vetlesen-prize |url-status=live}} the Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission Prize for the Translation of Japanese Literature, the oldest such award;{{Cite web|title=Donald Keene Center of Japanese Culture|url=http://www.keenecenter.org/translation_JPUS%20prize.html|access-date=April 24, 2024|website=Donald Keene Center of Japanese Culture

|archive-date=May 9, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210509070238/http://www.keenecenter.org/translation_prize.html|url-status=live}} the Edwin Howard Armstrong award;{{Cite web|title=Edwin Howard Armstrong Memorial Award. Columbia University Electrical Engineering Department. {{!}} Scholars@Duke|url=https://scholars.duke.edu/display/awdrec38466|access-date=May 9, 2021|website=scholars.duke.edu|archive-date=May 9, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210509070238/https://scholars.duke.edu/display/awdrec38466|url-status=live}} the Calderone Prize in public health;{{Cite web|title=ASPPH {{!}} Columbia Calling for Nominees: The Frank A. Calderone Prize in Public Health — Deadline June 30|url=https://www.aspph.org/columbia-calling-for-nominees-the-frank-a-calderone-prize-in-public-health-deadline-june-30th/|access-date=June 11, 2021|website=www.aspph.org|archive-date=June 11, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210611074400/https://www.aspph.org/columbia-calling-for-nominees-the-frank-a-calderone-prize-in-public-health-deadline-june-30th/|url-status=dead}} and the Ditson Conductor's Award.{{cite news|date=May 16, 1940|title=Columbia Receives Trust to Aid Music|page=31|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1940/05/16/archives/columbia-receives-trust-to-aid-music-mrs-charles-h-ditson-widow-of.html|url-access=limited|access-date=February 20, 2021|archive-date=May 9, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210509070455/https://www.nytimes.com/1940/05/16/archives/columbia-receives-trust-to-aid-music-mrs-charles-h-ditson-widow-of.html|url-status=live}}

{| class="wikitable floatright sortable collapsible"; text-align:right; font-size:80%;"

|+ style="font-size:90%" |Student body composition as of May 2, 2022

|-

! Race and ethnicity{{cite web|title=College Scorecard: Columbia University|url=https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/school/?190150-Columbia-University-in-the-City-of-New-York|publisher=United States Department of Education|access-date=May 8, 2022|archive-date=August 12, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220812053511/https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/school/?190150-Columbia-University-in-the-City-of-New-York|url-status=live}}

! colspan="2" data-sort-type=number |Total

|-

| White

|align=right| {{bartable|33|%|2||background:gray}}

|-

| Foreign national

|align=right| {{bartable|18|%|2||background:orange}}

|-

| Asian

|align=right| {{bartable|17|%|2||background:purple}}

|-

| Hispanic

|align=right| {{bartable|15|%|2||background:green}}

|-

| Other{{efn|Other consists of Multiracial Americans and those who prefer not to say.}}

|align=right| {{bartable|10|%|2||background:brown}}

|-

| Black

|align=right| {{bartable|7|%|2||background:mediumblue}}

|-

! colspan="4" data-sort-type=number |Economic diversity

|-

| Low-income{{efn|The percentage of students who received an income-based federal Pell grant intended for low-income students.}}

|align=right| {{bartable|19|%|2||background:red}}

|-

| Affluent{{efn|The percentage of students who are a part of the American middle class at the bare minimum.}}

|align=right| {{bartable|81|%|2||background:black}}

|}

In 2020, Columbia University's student population was 31,455 (8,842 students in undergraduate programs and 22,613 in postgraduate programs), with 45% of the student population identifying themselves as a minority.{{Cite web|last=Columbia University|date=January 12, 2021|title=Headcount Enrollment by School, Race/Ethnicity, and Citizenship, Fall 2020|url=https://opir.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/content/Statistical%20Abstract/opir_enrollment_ethnicity.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200519193542/https://opir.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/content/Statistical%20Abstract/opir_enrollment_ethnicity.pdf |archive-date=May 19, 2020 |url-status=live|access-date=June 8, 2021}} Twenty-six percent of students at Columbia have family incomes below $60,000. 16% of students at Columbia receive Federal Pell Grants,{{Cite web|title=Facts and Figures {{!}} Columbia Financial Aid and Educational Financing|url=https://cc-seas.financialaid.columbia.edu/eligibility/facts|access-date=January 28, 2019|website=Cc-seas.financialaid.columbia.edu|language=en|archive-date=December 21, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181221224207/https://cc-seas.financialaid.columbia.edu/eligibility/facts|url-status=live}} which mostly go to students whose family incomes are below $40,000. Seventeen percent of students are the first member of their family to attend a four-year college.{{Cite web|title=Quick Fact: First Generation {{!}} Columbia Undergraduate Admissions|url=https://undergrad.admissions.columbia.edu/explore/fact/quick-fact-first-generation|access-date=April 1, 2019|website=undergrad.admissions.columbia.edu|archive-date=April 1, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190401160100/https://undergrad.admissions.columbia.edu/explore/fact/quick-fact-first-generation|url-status=dead}}

On-campus housing is guaranteed for all four years as an undergraduate. Columbia College and the Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science (also known as SEAS or Columbia Engineering) share housing in the on-campus residence halls. First-year students usually live in one of the large residence halls situated around South Lawn: Carman Hall, Furnald Hall, Hartley Hall, John Jay Hall, or Wallach Hall (originally Livingston Hall). Upperclassmen participate in a room selection process, wherein students can pick to live in a mix of either corridor- or apartment-style housing with their friends. The Columbia University School of General Studies, Barnard College and graduate schools have their own apartment-style housing in the surrounding neighborhood.{{cite web|title=Housing and Dining|url=http://www.studentaffairs.columbia.edu/admissions/university/campus/housing.php|access-date=April 16, 2011|publisher=Columbia University Office of Student Affairs|archive-date=August 6, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120806070728/http://www.studentaffairs.columbia.edu/admissions/university/campus/housing.php|url-status=dead}}

Columbia University is home to many fraternities, sororities, and co-educational Greek organizations. Approximately 10–15% of undergraduate students are associated with Greek life.[http://www.studentaffairs.columbia.edu/admissions/faq/campus.php#4 Office of Undergraduate Admissions site about Campus Life] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120419140748/http://www.studentaffairs.columbia.edu/admissions/faq/campus.php#4 |date=April 19, 2012 }}. Retrieved September 12, 2007. Many Barnard women also join Columbia sororities. There has been a Greek presence on campus since the establishment in 1836 of the Delta chapter of Alpha Delta Phi.{{cite web|title=The Alpha Delta Phi Society: About Us|url=http://www.adpscolumbia.org/home.php|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110207180508/http://www.adpscolumbia.org/home.php|archive-date=February 7, 2011|access-date=April 11, 2011}}{{cite web|title=Fraternity and Sorority Life at Columbia|url=http://www.studentaffairs.columbia.edu/resprograms/fraternity_sorority/council/|access-date=April 17, 2011|publisher=Columbia University|archive-date=June 23, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120623115419/http://www.studentaffairs.columbia.edu/resprograms/fraternity_sorority/council|url-status=live}}

File:Spec1962.jpg being sold during the 1962–1963 New York City newspaper strike]]

File:JesterCoverGWBridge.jpg cover of the November 1931 edition of the Jester, celebrating the opening of the George Washington Bridge]]

The Columbia Daily Spectator is the nation's second-oldest continuously operating daily student newspaper.{{cite web|title=Columbia Daily Spectator|url=http://www.columbiaspectator.com/|access-date=August 10, 2006|archive-date=January 15, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210115065620/https://www.columbiaspectator.com/|url-status=live}} The Blue and White{{cite web|title=Blue & White|url=http://www.theblueandwhite.org/|access-date=August 10, 2006|archive-date=January 9, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210109163518/http://www.theblueandwhite.org/|url-status=live}} is a monthly literary magazine established in 1890 that discusses campus life and local politics. Bwog,{{cite web|title=Bwog|url=https://bwog.com/|access-date=April 28, 2022|archive-date=May 1, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220501132933/https://bwog.com/|url-status=live}} originally an offshoot of The Blue and White but now fully independent, is an online campus news and entertainment source. The Morningside Post is a student-run multimedia news publication.

Political publications include The Current, a journal of politics, culture and Jewish Affairs;{{Cite web|title=The Current: a journal of contemporary politics, culture, and Jewish affairs at Columbia University|url=http://www.columbia-current.org/|website=The Current|access-date=November 2, 2020|archive-date=October 29, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201029000400/http://www.columbia-current.org/|url-status=live}} the Columbia Political Review, the multi-partisan political magazine of the Columbia Political Union;{{cite web|title=Columbia Political Review|url=http://www.cpreview.org/|access-date=December 26, 2008|archive-date=January 15, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210115065703/http://www.cpreview.org/|url-status=live}} and AdHoc, which denotes itself as the "progressive" campus magazine and deals largely with local political issues and arts events.{{cite web|title=AdHoc|url=http://www.adhocmag.com/|access-date=August 10, 2006|archive-date=December 13, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201213062434/http://www.adhocmag.com/|url-status=live}}

Columbia Magazine is the alumni magazine of Columbia, serving all 340,000+ of the university's alumni. Arts and literary publications include The Columbia Review, the nation's oldest college literary magazine;{{cite web|title=The Columbia Review|url=http://www.columbia.edu/cu/review|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060804021747/http://www.columbia.edu/cu/review/|archive-date=August 4, 2006|access-date=August 10, 2006}} Surgam, the literary magazine of The Philolexian Society;{{cite web|title=About|date=October 8, 2014|url=https://surgammag.wordpress.com/about/|access-date=April 28, 2022|archive-date=April 28, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220428225601/https://surgammag.wordpress.com/about/|url-status=live}} Quarto, Columbia University's official undergraduate literary magazine;{{cite web|title=About Quarto|url=http://quartomagazine.com/about|access-date=April 28, 2022|archive-date=June 7, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220607205508/http://quartomagazine.com/about|url-status=live}} 4x4, a student-run alternative to Quarto;{{cite web|title=4x4 About|url=https://www.fourxfourmag.com/|access-date=April 28, 2022|archive-date=February 6, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220206014456/https://www.fourxfourmag.com/|url-status=live}} Columbia, a nationally regarded literary journal; the Columbia Journal of Literary Criticism;{{cite web|title=Columbia Journal of Literary Criticism|url=http://www.columbia.edu/cu/english/cjlc/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061009182446/http://www.columbia.edu/cu/english/cjlc/|archive-date=October 9, 2006|access-date=December 7, 2006}} and The Mobius Strip, an online arts and literary magazine.{{cite web|title=The Mobius Strip|url=http://www.mobiusmag.com/|access-date=August 10, 2006|archive-date=January 6, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210106065831/http://www.mobiusmag.com/|url-status=live}} Inside New York is an annual guidebook to New York City, written, edited, and published by Columbia undergraduates. Through a distribution agreement with Columbia University Press, the book is sold at major retailers and independent bookstores.{{cite web|title=Inside New York|url=http://www.insidenewyork.com/about|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110703021020/http://insidenewyork.com/about/|archive-date=July 3, 2011|access-date=October 26, 2009}}

