UNIVERSITY MISSION STATEMENT

Columbia University is one of the world's most important centers of research and at the same time a
distinctive and distinguished learning environment for undergraduates and graduate students in many
scholarly and professional fields. The University recognizes the importance of its location in New York City
and seeks to link its research and teaching to the vast resources of a great metropolis. It seeks to attract a
diverse and international faculty and student body, to support research and teaching on global issues, and
to create academic relationships with many countries and regions. It expects all areas of the University to
advance knowledge and learning at the highest level and to convey the products of its efforts to the world.
Columbia University was founded in 1754 as King's College by royal charter of King George II of England. It
is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York and the fifth oldest in the United States
Columbia is an Ivy League university with two full-time undergraduate colleges: Columbia College and The
Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science. Columbia offers over 100 areas of study—more
than 80 through Columbia College, the traditional undergraduate liberal arts college, and 16 through
Columbia Engineering. All students enroll in Columbia’s Core Curriculum, one of the nation’s oldest and
most renowned Core programs, consisting of courses that not only expose students to a variety of
perspectives and fields, but also prepare them for any career they pursue.
Students at Columbia have unparalleled access to all that the university and New York City have to offer.
Discover a new interest by joining one or more of Columbia’s 500+ student groups and clubs, or get
involved with one of the school’s 31 NCAA Division I athletic teams. Take advantage of research
opportunities from among 200 research institutes and centers. See the sights and explore the art scene
with your Columbia student ID, which grants you free admission to over 30 museums throughout New York
City.
Departments, Programs, and Courses
This section contains a description of the curriculum of each department in the College, along with
information regarding degree requirements for majors and concentrators, including course descriptions,
registration information, elective courses, and suggestions about courses and programs in related fields.
Columbia College students should use the school Bulletin for academic planning purposes, as not all
courses listed on the University-wide Directory of Classes and Vergil are open to Columbia College
students.
The College reserves the right to withdraw or modify the courses of instruction or to change the instructors
at any time.
 African American and African Diaspora Studies
 American Studies
 Ancient Studies
 Anthropology
 Archaeology
 Architecture
 Art History and Archaeology
 Astronomy
 Biological Sciences
 Business
 Chemistry
 Classics
 Colloquia, Interdepartmental Seminars, and Professional School Offerings
 Comparative Literature and Society
 Computer Science
 Creative Writing
 Dance
 Drama and Theatre Arts
 Earth and Environmental Sciences
 East Asian Languages and Cultures
 Ecology, Evolution, and Environmental Biology
 Economics
 Education
 English and Comparative Literature
 Ethnicity and Race Studies
 Film and Media Studies
 French and Romance Philology
 Germanic Languages
 History
 History and Philosophy of Science
 Human Rights
 Italian
 Jazz Studies
 Jewish Studies
 Language Resource Center
 Latin American and Caribbean Studies
 Latin American and Iberian Cultures
 Linguistics
 Mathematics
 Medieval and Renaissance Studies
 Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies
 Music
 Philosophy
 Physical Education and Intercollegiate Athletics
 Physics
 Political Science
 Psychology
 Public Health
 Regional Studies
 Religion
 Slavic Languages
 Sociology
 Statistics
 Sustainable Development
 Urban Studies
 Visual Arts
 Women's and Gender Studies

