Columbia University in the City of New York Overview
Located in New York, New York, Columbia University in the City of New York is a private not-for-profit institution. The city atmosphere of New York makes it a great place for students who enjoy having lots of educational and entertainment options.
What Is Columbia University in the City of New York Known For?
- Columbia has an impressive student to faculty ratio of 6 to 1.
- The 2% student loan default rate at Columbia is better than the national rate of 10.1%. That's a good sign that you may be able to pay off student loans easier than your peers at other schools can.
- The doctor's degree is the highest award offered at Columbia.
- For the 2017-2018 academic year, 45% of the faculty were full-time.
- Students who graduate from Columbia with a bachelor's degree make about $83,300 a year. That's 104% more than those who graduate from other schools.
- On average, it takes about 4.1 years for students from Columbia to earn a bachelor's degree. This is excellent when compared to the average of 4.4 years.
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Columbia University in the City of New York Rankings
We have ranked Columbia as #78 out of 2,587 colleges and universities in the country in our 2022 Best Colleges list. This puts it in the top 5% of all schools in the nation. It is also ranked #10 out of 160 schools in New York.
Our rankings are based on an outcomes-based approach rather than subjective ones used by other media outlets. As such, we utilize data from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) and the College Scorecard, among other sources. Visit our rankings and methodology section to learn more.
Columbia has also been awarded the following overall awards by our latest rankings.
Rank | Ranking Name | Share |
---|---|---|
#26 | Best Graduate Certificate Schools | Tweet It - Post It |
#35 | Best Doctor’s Degree Schools | Tweet It - Post It |
#48 | Best Master’s Degree Schools | Tweet It - Post It |
#83 | Best Bachelor’s Degree Schools | Tweet It - Post It |
Program Level Awards
These are highlights of some of the most noteworthy awards granted to specific programs at Columbia.
Awards From Around the Web
The following table lists some notable awards Columbia has earned from around the web.
Rank | Ranking Name | Source |
---|---|---|
#2 | Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Schools | College Factual |
#3 | Best Foreign Languages & Linguistics Schools | College Factual |
#7 | Best Public Administration & Social Service Schools | College Factual |
#17 | Best Health Professions Schools | College Factual |
#24 | Best Business, Management & Marketing Schools | College Factual |
#29 | Best Nursing Schools | Nursing Degree Search |
Where Is Columbia University in the City of New York?

Contact details for Columbia are given below.
Contact Details | |
---|---|
Address: | West 116 St And Broadway, New York, NY 10027 |
Phone: | 212-854-1754 |
Facebook: | https://www.facebook.com/columbia |
Twitter: | https://twitter.com/columbia |
How Do I Get Into Columbia?
You can apply to Columbia online at: https://www.columbia.edu/content/admissions-offices
Admission Requirements for Columbia
Submission | Required? |
---|---|
High School GPA | recommended |
High School Rank | recommended |
High School Transcript | required |
College Prep Program | required |
Recommendations | required |
SAT or ACT Scores | required |
TOEFL | recommended |
How Hard Is It To Get Into Columbia?
Approximately 47% of accepted students are men and 53% are women. The acceptance rate for men is 7%, and the acceptance rate for women is 6%.
Average Test Scores
About 66% of students accepted to Columbia submitted their SAT scores. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing scores ranged between 720 and 770. Math scores were between 740 and 800.
Can I Afford Columbia University in the City of New York?
The net price is calculated by adding tuition, room, board and other costs and subtracting financial aid.
Student Loan Debt
It's not uncommon for college students to take out loans to pay for school. In fact, almost 66% of students nationwide depend at least partially on loans. At Columbia, approximately 9% of students took out student loans averaging $12,141 a year. That adds up to $48,564 over four years for those students.
The student loan default rate at Columbia is 2.1%. This is significantly lower than the national default rate of 10.1%, which is a good sign that you'll be able to pay back your student loans.
Columbia University in the City of New York Undergraduate Student Diversity

There are also 21,987 graduate students at the school.
Gender Diversity
Of the 7,509 full-time undergraduates at Columbia, 51% are male and 49% are female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity
The racial-ethnic breakdown of Columbia University in the City of New York students is as follows.