Columbia is home to numerous undergraduate academic publications. The Columbia Undergraduate Science Journal prints original science research in its two annual publications.{{Cite web|url=https://cusj.columbia.edu/|title=Columbia Undergraduate Science Journal|website=cusj.columbia.edu|access-date=January 7, 2022|archive-date=January 7, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220107194410/https://cusj.columbia.edu/|url-status=live}} The Journal of Politics & Society is a journal of undergraduate research in the social sciences;{{cite web|title=Journal of Politics & Society|url=http://www.helvidius.org/|access-date=August 10, 2006|archive-date=August 15, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200815125915/http://www.helvidius.org/|url-status=live}} Publius is an undergraduate journal of politics established in 2008 and published biannually;{{cite web|title=Publius: About|url=http://www.publiuscu.org/about-publius/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727191716/http://www.publiuscu.org/about-publius/|archive-date=July 27, 2011|access-date=April 17, 2011}} the Columbia East Asia Review allows undergraduates throughout the world to publish original work on China, Japan, Korea, Tibet, and Vietnam and is supported by the Weatherhead East Asian Institute;{{cite web|title=East Asia Review: About Us|url=http://www.eastasiareview.org/about/index.shtml|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110420091255/http://www.eastasiareview.org/about/index.shtml|archive-date=April 20, 2011|access-date=April 17, 2011|publisher=East Asia Review}} The Birch is an undergraduate journal of Eastern European and Eurasian culture that is the first national student-run journal of its kind;{{cite web|title=The Birch|url=http://www.thebirchonline.org/|access-date=August 10, 2006|archive-date=January 15, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210115065759/http://www.thebirchonline.org/|url-status=live}} the Columbia Economics Review is the undergraduate economic journal on research and policy supported by the Columbia Economics Department; and the Columbia Science Review is a science magazine that prints general interest articles and faculty profiles.{{cite web|title=History and Vision|url=http://www.columbia.edu/cu/csr/about.html|access-date=April 17, 2011|publisher=Columbia Science Review|archive-date=January 15, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210115065756/http://www.columbia.edu/cu/csr/about.html|url-status=live}}

Humor publications on Columbia's campus include The Fed, a triweekly satire and investigative newspaper, and the Jester of Columbia.{{cite web|title=The Fed|url=http://www.columbia.edu/cu/thefed|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060804020230/http://www.columbia.edu/cu/thefed/|archive-date=August 4, 2006|access-date=August 10, 2006}}{{cite web|title=Jester of Columbia|url=http://www.jesterofcolumbia.com|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110713103115/http://www.jesterofcolumbia.com/|archive-date=July 13, 2011|access-date=August 10, 2006}} Other publications include The Columbian, the undergraduate colleges' annually published yearbook;{{cite web|title=The Columbian|url=http://www.studentaffairs.columbia.edu/gradzone/guests/gifts|access-date=April 17, 2011|publisher=Columbia University|archive-date=February 15, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150215101618/http://www.studentaffairs.columbia.edu/gradzone/guests/gifts|url-status=live}} the Gadfly, a biannual journal of popular philosophy produced by undergraduates;{{cite web|title=The Gadfly: About|url=http://www.gadflymagazine.com/about/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110509035515/http://www.gadflymagazine.com/about/|archive-date=May 9, 2011|access-date=April 17, 2011|publisher=The Gadlfy}} and Rhapsody in Blue, an undergraduate urban studies magazine.{{cite web|title=The Rhapsody|url=http://www.columbia.edu/cu/rhapsody/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100624020241/http://www.columbia.edu/cu/rhapsody/|archive-date=June 24, 2010|access-date=April 17, 2011|publisher=Columbia University}} Professional journals published by academic departments at Columbia University include Current Musicology and The Journal of Philosophy.{{cite web|title=Current Musicology|url=http://music.columbia.edu/%7Ecurmus/|access-date=August 10, 2006|archive-date=June 24, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150624015311/http://www.music.columbia.edu/~curmus/|url-status=live}}{{cite web|title=The Journal of Philosophy|url=http://www.journalofphilosophy.org/|access-date=August 10, 2006|archive-date=January 15, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210115065845/http://www.journalofphilosophy.org/|url-status=live}} During the spring semester, graduate students in the Journalism School publish The Bronx Beat, a bi-weekly newspaper covering the South Bronx.

Founded in 1961 under the auspices of Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism, the Columbia Journalism Review (CJR) examines day-to-day press performance as well as the forces that affect that performance. The magazine is published six times a year.{{cite magazine|title=About Us: Mission Statement|url=https://www.cjr.org/index.php|magazine=Columbia Journalism Review|access-date=April 16, 2011|archive-date=May 14, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110514055343/http://www.cjr.org/index.php|url-status=live}}

Former publications include the Columbia University Forum, a review of literature and cultural affairs distributed for free to alumni.{{Cite journal |last1=Williams |first1=Miller |title=Pure and Simple Pleasure |journal=The American Scholar |volume=37 |issue=4 |pages=698–702 |date=1968 |issn=0003-0937 |jstor=41209618 |df=mdy-all }}{{Cite news |last1=Coleman |first1=Alexander |title=Rev. of The Columbia University Forum Anthology |work=The New York Times |page=87 |date=1968-06-30 |url=https://nyti.ms/40yP1S4 |language=en |df=mdy-all }}

Columbia is home to two pioneers in undergraduate campus radio broadcasting, WKCR-FM and CTV. Many undergraduates are also involved with Barnard's radio station, WBAR. WKCR, the student run radio station that broadcasts to the Tri-state area, claims to be the oldest FM radio station in the world, owing to the university's affiliation with Edwin Howard Armstrong.{{cite web|year=2009|title="The Original FM": The Columbia University Radio Club|url=http://www.studentaffairs.columbia.edu/wkcr/history|access-date=January 12, 2013|publisher=Columbia University|archive-date=February 26, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150226180937/http://www.studentaffairs.columbia.edu/wkcr/history|url-status=live}} The station has its studios on the second floor of Alfred Lerner Hall on the Morningside campus with its main transmitter tower at 4 Times Square in Midtown Manhattan. Columbia Television (CTV) is the nation's second oldest student television station and the home of CTV News, a weekly live news program produced by undergraduate students.{{cite web|title=CTV News|url=http://www.ctvnewsonline.com|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061104113018/http://www.ctvnewsonline.com/|archive-date=November 4, 2006|access-date=August 10, 2006}}{{cite web|title=CTV|url=http://www.columbia.edu/cu/ctv|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060820181902/http://www.columbia.edu/cu/ctv/|archive-date=August 20, 2006|access-date=August 10, 2006}}

The Philolexian Society is a literary and debating club founded in 1802, making it the oldest student group at Columbia, as well as the third oldest collegiate literary society in the country.{{cite web|date=February 1, 2010|title=History|url=http://www.columbia.edu/cu/philo/history/|access-date=April 11, 2011|publisher=Philolexian Society|archive-date=February 5, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200205032007/http://www.columbia.edu/cu/philo/History/|url-status=dead}} The society annually administers the Joyce Kilmer Memorial Bad Poetry Contest.{{cite news|author=Jaynes, Gregory|date=December 5, 1987|title=No, Not a Curse But a Jersey Prize For Worst Verse|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/12/05/nyregion/about-new-york-no-not-a-curse-but-a-jersey-prize-for-worst-verse.html|access-date=April 16, 2011|archive-date=November 3, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121103222446/http://www.nytimes.com/1987/12/05/nyregion/about-new-york-no-not-a-curse-but-a-jersey-prize-for-worst-verse.html|url-status=live}} The Columbia Parliamentary Debate Team competes in tournaments around the country as part of the American Parliamentary Debate Association, and hosts both high school and college tournaments on Columbia's campus, as well as public debates on issues affecting the university.{{cite web|title=Columbia Parliamentary Debate Team|url=http://www.columbia.edu/cu/debate|access-date=August 10, 2006|archive-date=January 15, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210115065955/http://www.columbia.edu/cu/debate/|url-status=live}}

The Columbia International Relations Council and Association (CIRCA), oversees Columbia's Model United Nations activities. CIRCA hosts college and high school Model UN conferences, hosts speakers influential in international politics to speak on campus, and trains students from underprivileged schools in New York in Model UN.{{cite web|title=CIRCA – About|url=http://circa.cmunce.org/drupal/node/7|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110725182951/http://circa.cmunce.org/drupal/node/7|archive-date=July 25, 2011|access-date=August 10, 2006}}

File:Columbia_University_-_Department_of_Physics_(48170362276).jpg, the physics building, showing the rooftop Rutherfurd Observatory]]

Columbia is a top supplier of young engineering entrepreneurs for New York City. Over the past 20 years, graduates of Columbia established over 100 technology companies.{{cite news|last=Kathleen|first=Mary|date=June 7, 2010|title=Mecca on the Hudson?|work=The Deal|url=http://www.thedeal.com/newsweekly/2010/june-7-2010/vc-mecca-on-the-hudson.php#bottom|url-status=dead|access-date=October 30, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100908162123/http://www.thedeal.com/newsweekly/2010/june-7-2010/vc-mecca-on-the-hudson.php|archive-date=September 8, 2010}}

The Columbia University Organization of Rising Entrepreneurs (CORE) was founded in 1999. The student-run group aims to foster entrepreneurship on campus. Each year CORE hosts dozens of events, including talks, #StartupColumbia, a conference and venture competition for $250,000, and Ignite@CU, a weekend for undergrads interested in design, engineering, and entrepreneurship. Notable speakers include Peter Thiel, Jack Dorsey,{{cite web|author=Jon Swartz|date=September 17, 2013|title=Square's Jack Dorsey goes recruiting in NYC|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2013/09/17/jack-dorsey-square-twitter-paypal-intuit/2777621/|access-date=August 3, 2015|work=USA Today|archive-date=September 3, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150903214725/http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2013/09/17/jack-dorsey-square-twitter-paypal-intuit/2777621/|url-status=live}} Alexis Ohanian, Drew Houston, and Mark Cuban. As of 2006, CORE had awarded graduate and undergraduate students over $100,000 in seed capital.

