Greetings from Morningside Heights! As summer begins, the admissions staff is currently traveling across the country and around the world visiting prospective students, families and counselors. This month also concludes a record breaking admissions cycle with 22,579 applications for first-year admission.
If you had not yet learned, I am happy to share with you that Columbia recently announced extensive enhancements to its undergraduate financial aid program. In our quest to make Columbia affordable for all students, especially those from low and middle-income families, the University will implement the following financial aid enhancements for all incoming and continuing students beginning with the 2008-2009 academic year:
- Columbia will eliminate loans for all students receiving financial aid, whatever their family income, and replace them with University grants.
- In an effort to further assist low-income families, parents with calculated incomes below $60,000 will no longer be expected to contribute any of their income or assets to tuition, room, board and mandatory fees.
- Families with calculated incomes between $60,000 and $100,000 and typical assets will see their parent contributions significantly reduced.
- To support students pursuing study abroad, research, internships and community service opportunities, Columbia will offer additional funding and exemptions from academic year and summer work expectations.
A commitment to diversity—of every kind—is a long-standing Columbia hallmark. The new financial aid initiatives underscore our continued commitment to diversity, making a Columbia education even more accessible for students from every background. In an effort to address our nation’s ever widening preparation gap, Columbia has for many years focused significant resources on early college awareness outreach and helped to build knowledge around not only a Columbia education but higher education in general. The Admissions Office sponsors a number of initiatives that address multicultural recruitment and early college awareness. For more information, please contact Elizabeth Pili, Director of Multicultural Recruitment, at 212-854-2522 or ua-mrc@columbia.edu.
As always, please feel free to contact us with any questions and we look forward to working with you and your students as the academic year continues.
The Columbia Lion guards the Dodge Physical Fitness Center,
a massive underground complex housing everything from free weights to squash courts.
Links
Breakfasts for Guidance Counselors
Register for a Counselor Breakfast in your area to learn more about Columbia.
Counselor Newsletter (PDF)
Updates from the Dean including the year in review, regional admission officer contact information and admission statistics.
Application & Admission Process
Requirements for admission, dates and deadlines, and policies on interviews.
Early Decision vs. Regular Decision
Learn more about applying early to Columbia.
Standardized Testing Requirements
Guidance regarding the SAT, SAT Subject Test requirements and the ACT.Class Profile
The statistics on admission and entering students for the Class of 2011.
Financial Aid
How to help families understand the nuances of affording a Columbia education, deadlines, required documents and more.
International Students
Information about applying to Columbia as a foreign or international student, with links to resources on campus.
Columbia: An Introduction
A short film by acclaimed documentary filmmaker Ric Burns, CC ‘78, featuring interviews with Columbia students, faculty and alumni.
Our Columbia
Get to know our students, our history, our campus and our city through a new publication featuring a few of our current students.
College Bulletin/Catalog
View department and course descriptions online.
Engineering Bulletin/Catalog
View department and course descriptions online.
News
Read the latest newsletters we send to prospective students which provide information about Columbia and life in New York City.
Columbia Engineering Spotlight-February 2008
Columbia’s academic community is marvelously diverse, a direct reflection of the cultural, religious, socio-economic, experiential and gender differences that energize New York City. With its commitment to this diversity of backgrounds and viewpoints, The Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science has attracted a growing number of talented female faculty members and students. The population of female engineering students at Columbia has increased annually and currently comprises 37% of the first-year class. more
Columbia University Counselor Lions' Pride-Fall 2007
Greetings from Morningside Heights! This fall, my staff and I traveled to 5 continents around the world and 45 states within the U.S. talking with students about the Columbia experience. We enjoyed meeting many of you at counselor breakfasts and professional conferences, and getting to know your students during high school visits, college fairs and Introduction to Columbia programs. more