Race/Ethnicity | Number of Grads |
---|---|
Asian | 1,327 |
Black or African American | 533 |
Hispanic or Latino | 1,106 |
White | 2,370 |
International Students | 1,388 |
Other Races/Ethnicities | 785 |
Geographic Diversity
New York students aren't the only ones who study at Columbia University in the City of New York. At this time, all 50 states and the District of Columbia are represented by the student population at the school.
Over 144 countries are represented at Columbia. The most popular countries sending students to the school are China, India, and South Korea.
Online Learning at Columbia University in the City of New York
The following chart shows how the online learning population at Columbia has changed over the last few years.

This school is the 7th most popular in New York for online learning according to the online graduations recorded by the Department of Education for the academic year 2019-2020.
Online Affordability Rankings of Columbia
The following table shows how Columbia is ranked for affordability for both in-state and out-of-state students among colleges and universities that are not mostly online.
Major | Tuition for In-State Students | Tuition for Out-of-State Students |
---|---|---|
Materials Sciences | #4 | #4 |
Applied Mathematics | #10 | #10 |
Operations Research | #13 | #13 |
Biomedical Engineering | #13 | #13 |
Chemical Engineering | #31 | #31 |
Physical Sciences | #33 | #33 |
Environmental Engineering | #37 | #37 |
Mathematics & Statistics | #58 | #58 |
Computer Science | #73 | #73 |
Civil Engineering | #73 | #73 |
Industrial Engineering | #75 | #75 |
Online Affordability Rankings of Columbia Rankings
The following table shows how Columbia is ranked for affordability for both in-state and out-of-state students among colleges and universities that are mostly online.
Major | Tuition for In-State Students | Tuition for Out-of-State Students |
---|---|---|
Materials Sciences | #1 | #1 |
Chemical Engineering | #1 | #1 |
Operations Research | #1 | #1 |
Bioethics/Medical Ethics | #4 | #4 |
Dispute Resolution | #4 | #4 |
Applied Mathematics | #7 | #7 |
Biomedical Engineering | #7 | #7 |
Civil Engineering | #10 | #10 |
Environmental Engineering | #10 | #10 |
Physical Sciences | #13 | #13 |
Industrial Engineering | #13 | #13 |
Mechanical Engineering | #16 | #16 |
Mathematics & Statistics | #17 | #17 |
Electrical Engineering | #22 | #22 |
Computer Science | #33 | #33 |
Social Work | #41 | #41 |
Online Growth Rankings of Columbia
The average growth rate over the last four years of online students at Columbia University in the City of New York was 1,024.8%. This is the #108 largest growth rate of all schools that are mostly online. This refers to all students at Columbia regardless of major.
The following table shows the 1-year growth rate of Columbia majors that offer at least one online course. This table only includes majors with positive growth.
Major | 1-Year Growth Rate |
---|---|
Applied Mathematics | 23% |
Bioethics/Medical Ethics | 67% |
Biomedical Engineering | 21% |
Chemical Engineering | 8% |
Civil Engineering | 25% |
Computer & Information Sciences | 18% |
Computer Science | 18% |
Dispute Resolution | 13% |
Electrical Engineering | 17% |
Engineering | 14% |
Environmental Engineering | 20% |
Health Professions | 35% |
Industrial Engineering | 5% |
Mathematics & Statistics | 1% |
Mechanical Engineering | 37% |
Multi / Interdisciplinary Studies | 4% |
Physical Sciences | 14% |
The table below shows how the average growth rate over 4 years at Columbia ranks compared to all other mostly online schools that offer a specific major. Note that the majors may or may not be offered online at Columbia.
When we speak of partially online, we are referring to schools whose online population is less than 50% of its total student body. Mostly online refers to those with online populations greater than or equal to 50%.
Columbia University in the City of New York Undergraduate Concentrations
The table below shows the number of awards for each concentration.
References
*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.
- College Factual
- National Center for Education Statistics
- Image Credit: By Nandaro under License
More about our data sources and methodologies.
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