CampusNetwork, an on-campus social networking site called Campus Network that preceded Facebook, was created and popularized by Columbia engineering student Adam Goldberg in 2003. Mark Zuckerberg later asked Goldberg to join him in Palo Alto to work on Facebook, but Goldberg declined the offer.{{cite web|author=Cormier, Amanda|date=October 7, 2010|title=Columbia's Web 3.0|url=http://eye.columbiaspectator.com/article/2010/10/07/columbias-web-30|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101102155611/http://eye.columbiaspectator.com/article/2010/10/07/columbias-web-30|archive-date=November 2, 2010|access-date=October 30, 2010|publisher=The Eye}} The Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science offers a minor in Technical Entrepreneurship through its Center for Technology, Innovation, and Community Engagement. SEAS' entrepreneurship activities focus on community building initiatives in New York and worldwide, made possible through partners such as Microsoft Corporation.{{cite web|title=Engaged Entrepreneurship|url=http://ctice.columbia.edu/content/engaged-entrepreneurship|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101210084331/http://ctice.columbia.edu/content/engaged-entrepreneurship|archive-date=December 10, 2010|access-date=April 16, 2011|publisher=Columbia University}}

On June 14, 2010, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg launched the NYC Media Lab to promote innovations in New York's media industry. Situated at the New York University Tandon School of Engineering, the lab is a consortium of Columbia University, New York University, and New York City Economic Development Corporation acting to connect companies with universities in new technology research. The Lab is modeled after similar ones at MIT and Stanford, and was established with a $250,000 grant from the New York City Economic Development Corporation.{{Cite news|last=Kuchment|first=Anna|date=June 28, 2010|title=Columbia Joins NYC Media Lab|work=The Record|url=http://curecordarchive.library.columbia.edu/?a=d&d=cr20100628-01.2.22&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN-------|access-date=May 15, 2021|archive-date=May 15, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210515050001/http://curecordarchive.library.columbia.edu/?a=d&d=cr20100628-01.2.22&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN-------|url-status=live}}

File:Uniwersytet_Columbia.jpg]]

Established in 2003 by university president Lee C. Bollinger, the World Leaders Forum at Columbia University provides the opportunity for students and faculty to listen to world leaders in government, religion, industry, finance, and academia.{{cite web|title=About|url=https://worldleaders.columbia.edu/content/about|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150828133419/http://www.worldleaders.columbia.edu/president-lee-c-bollingers-statement-about-world-leaders-forum|archive-date=August 28, 2015|access-date=April 26, 2024|website=Columbia University World Leaders Forum}}

Past forum speakers include former president of the United States Bill Clinton, the prime minister of India Atal Bihari Vajpayee, former president of Ghana John Agyekum Kufuor, president of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai, prime minister of Russia Vladimir Putin, president of the Republic of Mozambique Joaquim Alberto Chissano, president of the Republic of Bolivia Carlos Diego Mesa Gisbert, president of the Republic of Romania Ion Iliescu, president of the Republic of Latvia Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga, the first female president of Finland Tarja Halonen, President Yudhoyono of Indonesia, President Pervez Musharraf of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Iraq President Jalal Talabani, the 14th Dalai Lama, president of the Islamic Republic of Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, financier George Soros, Mayor of New York City Michael R. Bloomberg, President Václav Klaus of the Czech Republic, President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner of Argentina, former Secretary-General of the United Nations Kofi Annan, and Al Gore.{{cite web|title=Participants|url=http://www.worldleaders.columbia.edu/participants|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100917111318/http://www.worldleaders.columbia.edu/participants|archive-date=September 17, 2010|access-date=October 30, 2010|publisher=Columbia University World Leaders Forum}}

File:2014 Columbia University Earl Hall from north.jpg was listed on the National Register of Historic Places for its role in serving as a venue for meetings and dances of the Columbia Queer Alliance.]]

The Columbia University Orchestra was founded by composer Edward MacDowell in 1896, and is the oldest continually operating university orchestra in the United States. Undergraduate student composers at Columbia may choose to become involved with Columbia New Music, which sponsors concerts of music written by undergraduate students from all of Columbia's schools.{{cite web|title=Columbia University Orchestra|url=http://www.columbia.edu/cu/cuo/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150624152440/http://www.columbia.edu/cu/cuo/|archive-date=June 24, 2015|access-date=August 3, 2015}} The Notes and Keys, the oldest a cappella group at Columbia, was founded in 1909.{{Cite news|date=February 26, 1909|title=Notes and Keys Launched|work=Columbia Daily Spectator|url=http://spectatorarchive.library.columbia.edu/?a=d&d=cs19090226-01.2.9&srpos=1&e=-------en-20--1-byDA-txt-txIN-%22notes+and+keys%22------|access-date=July 12, 2021|archive-date=July 13, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210713062904/http://spectatorarchive.library.columbia.edu/?a=d&d=cs19090226-01.2.9&srpos=1&e=-------en-20--1-byDA-txt-txIN-%22notes+and+keys%22------|url-status=live}} There are a number of performing arts groups at Columbia dedicated to producing student theater, including the Columbia Players, King's Crown Shakespeare Troupe (KCST), Columbia Musical Theater Society (CMTS), NOMADS (New and Original Material Authored and Directed by Students), LateNite Theatre, Columbia University Performing Arts League (CUPAL), Black Theatre Ensemble (BTE), sketch comedy group Chowdah, and improvisational troupes Alfred and Fruit Paunch.{{cite web|title=CUPAL: Member Organizations|url=http://www.columbia.edu/cu/cupal/#members|access-date=April 16, 2011|publisher=Columbia University of Performing Arts|archive-date=December 28, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101228114347/http://www.columbia.edu/cu/cupal/#members|url-status=live}}

The Columbia Queer Alliance is the central Columbia student organization that represents the bisexual, lesbian, gay, transgender, and questioning student population. It is the oldest gay student organization in the world, founded as the Student Homophile League in 1967 by students including lifelong activist Stephen Donaldson.{{cite web|title=About Us|url=http://www.cqanyc.com/|access-date=April 16, 2011|publisher=Columbia Queer Alliance|archive-date=January 29, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110129035232/http://cqanyc.com/|url-status=live}}{{cite book|title=Queer Man on Campus: A History of Non-heterosexual College Men, 1945–2000|publisher=Psychology Press|year=2002|isbn=978-0-415-93336-0|page=167}}

Columbia University campus military groups include the U.S. Military Veterans of Columbia University and Advocates for Columbia ROTC. In the 2005–06 academic year, the Columbia Military Society, Columbia's student group for ROTC cadets and Marine officer candidates, was renamed the Hamilton Society for "students who aspire to serve their nation through the military in the tradition of Alexander Hamilton".{{cite web|title=Columbia University Hamilton Society: About|url=http://www.advocatesforrotc.org/columbia/hamilton.html|access-date=April 11, 2011|archive-date=January 14, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230114002745/https://www.advocatesforrotc.org/columbia/hamilton.html|url-status=live}}

Columbia has several secret societies, including St. Anthony Hall, which was founded at the university in 1847, and two senior societies, the Nacoms and Sachems.{{Cite web|last=Sedgwick|first=John|date=October 9, 2015|title=Inside the Legal Intrigue at Columbia's Elite, Secret Campus Society|url=https://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2015/10/saint-anthony-hall-columbia-secret-society|access-date=July 13, 2021|website=Vanity Fair|language=en-US|archive-date=May 13, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210513214904/https://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2015/10/saint-anthony-hall-columbia-secret-society|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|date=April 29, 1984|title=Quiet Columbia Groups 'Tap' Seniors|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/04/29/nyregion/quiet-columbia-groups-tap-seniors.html|access-date=June 13, 2021|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=July 13, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210713081602/https://www.nytimes.com/1984/04/29/nyregion/quiet-columbia-groups-tap-seniors.html|url-status=live}}

{{Main|Columbia Lions}}

File:Bigredmarchingband.jpg in Manhattan, home field of Columbia Lions football]]

File:GehrigCU.jpg, who attended Columbia University in 1922 and 1923]]

A member institution of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in Division I FCS, Columbia fields varsity teams in 29 sports and is a member of the Ivy League. The football Lions play home games at the 17,000-seat Robert K. Kraft Field at Lawrence A. Wien Stadium. The Baker Athletics Complex also includes facilities for baseball, softball, soccer, lacrosse, field hockey, tennis, track, and rowing, as well as the new Campbell Sports Center, which opened in January 2013. The basketball, fencing, swimming & diving, volleyball, and wrestling programs are based at the Dodge Physical Fitness Center on the main campus.{{cite web|title=Athletics|url=http://www.studentaffairs.columbia.edu/admissions/university/campus/athletics.php|access-date=April 16, 2011|publisher=Columbia University|archive-date=June 23, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120623112705/http://www.studentaffairs.columbia.edu/admissions/university/campus/athletics.php|url-status=dead}}

Former students include Baseball Hall of Famers Lou Gehrig and Eddie Collins, football Hall of Famer Sid Luckman, Marcellus Wiley, and world champion women's weightlifter Karyn Marshall.{{Cite news|author=Carft, Julie|date=July 29, 1989|title=Image is Heavy Burden – Weightlifter Karyn Marshall Feels Pressure to Project 'Femininity, Intelligence'|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-07-29-sp-145-story.html|access-date=October 2, 2009|archive-date=March 8, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110308235715/http://articles.latimes.com/1989-07-29/sports/sp-145_1_karyn-marshall|url-status=live}}{{Cite magazine|last=Lidz|first=Franz|date=March 21, 1988|title=A Lift For Wall Street|magazine=Sports Illustrated|url=http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1067134/index.htm|url-status=dead|access-date=June 28, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111011090230/http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1067134/index.htm|archive-date=October 11, 2011}} On May 17, 1939, fledgling NBC broadcast a doubleheader between the Columbia Lions and the Princeton Tigers at Columbia's Baker Field, making it the first televised regular athletic event in history.[http://www.college.columbia.edu/cct/spr99/34a.html Baker Field: Birthplace of Sports Television] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081007095924/http://www.college.columbia.edu/cct/spr99/34a.html|date=October 7, 2008}}. Columbia University.{{cite web|title=20th-Century Greats|url=http://c250.columbia.edu/c250_celebrates/athletics/athletes_bios.html|access-date=April 11, 2011|publisher=Columbia University|archive-date=June 29, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629150629/http://c250.columbia.edu/c250_celebrates/athletics/athletes_bios.html|url-status=live}}