Statistic of enrollment

Campus
According to New York Magazine, Columbia University is the second largest landowner in New York City,
after the Catholic Church.[69]
Morningside Heights
The majority of Columbia's graduate and undergraduate studies are conducted in 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 32 acres (13 ha),
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 underground 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.
The Nicholas Murray Butler Library, known simply as Butler Library, is the largest single library in
the Columbia University Library System, and is one of the largest buildings on the campus. As of
2012, Columbia's library system includes over 11.9 million volumes, making it the eighth largest library
system and fifth largest collegiate library system in the United States.[73][74]
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. 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.[75][76][77]
"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. On warm days when the weather is favorable, the Low Steps
often become a popular gathering place for students to sunbathe, eat lunch, or play frisbee. [82]
Students
Columbia University is home to many fraternities, sororities, and co-educational Greek organizations.
Approximately 10–15% of undergraduate students are associated with Greek life.[165] 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.[166] The InterGreek Council is the self-governing student
organization that provides guidelines and support to its member organizations within each of the three
councils at Columbia, the Interfraternity Council, Panhellenic Council, and Multicultural Greek Council. The
three council presidents bring their affiliated chapters together once a month to meet as one Greek
community. The InterGreek Council meetings provide opportunity for member organizations to learn from
each other, work together and advocate for community needs.[167]

Traditions
Orgo Night
In one of the school's longest-lasting traditions, begun in 1975,[251] at midnight before the Organic
Chemistry exam—often the first day of final exams—the Columbia University Marching Band invaded and
briefly occupied the main undergraduate reading room in Butler Library to distract and entertain studying
students with some forty-five minutes of raucous jokes and music, beginning and ending with the singing of
the school's fight song, "Roar, Lion, Roar". After the main show before a crowd that routinely began filling
the room well before the announced midnight start time, the Band led a procession to several campus
locations, including the residential quadrangle of Barnard College for more music and temporary relief from
the stress of last-minute studying.
Tree-Lighting and Yule Log ceremonies
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 and Hamilton Halls on the east end and Dodge and
Journalism Halls on the west, just before finals week in early December. The lights remain on until
February 28. Students meet at the sun-dial for free hot chocolate, performances by a cappella groups, and
speeches by the university president and a guest.[261]
The Varsity Show
The Varsity Show is an annual musical written by and for students and was established in 1894, making it
one of Columbia's oldest traditions. Past writers and directors have included Columbians Richard
Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein, Lorenz Hart, I.A.L. Diamond, Herman Wouk and Eric Garcetti. The show
has one of the largest operating budgets of all university events.[263]
Notable people
84 Nobel Prize winners are Columbia alumni, faculty or former faculty; more than 40 Columbians have
competed in the Olympics; the FM Radio was invented in a lab on campus; Columbia’s alumni include 5
Founding Fathers, 9 Supreme Court Justices and 34 Presidents and Prime Ministers, including former
President Barack Obama, ’83CC; more than 90 Pulitzer Prize Winners are Columbia alumni.

The list of alumni

Departments, Programs, and Courses
 African American and African Diaspora Studies
 American Studies
 Ancient Studies
 Anthropology
 Archaeology
 Architecture
 Art History and Archaeology
 Astronomy
 Biological Sciences
 Business
 Chemistry
 Classics
 Colloquia, Interdepartmental Seminars, and Professional School Offerings
 Comparative Literature and Society
 Computer Science
 Creative Writing
 Dance
 Drama and Theatre Arts
 Earth and Environmental Sciences
 East Asian Languages and Cultures
 Ecology, Evolution, and Environmental Biology
 Economics
 Education
 English and Comparative Literature
 Ethnicity and Race Studies
 Film and Media Studies
 French and Romance Philology
 Germanic Languages
 History
 History and Philosophy of Science
 Human Rights
 Italian
 Jazz Studies
 Jewish Studies
 Language Resource Center
 Latin American and Caribbean Studies
 Latin American and Iberian Cultures
 Linguistics
 Mathematics
 Medieval and Renaissance Studies
 Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies
 Music
 Philosophy
 Physical Education and Intercollegiate Athletics
 Physics
 Political Science
 Psychology
 Public Health
 Regional Studies
 Religion
 Slavic Languages
 Sociology
 Statistics
 Sustainable Development
 Urban Studies
 Visual Arts
 Women's and Gender
Butler Library

“ The Steps”
Tree-Lighting at College Walk

Pupin Hall, the physics building, showing the rooftop observatory