Columbia University participated in multiple firsts within collegiate athletics.{{cite web|year=2004|title=Columbia Athletics Highlight|url=http://c250.columbia.edu/c250_celebrates/athletics/athletics_timeline.html|access-date=April 11, 2011|publisher=Columbia University|archive-date=May 25, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110525021443/http://c250.columbia.edu/c250_celebrates/athletics/athletics_timeline.html|url-status=live}} The football program is best known for its record of futility set during the 1980s: between 1983 and 1988, the team lost 44 games in a row, which is still the record for the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision. The streak was broken on October 8, 1988, with a 16–13 victory over arch-rival Princeton University. That was the Lions' first victory at Wien Stadium, which had been opened during the losing streak and was already four years old.[http://www.wikicu.com/Losing_streak Losing streak] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210115070433/http://www.wikicu.com/Losing_streak |date=January 15, 2021 }}. Wikicu.com. Retrieved on September 7, 2013. A new tradition has developed with the Liberty Cup. The Liberty Cup is awarded annually to the winner of the football game between Fordham and Columbia Universities, two of the only three NCAA Division I football teams in New York City.{{Cite web|title=Football Hosts Columbia in Liberty Cup Game on Saturday|url=https://fordhamsports.com/news/2015/9/17/FB_0917155020.aspx|access-date=May 15, 2021|website=Fordham University Athletics|date=September 17, 2015|language=en|archive-date=May 15, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210515050001/https://fordhamsports.com/news/2015/9/17/FB_0917155020.aspx|url-status=live}}

{{Main|Columbia University traditions}}

File:Fly_With_Me_poster.jpg (1920), one of the only collaborations between Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II, and Lorenz Hart]]

{{Main|Varsity Show}}

The Varsity Show is one of the oldest traditions at Columbia. Founded in 1893 as a fundraiser for the university's fledgling athletic teams, the Varsity Show now draws together the entire Columbia undergraduate community for a series of performances every April. Dedicated to producing a unique full-length musical that skewers and satirizes many dubious aspects of life at Columbia, the Varsity Show is written and performed exclusively by university undergraduates. Various renowned playwrights, composers, authors, directors, and actors have contributed to the Varsity Show, either as writers or performers, while students at Columbia, including Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II, Lorenz Hart, Herman J. Mankiewicz, I. A. L. Diamond, Herman Wouk, Greta Gerwig, and Kate McKinnon.{{Cite web |last=Vinciguerra |first=Thomas J. |title=Sing a Song of Morningside |url=https://www.thevarsityshow.com/about-sing-a-song-of-morningside |access-date=August 28, 2021 |website=thevarsityshow.com |language=en-US |archive-date=June 6, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210606201025/https://www.thevarsityshow.com/about-sing-a-song-of-morningside |url-status=live }}

Notable past shows include Fly With Me (1920), The Streets of New York (1948), The Sky's the Limit (1954), and Angels at Columbia (1994). In particular, Streets of New York, after having been revived three times, opened off-Broadway in 1963 and was awarded a 1964 Drama Desk Award. The Mischief Maker (1903), written by Edgar Allan Woolf and Cassius Freeborn, premiered at Madison Square Garden in 1906 as Mam'zelle Champagne.{{Cite book |last=Dietz |first=Dan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7TdwEAAAQBAJ |title=The Complete Book of 1900s Broadway Musicals |date=July 15, 2022 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-1-5381-6894-3 |pages=365 |language=en |access-date=July 1, 2023 |archive-date=September 8, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230908003828/https://books.google.com/books?id=7TdwEAAAQBAJ |url-status=live }}

{{Multiple image

| image1 = College Walk night jeh.JPG

| image2 = Yule Log Ceremony 1910.png

| caption1 = Tree Lighting at College Walk

| caption2 = The first modern Yule Log ceremony in John Jay Hall, 1910

}}

The campus Tree Lighting ceremony was inaugurated in 1998. It celebrates the illumination of the medium-sized trees lining College Walk in front of Kent Hall and Hamilton Hall on the east end and Dodge Hall and Pulitzer Hall on the west, just before finals week in early December. The lights remain on until February 28. Students meet at the sundial for free hot chocolate, performances by a cappella groups, and speeches by the university president and a guest.{{cite web|author=Jason Hollander|title=Holiday Season Ushered In With Tree-Lighting Ceremony|url=http://www.columbia.edu/cu/news/99/12/treeLighting.html|access-date=April 15, 2011|publisher=Columbia University News|archive-date=June 26, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100626093727/http://www.columbia.edu/cu/news/99/12/treeLighting.html|url-status=live}}

Immediately following the College Walk festivities is one of Columbia's older holiday traditions, the lighting of the Yule Log. The Christmas ceremony dates to a period prior to the American Revolutionary War, but lapsed before being revived by President Nicholas Murray Butler in 1910. A troop of students dressed as Continental Army soldiers carry the eponymous log from the sundial to the lounge of John Jay Hall, where it is lit amid the singing of seasonal carols. The Christmas ceremony is accompanied by a reading of A Visit From St. Nicholas by Clement Clarke Moore and Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus by Francis Pharcellus Church.

{{Main|List of Columbia University people}}

{{see also|List of Columbia University alumni and attendees|List of Columbia University people in politics, military and law|List of Nobel laureates affiliated with Columbia University as alumni or faculty}}

{{Cleanup gallery|date=January 2024}}

The university has graduated many notable alumni, including five Founding Fathers of the United States, an author of the United States Constitution and a member of the Committee of Five. Three United States presidents have attended Columbia,{{cite web|title=The Presidents of the United States – Biographical Sketches|url=http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/presidents/bio.htm|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070630010841/http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/Presidents/bio.htm|archive-date=June 30, 2007|access-date=April 13, 2011|publisher=US National Park Service}} as well as ten Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States, including three Chief Justices. {{As of|2011}}, 125 Pulitzer Prize winners and 39 Oscar winners have attended Columbia.{{cite web|title=Columbia Arts Alumni|url=http://www.cuarts.com/alumni/basicsearch|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110123215722/http://cuarts.com/alumni/basicsearch|archive-date=January 23, 2011|access-date=June 28, 2011|publisher=Columbia University}} {{As of|2006}}, there were 101 National Academy members who were alumni.{{cite web|title=Members By Parent Institution|url=http://www.nae.edu/nae/naepub.nsf/Members%20By%20Parent%20InstitutionC?OpenView&Start=30|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060615200340/http://www.nae.edu/nae/naepub.nsf/Members%20By%20Parent%20InstitutionC?OpenView&Start=30|archive-date=June 15, 2006|access-date=August 10, 2006|work=National Academy of Engineering}}

In a 2016 ranking of universities worldwide with respect to living graduates who are billionaires, Columbia ranked second, after Harvard.{{cite news|date=November 29, 2016|title=The Universities Churning Out The Most Billionaires|work=Forbes|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/niallmccarthy/2016/11/29/the-universities-churning-out-the-most-billionaires-infographic/#6ca1ff5d6613|access-date=November 19, 2017|archive-date=December 1, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201044334/https://www.forbes.com/sites/niallmccarthy/2016/11/29/the-universities-churning-out-the-most-billionaires-infographic/#6ca1ff5d6613|url-status=live}}{{cite news|author=Marie Thibault|title=In Pictures: Billionaire University|work=Forbes|url=https://www.forbes.com/2010/08/11/harvard-stanford-columbia-business-billionaires-universities_slide_4.html|access-date=April 12, 2011|archive-date=August 1, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170801075748/https://www.forbes.com/2010/08/11/harvard-stanford-columbia-business-billionaires-universities_slide_4.html|url-status=live}}

Former U.S. Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and Franklin Delano Roosevelt attended the law school. Other political figures educated at Columbia include former U.S. President Barack Obama,{{cite web|title=Columbia News Announcement|url=http://www.columbia.edu/cu/news/08/11/obama.html|access-date=April 16, 2011|publisher=Columbia.edu|archive-date=May 2, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190502135302/http://www.columbia.edu/cu/news/08/11/obama.html|url-status=live}} Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court Ruth Bader Ginsburg,{{cite web|date=March 7, 2006|title=Tribute: The Legacy of Ruth Bader Ginsburg and WRP Staff|url=https://www.aclu.org/womens-rights/tribute-legacy-ruth-bader-ginsburg-and-wrp-staff|access-date=April 16, 2011|publisher=American Civil Liberties Union|archive-date=March 19, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150319024236/http://www.aclu.org/womens-rights/tribute-legacy-ruth-bader-ginsburg-and-wrp-staff|url-status=live}} former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright,{{cite book|last=Albright|first=Madeleine|url=https://archive.org/details/madamsecretary00albr_0|title=Madam Secretary: A Memoir|publisher=Miramax|year=2003|isbn=978-0-7868-6843-8|page=[https://archive.org/details/madamsecretary00albr_0/page/71 71]|url-access=registration}} former chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank Alan Greenspan,{{cite book|last=Martin|first=Justin|title=Greenspan: The Man behind Money|date=October 15, 2009|publisher=Basic Books|isbn=978-0-7382-0275-4|location=Cambridge, Massachusetts|pages=27–31}} U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, and U.S. Solicitor General Donald Verrilli Jr.{{cite news|last=Tucker-Hamilton|first=Racine|author2=Hickey, Matthew|date=December 17, 2004|title=Interview with Eric H. Holder, Jr.|work=Oral history project|publisher=The History Makers|format=Interview|url=http://www.thehistorymakers.com/programs/dvl/files/Holder_Ericf.html|url-status=dead|access-date=November 18, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081221232555/http://www.thehistorymakers.com/programs/dvl/files/Holder_Ericf.html|archive-date=December 21, 2008}} The university has also educated 29 foreign heads of state, including president of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili, president of East Timor José Ramos-Horta, president of Estonia Toomas Hendrik Ilves and other historical figures such as Wellington Koo, Radovan Karadžić, Gaston Eyskens, and T. V. Soong. One of the founding fathers of modern India and the prime architect of the Constitution of India, B. R. Ambedkar, was an alumnus.{{Cite web|title=Alumnus, Author of Indian Constitution Honored|url=http://www.columbia.edu/cu/record/archives/vol21/vol21_iss9/record2109.21.html|website=www.columbia.edu|access-date=November 9, 2011|archive-date=August 25, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200825141748/http://www.columbia.edu/cu/record/archives/vol21/vol21_iss9/record2109.21.html|url-status=live}}{{cite web | url=https://c250.columbia.edu/c250_celebrates/remarkable_columbians/bhimrao_ambedkar.html | title=Bhimrao Ambedkar }}

Alumni of Columbia have occupied top positions in Wall Street and the rest of the business world. Notable members of the Astor family{{cite news|date=August 24, 1890|title=Letters To The Editor; The Interesting Career Of John Jacob Astor Ii. A Man Of Broad And Generous Sympathies Who Appreciated The Responsibilities Of Wealth|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1890/08/24/archives/letters-to-the-editor-the-interesting-career-of-john-jacob-astor-ii.html|access-date=April 14, 2011|archive-date=June 17, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180617065754/https://www.nytimes.com/1890/08/24/archives/letters-to-the-editor-the-interesting-career-of-john-jacob-astor-ii.html|url-status=live}}{{cite book|last=Reynolds|first=Cuyler|url=https://archive.org/details/genealogicalfami00reyn|title=Genealogical and family history of southern New York and the Hudson River Valley|publisher=Lewis Historical Pub. Co.|year=1914|page=[https://archive.org/details/genealogicalfami00reyn/page/1263 1263]|quote=William Waldorf Astor columbia law school.|access-date=April 16, 2011}} attended Columbia, while other business graduates include investor Warren Buffett,{{cite news|date=March 1, 2011|title=World's Billionaires: Warren Buffett|work=Forbes|url=https://www.forbes.com/profile/warren-buffett|access-date=April 12, 2011|archive-date=January 5, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180105085138/https://www.forbes.com/profile/warren-buffett/|url-status=live}} former CEO of PBS and NBC Lawrence K. Grossman,{{cite book|last=Murray|first=Michael|title=Encyclopedia of Television News|publisher=Greenwood Publishing|year=1999|isbn=978-1-57356-108-2}} chairman of Walmart S. Robson Walton,{{cite news|last=Serwer|first=Andy|date=November 15, 2004|title=The Waltons: Inside America's Richest Family|website=Fortune.com|url=https://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2004/11/15/8191093/index.htm|access-date=April 12, 2011|archive-date=March 16, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110316084204/http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2004/11/15/8191093/index.htm|url-status=live}} Bain Capital Co-Managing Partner, Jonathan Lavine,{{Cite news|date=December 15, 2017|title=Bain to Manage Harvard Endowment's $3.4 Billion of Real Estate|language=en|website=Bloomberg.com|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-12-15/bain-to-manage-harvard-endowment-s-3-4-billion-of-real-estate|access-date=January 26, 2018|archive-date=January 27, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180127084105/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-12-15/bain-to-manage-harvard-endowment-s-3-4-billion-of-real-estate|url-status=live}}{{cite web|title=Columbia College awards highest honor to Jonathan S. Lavine, CC '88 – Columbia Daily Spectator|url=http://www.columbiaspectator.com/news/2017/11/17/columbia-college-awards-highest-honor-to-jonathan-s-lavine-cc-88/|access-date=January 26, 2018|website=Columbiaspectator.com|archive-date=January 18, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180118012826/http://www.columbiaspectator.com/news/2017/11/17/columbia-college-awards-highest-honor-to-jonathan-s-lavine-cc-88/|url-status=live}} Thomson Reuters CEO Tom Glocer,{{Cite web|date=July 22, 2010|title=Tom Glocer – Thomson Reuters|url=http://thomsonreuters.com/content/corporate/biographies/Tom_Glocer|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100722163219/http://thomsonreuters.com/content/corporate/biographies/Tom_Glocer|url-status=dead|archive-date=July 22, 2010|access-date=June 29, 2021}}{{Cite web|last=Lee|first=Edmund|date=December 2, 2011|title=Thomson Reuters CEO Glocer Steps Down as Smith Takes Over|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2011-12-02/thomson-reuters-says-chief-executive-glocer-to-be-succeeded-by-james-smith|access-date=June 29, 2021|website=Bloomberg|archive-date=August 17, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210817092215/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2011-12-02/thomson-reuters-says-chief-executive-glocer-to-be-succeeded-by-james-smith|url-status=live}} New York Stock Exchange president Lynn Martin,{{Cite web |last=Kramer |first=Farrell |date=December 6, 2021 |title=New NYSE President Lynn Martin Brings Tech Background to the Big Board |url=https://www.nyse.com/taking-stock/lynn-martin-brings-tech-background-to-the-big-board |access-date=June 8, 2022 |website=New York Stock Exchange |language=en |archive-date=June 8, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220608201018/https://www.nyse.com/taking-stock/lynn-martin-brings-tech-background-to-the-big-board |url-status=live }} and AllianceBernstein Chairman and CEO Lewis A. Sanders.{{Cite web|date=March 9, 2009|title=Executive outflow may hit AllianceBernstein|url=https://www.pionline.com/article/20090309/PRINT/303099978/executive-outflow-may-hit-alliancebernstein|access-date=June 29, 2021|website=Pensions & Investments|language=en|archive-date=February 23, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220223195359/https://www.pionline.com/article/20090309/PRINT/303099978/executive-outflow-may-hit-alliancebernstein|url-status=live}} CEO's of top Fortune 500 companies include James P. Gorman of Morgan Stanley,The Age (2009). [http://www.theage.com.au/business/melbourneraised-gorman-new-chief-of-morgan-stanley-20090911-fkw8.html Melbourne-raised Gorman new chief of Morgan Stanley] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210115070650/http://www.theage.com.au/business/melbourneraised-gorman-new-chief-of-morgan-stanley-20090911-fkw8.html |date=January 15, 2021 }}. Retrieved September 13, 2009. Robert J. Stevens of Lockheed Martin,{{cite web|title=Robert J. Stevens|url=http://www.lockheedmartin.com/aboutus/leadership/bios/stevens.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110503062237/http://www.lockheedmartin.com/aboutus/leadership/bios/stevens.html|archive-date=May 3, 2011|access-date=April 16, 2011|publisher=Lockheed Martin}} Philippe Dauman of Viacom,{{cite web|title=Business Profile: Philippe P. Dauman|url=http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/people/person.asp?personId=312188&ticker=VIA:US|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111011210225/http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/people/person.asp?personId=312188&ticker=VIA:US|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 11, 2011|access-date=April 16, 2011|publisher=Bloomberg Business}} Robert Bakish of Paramount Global,{{Cite web|title=At CES, Viacom CEO Bob Bakish Highlights Transformation and Opportunities|url=https://www.viacomcbs.com/news/company-news/viacom-bob-bakish-ces|access-date=July 7, 2021|website=ViacomCBS|archive-date=July 9, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709184450/https://www.viacomcbs.com/news/company-news/viacom-bob-bakish-ces|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|title=ViacomCBS {{!}} 2021 Fortune 500|url=https://fortune.com/company/cbs/fortune500/|access-date=July 7, 2021|website=Fortune|language=en|archive-date=July 9, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709183806/https://fortune.com/company/cbs/fortune500/|url-status=live}} Ursula Burns of Xerox,{{cite magazine|date=May 22, 2009|title=Xerox's next CEO: Ursula Burns|url=http://postcards.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2009/05/22/xeroxs-next-ceo-ursula-burns/|url-status=dead|magazine=Fortune|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110708172221/http://postcards.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2009/05/22/xeroxs-next-ceo-ursula-burns/|archive-date=July 8, 2011|access-date=April 16, 2011}} Devin Wenig of EBay,{{Cite web|date=May 11, 2019|title=Secrets of their success: Fortune 500 CEOs discuss Union, influences and dealing with setbacks|url=https://www.union.edu/news/stories/201905/Secrets-of-their-success-Fortune-500-CEOs-discuss-Union-influences-and-dealing-with-setbacks|access-date=July 7, 2021|website=Union College|language=en|archive-date=July 9, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709190237/https://www.union.edu/news/stories/201905/Secrets-of-their-success-Fortune-500-CEOs-discuss-Union-influences-and-dealing-with-setbacks|url-status=live}} Vikram Pandit of Citigroup,{{cite web|title=Office of the Secretary of The University|url=http://www.columbia.edu/cu/secretary/bios/pandit/index.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101029053249/http://www.columbia.edu/cu/secretary/bios/pandit/index.html|archive-date=October 29, 2010|access-date=April 15, 2011|publisher=Columbia University}} Ralph Izzo of Public Service Enterprise Group,{{Cite web|title=New Jersey Companies, Education & Workforce Profile {{!}} Choose NJ|url=https://www.choosenj.com/new-jerseys-assets/stats-and-facts/new-jersey-profile/|access-date=June 29, 2021|website=Choose New Jersey, Inc.|language=en-US|archive-date=July 26, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210726123214/https://www.choosenj.com/new-jerseys-assets/stats-and-facts/new-jersey-profile/|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|title=Ralph Izzo, chairman of the board, President & CEO|url=https://corporate.pseg.com/aboutpseg/leadershipandgovernance/executiveofficers/psegcompanyexecutive|access-date=June 29, 2021|website=corporate.pseg.com|archive-date=July 24, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210724110313/https://corporate.pseg.com/aboutpseg/leadershipandgovernance/executiveofficers/psegcompanyexecutive|url-status=live}} Gail Koziara Boudreaux of Anthem,{{Cite web|date=August 9, 2019|title=Here Are The 31 Powerful CEOs On The Fortune 500 With MBA Degrees|url=https://ceoworld.biz/2019/08/09/here-are-the-31-powerful-ceos-on-the-fortune-500-with-mba-degrees/|access-date=July 7, 2021|website=CEOWORLD magazine|language=en-US|archive-date=July 9, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709190932/https://ceoworld.biz/2019/08/09/here-are-the-31-powerful-ceos-on-the-fortune-500-with-mba-degrees/|url-status=live}} and Frank Blake of The Home Depot.{{Cite web|last=Wacker|first=Menachem|date=June 26, 2012|title=Where the Fortune 500 CEOs Went to Law School|url=https://www.usnews.com/education/best-graduate-schools/top-law-schools/articles/2012/06/26/where-the-fortune-500-ceos-went-to-law-school|access-date=July 6, 2021|website=U.S. News & World Report|archive-date=July 9, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709185721/https://www.usnews.com/education/best-graduate-schools/top-law-schools/articles/2012/06/26/where-the-fortune-500-ceos-went-to-law-school|url-status=live}} Notable labor organizer and women's educator Louise Leonard McLaren received her degree of Master of Arts from Columbia.{{cite book|last1=Sicherman|first1=Barbara|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CfGHM9KU7aEC&q=%22louise%20leonard%20mclaren%22%20colombia&pg=PA453|title=Notable American women : the modern period ; a biographical dictionary|last2=Green|first2=Carol Hurd|date=1993|publisher=Belknap Press of Harvard Univ. Press|isbn=978-0-674-62733-8|edition=6th pring.|location=Cambridge, Mass [u.a.]|page=453|access-date=March 17, 2015|archive-date=October 30, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231030011829/https://books.google.com/books?id=CfGHM9KU7aEC&q=%22louise%20leonard%20mclaren%22%20colombia&pg=PA453#v=snippet&q=%22louise%20leonard%20mclaren%22%20colombia&f=false|url-status=live}}

In science and technology, Columbia alumni include: founder of IBM Herman Hollerith;{{cite web|title=Herman Hollerith|url=http://www-03.ibm.com/ibm/history/exhibits/builders/builders_hollerith.html|access-date=April 11, 2011|publisher=IBM|archive-date=November 1, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181101131919/http://www-03.ibm.com/ibm/history/exhibits/builders/builders_hollerith.html|url-status=dead}} inventor of FM radio Edwin Armstrong;{{cite web|author=Tsividis, Yannis|date=Spring 2002|title=Edwin Armstrong: Pioneer of the Airwaves|url=http://www.columbia.edu/cu/alumni/Magazine/Spring2002/Armstrong.html|access-date=April 15, 2011|work=Columbia Magazine|archive-date=November 6, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181106173317/http://www.columbia.edu/cu/alumni/Magazine/Spring2002/Armstrong.html|url-status=live}} Francis Mechner; integral in development of the nuclear submarine Hyman Rickover;{{cite book|last=Allen|first=Thomas|title=Rickover: Father of the Nuclear Navy|publisher=Brassey's|year=2007|isbn=978-1-57488-704-4|page=12}} founder of Google China Kai-Fu Lee;{{cite web|author=Richmond Ezer Escolar|date=June 11, 2008|title=Google Conquers China: An Interview with Kai-Fu Lee|url=http://www4.gsb.columbia.edu/chazen/journal/article/137235/Google+Conquers+China%3A+An+Interview+with+Kai-Fu+Lee|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120404162252/http://www4.gsb.columbia.edu/chazen/journal/article/137235/Google%2BConquers%2BChina%3A%2BAn%2BInterview%2Bwith%2BKai-Fu%2BLee|archive-date=April 4, 2012|access-date=April 12, 2012|publisher=Columbia Business School Chazen Web Journal}} scientists Stephen Jay Gould,Green, Michelle (1986). [http://www.stephenjaygould.org/library/green_sjgould.html "Stephen Jay Gould: driven by a hunger to learn and to write".] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181003060040/http://www.stephenjaygould.org/library/green_sjgould.html |date=October 3, 2018 }} People 25 (June 2): 109–114. Robert Millikan,{{cite journal|author=David Goodstein|title=In the Case of Robert Andrews Millikan|url=http://www.its.caltech.edu/~dg/MillikanII.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010603113008/http://www.its.caltech.edu/~dg/MillikanII.pdf |archive-date=June 3, 2001 |url-status=live|journal=American Scientist|pages=54–60}} Helium–neon laser inventor Ali Javan and Mihajlo Pupin;{{cite web|title=Michael Pupin|url=http://www.columbia.edu/cu/physics/about/main/one/michaelpupin.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110109042332/http://www.columbia.edu/cu/physics/about/main/one/michaelpupin.html|archive-date=January 9, 2011|access-date=April 16, 2011|publisher=Columbia University: Department of Physics}} chief-engineer of the New York City Subway, William Barclay Parsons;{{cite web|title=William Barclay Parsons|url=http://c250.columbia.edu/c250_celebrates/remarkable_columbians/william_barclay_parsons.html|access-date=April 16, 2011|publisher=Columbia University|archive-date=March 25, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110325081007/http://www.c250.columbia.edu/c250_celebrates/remarkable_columbians/william_barclay_parsons.html|url-status=live}} philosophers Irwin Edman{{cite web|title=Irwin Edman|url=http://c250.columbia.edu/c250_celebrates/remarkable_columbians/irwin_edman.html|access-date=April 16, 2011|publisher=Columbia University|archive-date=May 25, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110525020504/http://c250.columbia.edu/c250_celebrates/remarkable_columbians/irwin_edman.html|url-status=live}} and Robert Nozick; economist Milton Friedman;{{cite web|title=Columbia University 250: Milton Friedman|url=http://www.c250.columbia.edu/c250_celebrates/remarkable_columbians/milton_friedman.html|access-date=April 16, 2011|archive-date=December 23, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201223100942/http://www.c250.columbia.edu/c250_celebrates/remarkable_columbians/milton_friedman.html|url-status=live}} psychologist Harriet Babcock;{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/biographicaldict02ogil|title=The biographical dictionary of women in science : pioneering lives from ancient times to the mid-20th century.|date=2000|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0-415-92039-1|editor1-last=Ogilvie|editor1-first=Marilyn|editor-link=Marilyn Bailey Ogilvie|location=New York, NY [u.a.]|page=65|editor2-last=Harvey|editor2-first=Joy|editor2-link=Joy Harvey|url-access=registration}} archaeologist Josephine Platner Shear;{{Cite web|title=Local Express 10 December 1936 — Princeton Periodicals|url=https://theprince.princeton.edu/princetonperiodicals/cgi-bin/princetonperiodicals?a=d&d=LocalExpress19361210-01.2.24&srpos=23&e=-------en-20--21-byDA-txt-txIN-------|access-date=August 26, 2021|website=theprince.princeton.edu}} and sociologists Lewis A. Coser and Rose Laub Coser.{{cite news|last=Saxon|first=Wolfgang|title=Rose L. Coser, 78; Taught Sociology At Stony Brook|newspaper=The New York Times|date=August 24, 1994 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/08/24/obituaries/rose-l-coser-78-taught-sociology-at-stony-brook.html}}{{cite web|last=Vromen|first=Suzanne|title=Rose Laub Coser|url=https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/coser-rose-laub|website=Jwa.org}}

Many Columbia alumni have gone on to renowned careers in the arts, including composers Richard Rodgers,Rodgers, Richard. Musical Stages: An Autobiography (2002 Reissue), pp. 12, 20–21, 44. Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Press. {{ISBN|0-306-81134-0}} Oscar Hammerstein II,{{cite book|last=Hischak|first=Thomas|title=The Rodgers and Hammerstein Encyclopedia|publisher=Greenwood Publishing|year=2007|isbn=978-0-313-34140-3|location=Westport, CT|page=9}} Lorenz Hart,[https://www.pbs.org/wnet/broadway/stars/hart_l.html Hughson Mooney, "Lorenz Hart"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120901102124/http://www.pbs.org/wnet/broadway/stars/hart_l.html|date=September 1, 2012}}, PBS, Excerpted from the DICTIONARY OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY, SUPPLEMENT 3: 1941–1945. American Council of Learned Societies, 1973. Reprinted by permission of the American Council of Learned Societies, retrieved April 18, 2011 and Art Garfunkel;Herman, Jan (February 6, 1977). [http://www.artgarfunkel.com/articles/gannett.html "TV Makes You Famous; Rock 'n Roll Makes You Rich"]. Gannett News Service. and painter Georgia O'Keeffe.{{Cite web|title=Georgia O'Keeffe|url=https://c250.columbia.edu/c250_celebrates/remarkable_columbians/georgia_okeeffe.html|access-date=July 4, 2021|website=c250.columbia.edu}} Five United States Poet Laureates received their degrees from Columbia. Columbia alumni have made an indelible mark in the field of American poetry and literature, with such people as Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg, pioneers of the Beat Generation;Literature Resource Center: [http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CH1410002462&v=2.1&u=iuclassb&it=r&p=LitRC&sw=w&asid=468444b0b09aacc2b7192350d1606bb6 "The Beat Generation"]. Retrieved November 13, 2013. and Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston, seminal figures in the Harlem Renaissance,{{cite web|title=Columbia University 250: Langston Hughes|url=http://www.c250.columbia.edu/c250_celebrates/remarkable_columbians/langston_hughes.html|access-date=April 17, 2011|publisher=Columbia University}}{{Cite web|title=Zora Neale Hurston|url=https://www.c250.columbia.edu/c250_celebrates/remarkable_columbians/zora_hurston.html|access-date=July 4, 2021|website=www.c250.columbia.edu}} all having attended the university. Other notable writers who attended Columbia include authors Isaac Asimov,{{cite web|title=Columbia University 250: Isaac Asimov|url=http://www.c250.columbia.edu/c250_celebrates/remarkable_columbians/isaac_asimov.html|access-date=April 17, 2011|publisher=Columbia University}} J.D. Salinger,{{Cite book|last=Alexander|first=Paul|url=https://archive.org/details/salingerbiograph00alex|title=Salinger: A Biography|publisher=Renaissance|year=1999|isbn=978-1-58063-080-1|location=Los Angeles}} Upton Sinclair,Encyclopædia Britannica: [https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/545642/Upton-Sinclair "Upton Sinclair"]. Retrieved April 15, 2011. Ursula K. Le Guin,{{Cite web|title=Ursula K. Le Guin — Biography|url=https://www.ursulakleguin.com/biography|access-date=July 4, 2021|website=Ursula K. Le Guin|language=en-US}} Danielle Valore Evans,{{cite web|title=Award winning writer Danielle Evans featured in Southeastern's 'Common Read' program|url=http://www.southeastern.edu/news_media/news_releases/2017/march/common_read_evans.html|access-date=March 23, 2017|publisher=Southeastern Louisiana University}} and Hunter S. Thompson.{{cite book|last=Thompson|first=Hunter|title=The Proud Highway: Saga of a Desperate Southern Gentleman|publisher=Ballantine Books|year=1998|isbn=978-0-345-37796-8|editor=Douglas Brinkley|edition=1st|page=139|author-link=Hunter Thompson}} In architecture, William Lee Stoddart, a prolific architect of U.S. East Coast hotels, is an alumnus.{{cite news | first= Brooks| last= Barnes| title=William L. Stoddart, A Hotel Architect (Obituary) | date=October 3, 1940 | url =https://www.nytimes.com | work =The New York Times | page =25 | accessdate = October 25, 2008 }}

University alumni have also been very prominent in the film industry, with 33 alumni and former students winning a combined 43 Academy Awards ({{as of|2011|lc=yes}}). Some notable Columbia alumni that have gone on to work in film include directors Sidney Lumet (12 Angry Men){{cite news|date=April 9, 2011|title=Film Obituaries; Sidney Lumet|work=The Daily Telegraph|location=London|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/culture-obituaries/film-obituaries/8440445/Sidney-Lumet.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/culture-obituaries/film-obituaries/8440445/Sidney-Lumet.html |archive-date=January 10, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|access-date=April 16, 2011}}{{cbignore}} and Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker),{{cite web|date=February 22, 2010|title=School of the Arts Alumna Kathryn Bigelow Wins Major British Film Award|url=http://news.columbia.edu/oncampus/1932|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110724084931/http://news.columbia.edu/oncampus/1932|archive-date=July 24, 2011|access-date=April 16, 2011|publisher=Columbia University}} screenwriters Howard Koch (Casablanca){{cite news|author=Gussow, Mel|date=August 18, 1995|title=Howard Koch, a Screenwriter For 'Casablanca,' Dies at 93|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/08/18/obituaries/howard-koch-a-screenwriter-for-casablanca-dies-at-93.html|access-date=April 11, 2011}} and Joseph L. Mankiewicz (All About Eve),{{cite news|last=Flint|first=Peter|date=February 6, 1993|title=Joseph L. Mankiewicz, Literate Skeptic of the Cinema, Dies at 83.|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0CE5D9113AF935A35751C0A965958260|access-date=April 11, 2011}} and actors James Cagney,{{Cite news |last=Flint |first=Peter |date=March 31, 1986 |title=JAMES CAGNEY IS DEAD AT 86; MASTER OF PUGNACIOUS GRACE |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/03/31/obituaries/james-cagney-is-dead-at-86-master-of-pugnacious-grace.html |access-date=August 28, 2023 |issn=0362-4331}} Ed Harris and Timothée Chalamet.{{cite web|author=Sandra Brennan|date=2012|title=Ed Harris: Full Biography|url=https://movies.nytimes.com/person/30614/Ed-Harris/biography|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120217022013/http://movies.nytimes.com/person/30614/Ed-Harris/biography|archive-date=February 17, 2012|access-date=April 17, 2011|work=The New York Times|department=Movies & TV Dept.}}

File:Alexander Hamilton portrait by John Trumbull 1806.jpg|Alexander Hamilton: Founding Father of the United States; author of The Federalist Papers; first United States Secretary of the Treasury — King's College

File:John Jay (Gilbert Stuart portrait).jpg|John Jay: Founding Father of the United States; author of The Federalist Papers; first Chief Justice of the United States; second Governor of New York — King's College

File:Robert R Livingston, attributed to Gilbert Stuart (1755-1828).jpg|Robert R. Livingston: Founding Father of the United States; drafter of the Declaration of Independence; first United States Secretary of Foreign Affairs — King's College

File:Gouverneur Morris.jpg|Gouverneur Morris: Founding Father of the United States; author of the United States Constitution; United States Senator from New York — King's College

File:DeWitt Clinton by Rembrandt Peale.jpg|DeWitt Clinton: United States Senator from New York; sixth Governor of New York; responsible for construction of Erie Canal — Columbia College

File:President Barack Obama.jpg|Barack Obama: 44th President of the United States; United States Senator from Illinois; Nobel laureate — Columbia College

File:FDR in 1933.jpg|Franklin D. Roosevelt: 32nd President of the United States; 44th Governor of New York — Columbia Law School

File:President Theodore Roosevelt, 1904.jpg|Theodore Roosevelt: 26th President of the United States; 25th Vice President of the United States; 33rd Governor of New York; Nobel laureate – Columbia Law School

File:Wellington Koo 1945.jpg|Wellington Koo: acting President of the Republic of China; judge of the International Court of Justice — Columbia College, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences

File:Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar.jpg|B. R. Ambedkar: Founding Father of India; architect of the Constitution of India; First Minister of Law and Justice — Graduate School of Arts and Sciences

File:Ruth Bader Ginsburg official SCOTUS portrait.jpg|Ruth Bader Ginsburg: Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States — Columbia Law School

File:Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch Official Portrait.jpg|Neil Gorsuch: Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States — Columbia College

File:Charles Evans Hughes cph.3b15401.jpg|Charles Evans Hughes: 11th Chief Justice of the United States; 44th United States Secretary of State; 35th Governor of New York — Columbia Law School

File:Chief Justice Harlan Fiske Stone photograph circa 1927-1932 (cropped).jpg|Harlan Fiske Stone: 12th Chief Justice of the United States; 52nd United States Attorney General — Columbia Law School

File:William Barr.jpg|William Barr: 77th and 85th United States Attorney General – Columbia College, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences

File:Hamilton Fish Brady Edited.jpg|Hamilton Fish: 26th United States Secretary of State; United States Senator from New York; 16th Governor of New York — Columbia College

File:Secalbright.jpg|Madeleine Albright: 64th United States Secretary of State; first female Secretary of State — School of International and Public Affairs

File:Frances Perkins cph.3a04983.jpg|Frances Perkins: fourth United States Secretary of Labor; first female member of any U.S. Cabinet — Graduate School of Arts and Sciences

File:Robert Andrews Millikan 1920s.jpg|Robert A. Millikan: Nobel laureate; measured the elementary electric charge — Graduate School of Arts and Sciences

File:II Rabi.jpg|Isidor Isaac Rabi: Nobel Laureate; discovered nuclear magnetic resonance — Graduate School of Arts and Sciences

File:Schwinger.jpg|Julian S. Schwinger: Nobel laureate; pioneer of quantum field theory — Columbia College, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences

File:Portrait of Milton Friedman.jpg|Milton Friedman: Nobel laureate, leading member of the Chicago school of economics — Graduate School of Arts and Sciences

File:Simon Kuznets 1971b.jpg|Simon Kuznets: Nobel laureate; invented concept of GDP; Milton Friedman's doctoral advisor — School of General Studies, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences

File:Alan Greenspan color photo portrait.jpg|Alan Greenspan: 13th Chair of the Federal Reserve — Graduate School of Arts and Sciences

File:Warren Buffett KU Visit.jpg|Warren Buffett: CEO of Berkshire Hathaway; one of the world's wealthiest people — Columbia Business School

File:Hollerith.jpg|Herman Hollerith: inventor; co-founder of IBM – School of Engineering and Applied Sciences

File:Robert Kraft at Patriots at Raiders 12-14-08.JPG|Robert Kraft: billionaire; owner of the New England Patriots; chairman and CEO of the Kraft Group — Columbia College

File:Rodgers.jpg|Richard Rodgers: legendary Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony award-winning composer; Pulitzer Prize winner — Columbia College

File:LangstonHughes crop.jpg|Langston Hughes: Harlem Renaissance poet, novelist, and playwright — School of Engineering and Applied Science

File:Zora Neale Hurston.jpg|Zora Neale Hurston: Harlem Renaissance author, anthropologist, and filmmaker — Barnard College, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences

File:Allen Ginsberg 1979 - cropped.jpg|Allen Ginsberg: poet; founder of the Beat Generation — Columbia College

File:Kerouac by Palumbo 2 (cropped).png|Jack Kerouac: poet; founder of the Beat Generation — Columbia College

File:Isaac.Asimov01.jpg|Isaac Asimov: science fiction writer; biochemist — School of General Studies, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences

File:J. D. Salinger (Catcher in the Rye portrait).jpg|J. D. Salinger: novelist, The Catcher in the Rye — School of General Studies

File:Amelia Earhart 1935.jpg|Amelia Earhart: first female aviator to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean — School of General Studies

File:Jake Gyllenhaal (22373266462) (cropped 2).jpg|Jake Gyllenhaal: actor and film producer — Columbia College

File:Timothée Chalamet-63481.jpg|Timothee Chalamet: actor, Call Me By Your Name, Dune, A Complete Unknown, Wonka — Columbia College

As of 2021, Columbia employs 4,381 faculty, including 70 members of the National Academy of Sciences,{{Cite web|title=Search Results - Columbia University |url=http://www.nasonline.org/member-directory/search.jsp?query=Columbia+University&includeSubfolders=true&folderID=362872209&typeID=934380820&page=1|access-date=June 29, 2021|website=National Academy of Sciences }} 178 members of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences,{{Cite web|title=Member Directory - Columbia University |url=https://www.amacad.org/directory?field_affiliation=Columbia%20University&field_class_section=All&field_class_section_1=All&field_deceased=1&sort_bef_combine=field_election_year_DESC&sort_by=field_election_year&sort_order=DESC|access-date=June 29, 2021|website=American Academy of Arts and Sciences }} and 65 members of the National Academy of Medicine.{{Cite web|title=Directory|url=https://nam.edu/directory/|access-date=June 29, 2021|website=National Academy of Medicine|language=en-US}} In total, the Columbia faculty has included 52 Nobel laureates, 12 National Medal of Science recipients,{{Cite web|title=The President's National Medal of Science: Recipient Search Results {{!}} NSF – National Science Foundation|url=https://www.nsf.gov/od/nms/results.jsp|access-date=July 2, 2021|website=www.nsf.gov}} and 32 National Academy of Engineering members.{{Cite web|title=Members Directory|url=https://nae.edu/20412/MemberDirectory|access-date=July 2, 2021|website=NAE Website}}

Columbia University faculty played particularly important roles during World War II and the creation of the New Deal under President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who attended Columbia Law School. The three core members of Roosevelt's Brain Trust: Adolf A. Berle, Raymond Moley, and Rexford Tugwell, were law professors at Columbia.{{Cite web|title=Brain Trust {{!}} United States history|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Brain-Trust|access-date=June 29, 2021|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en}} The Statistical Research Group, which used statistics to analyze military problems during World War II, was composed of Columbia researchers and faculty including George Stigler and Milton Friedman.{{Cite web|title=CHAPTER 35 – The Statistical Research Group of World War II – The Flaw of Averages: Why We Underestimate Risk in the Face of Uncertainty [Book]|url=https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/the-flaw-of/9780470488126/sava_9780470488126_oeb_c35_r1.html|access-date=June 29, 2021|website=www.oreilly.com|language=en}} Columbia faculty and researchers, including Enrico Fermi, Leo Szilard, Eugene T. Booth, John R. Dunning, George B. Pegram, Walter Zinn, Chien-Shiung Wu, Francis G. Slack, Harold Urey, Herbert L. Anderson, and Isidor Isaac Rabi, also played a significant role during the early phases of the Manhattan Project.{{Cite web|title=Columbia University|url=https://www.manhattanprojectvoices.org/location/columbia-university|access-date=June 29, 2021|website=www.manhattanprojectvoices.org|language=en}}

Following the rise of Nazi Germany, the exiled Institute for Social Research at Goethe University Frankfurt would affiliate itself with Columbia from 1934 to 1950.{{Cite web|title=Frankfurt School {{!}} History, Features, & Facts|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Frankfurt-School|access-date=July 10, 2021|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en}} It was during this period that thinkers including Theodor Adorno, Max Horkheimer, and Herbert Marcuse wrote and published some of the most seminal works of the Frankfurt School, including Reason and Revolution, Dialectic of Enlightenment, and Eclipse of Reason.{{Cite web|last=Corradetti|first=Claudio|title=Frankfurt School and Critical Theory {{!}} Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy|url=https://iep.utm.edu/frankfur/|access-date=July 10, 2021|language=en-US}} Professors Edward Said, author of Orientalism, and Gayatri Spivak are generally considered as founders of the field of postcolonialism;Robert Young, White Mythologies: Writing History and the West, New York & London: Routledge, 1990.{{Cite web|last=Paulson|first=Steve|date=July 29, 2016|title=Critical Intimacy: An Interview with Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak|url=https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/critical-intimacy-interview-gayatri-chakravorty-spivak/|url-status=live|access-date=January 13, 2022|website=Los Angeles Review of Books|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161026174334/https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/critical-intimacy-interview-gayatri-chakravorty-spivak/ |archive-date=October 26, 2016 }} other professors that have significantly contributed to the field include Hamid Dabashi and Joseph Massad.{{Cite web|date=September 28, 2018|title=Hamid Dabashi|url=https://mesaas.columbia.edu/faculty-directory/hamid-dabashi/|access-date=January 13, 2022|website=MESAAS|language=en-US}}{{Cite web|date=September 28, 2018|title=Joseph Massad|url=https://mesaas.columbia.edu/faculty-directory/joseph-massad/|access-date=January 13, 2022|website=MESAAS|language=en-US}} The works of professors Kimberlé Crenshaw, Patricia J. Williams, and Kendall Thomas were foundational to the field of critical race theory.{{Cite web|date=July 1, 2021|title=What Is Critical Race Theory, and Why Is Everyone Talking About It?|url=https://news.columbia.edu/news/what-critical-race-theory-and-why-everyone-talking-about-it-0|url-status=live|access-date=January 13, 2022|website=Columbia News|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210701142314/https://news.columbia.edu/news/what-critical-race-theory-and-why-everyone-talking-about-it-0 |archive-date=July 1, 2021 }}

Columbia and its affiliated faculty have also made significant contributions to the study of religion. The affiliated Union Theological Seminary is a center of liberal Christianity in the United States, having served as the birthplace of Black theology through the efforts of faculty including James H. Cone and Cornel West,{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=April 28, 2018 |title=In Memoriam: Dr. James Hal Cone |url=https://utsnyc.edu/james-cone/ |access-date=August 13, 2022 |website=Union Theological Seminary |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |title=Cornel West |url=https://utsnyc.edu/faculty/cornel-west/ |access-date=August 13, 2022 |website=Union Theological Seminary |language=en-US}} and Womanist theology, through the works of Katie Cannon, Emilie Townes, and Delores S. Williams.{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=September 15, 2018 |title=In Memoriam: The Rev. Dr. Katie Geneva Cannon |url=https://utsnyc.edu/memoriam-cannon/ |access-date=August 13, 2022 |website=Union Theological Seminary |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last= |last2= |last3= |first3= |title=Emilie Townes named dean of Vanderbilt Divinity School |url=https://news.vanderbilt.edu/2012/12/28/emilie-townes-named-dean-of-vanderbilt-divinity-school/ |access-date=August 13, 2022 |website=Vanderbilt University |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |title=Faculty Emeriti/ae |url=https://utsnyc.edu/academics/faculty/emeritus/ |access-date=August 13, 2022 |website=Union Theological Seminary |language=en-US}} Likewise, the Jewish Theological Seminary of America was the birthplace of Conservative Judaism movement in the United States, which was founded and led by faculty members including Solomon Schechter, Alexander Kohut, and Louis Ginzberg in the early 20th century, and is a major center for Jewish studies in general.{{Cite book |last1=Elazar |first1=Daniel J. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6Lg6BmMTZGIC |title=The Conservative Movement in Judaism: Dilemmas and Opportunities |last2=Geffen |first2=Rela Mintz |date=February 1, 2012 |publisher=SUNY Press |isbn=978-0-7914-9202-4 |pages=29 |language=en}}

Other schools of thought in the humanities Columbia professors made significant contributions toward include the Dunning School, founded by William Archibald Dunning;{{Cite web |url=https://www.thenation.com/article/how-radical-change-occurs-interview-historian-eric-foner/ |title="How Radical Change Occurs: An Interview With Historian Eric Foner" by Mike Konczal, February 3, 2015 |access-date=January 13, 2022 |archive-date=December 22, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191222004741/https://www.thenation.com/article/how-radical-change-occurs-interview-historian-eric-foner/ |url-status=dead }}{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2ZL5fjiAqSgC&q=Jim+Crow+system&pg=PT11|title=The Dunning School: Historians, Race, and the Meaning of Reconstruction|date=October 18, 2013|publisher=University Press of Kentucky|isbn=978-0-8131-4225-8|editor1-last=Smith|editor1-first=John David|editor1-link=John David Smith (historian)|location=Lexington, KY|page=xi|access-date=August 3, 2017|editor2-last=Lowery|editor2-first=J. Vincent|editor2-link=J. Vincent Lowery}} the anthropological schools of historical particularism and cultural relativism, founded by Franz Boas;{{Cite web|last=Tax|first=Sol|date=December 18, 2021|title=Franz Boas|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Franz-Boas|url-status=live|access-date=January 13, 2022|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150617095732/https://www.britannica.com:80/biography/Franz-Boas |archive-date=June 17, 2015 }} and functional psychology, whose founders and proponents include John Dewey, James McKeen Cattell, Edward L. Thorndike, and Robert S. Woodworth.Leahey, Thomas Hardy (2004). A History of Psychology: Main Currents in psychological thought. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall. {{ISBN|0-13-111447-6}}.

Notable figures that have served as the president of Columbia University include 34th President of the United States Dwight D. Eisenhower, 4th Vice President of the United States George Clinton, Founding Father and U.S. Senator from Connecticut William Samuel Johnson, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Nicholas Murray Butler, and First Amendment scholar Lee Bollinger.{{Cite web|title=Columbia University President Profiles |url=https://library.columbia.edu/libraries/cuarchives/presidents.html|access-date=June 18, 2021|website=Columbia University Libraries }}

Notable Columbia University faculty include Zbigniew Brzezinski, Sonia Sotomayor, Kimberlé Crenshaw, Lee Bollinger, Franz Boas, Margaret Mead, Edward Sapir, John Dewey, Charles A. Beard, Max Horkheimer, Herbert Marcuse, Edward Said, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, Orhan Pamuk, Edwin Howard Armstrong, Enrico Fermi, Chien-Shiung Wu, Tsung-Dao Lee, Jack Steinberger, Joachim Frank, Joseph Stiglitz, Jeffrey Sachs, Robert Mundell, Thomas Hunt Morgan, Eric Kandel, Richard Axel, and Andrei Okounkov.

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• Columbia Encyclopedia
• Columbia Glacier, a glacier in Alaska, U.S., named for Columbia University
• Columbia MM, a text-based mail client developed at Columbia University
• Columbia Non-neutral Torus, a small stellarator at the Columbia University Plasma Physics Laboratory
• Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center, an album of electronic music released in 1961
• Columbia Revolt, a black-and-white 1968 documentary film
• Columbia Scholastic Press Association
• Columbia School of Linguistics
• Columbia Spelling Board, a historic etymological organization
• Columbia Unbecoming controversy
• Columbia University in popular culture
• Columbia University Partnership for International Development
• Mount Columbia, a mountain in Colorado, U.S., named for Columbia University
• Nutellagate, a controversy surrounding high Nutella consumption at Columbia University
• The Strawberry Statement, a non-fiction account of the 1968 protests
• 2024 Columbia University pro-Palestinian campus occupations

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{{Notelist}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite web|title=about us|url=http://communityimpactatcu.org/about-usl|access-date=December 29, 2010|publisher=Columbia University|archive-date=2010-02-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100228045854/http://communityimpactatcu.org/about-us|url-status=live}}
• {{cite book |last=Groce |first=C. G. |title=William Samuel Johnson: A Maker of the Constitution |publisher=Columbia University Press |year=1937 |location=New York, New York}}
• {{cite web |title=Columbia University Senate |url=http://senate.columbia.edu/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121014113501/http://senate.columbia.edu/ |archive-date=October 14, 2012 |access-date=April 17, 2011 |publisher=Columbia University}}
• {{cite web |title=Board of Trustees, Office of the Secretary |url=https://secretary.columbia.edu/directory |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240419220642/https://secretary.columbia.edu/directory |archive-date=April 19, 2024 |access-date=April 25, 2024 |work=Columbia University}}

• Carriere, Micheal. "Fighting the war against blight: Columbia University, Morningside Heights, Inc., and counterinsurgent urban renewal." Journal of Planning History 10.1 (2011): 5-29.
• De Bary, Wm Theodore ed. Living Legacies at Columbia (Columbia University Press, 2006), {{ISBN|0-231-13884-9}}.
• McCaughey, Robert A. Stand, Columbia: A History of Columbia University in the City of New York, 1754–2004, Columbia University Press, 2003, {{ISBN|0-231-13008-2}}.
• Pettit, Marilyn H. "Slavery, abolition, and Columbia University." Journal of Archival Organization 1.4 (2002): 77–89.

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