Overview
Columbia University School of General Studies
The School of General Studies (GS) at Columbia University is one of the finest liberal arts colleges in the country dedicated specifically to students with nontraditional backgrounds seeking a traditional education at an Ivy League university.
Most students at GS have, for personal or professional reasons, interrupted their education, never attended college, or are only able to attend part-time. GS is unique among colleges of its type, because its students are fully integrated into the Columbia undergraduate curriculum: they take the same courses with the same faculty members and earn the same degree as all other Columbia undergraduates.
GS enrolls world-class dancers, athletes, and musicians; bankers and small business owners; military veterans; and people who come from as far away as China, Israel, and Germany. They have the option to study either full- or part-time. Many students work full-time while pursuing a degree, and many have family responsibilities; others attend classes full-time and experience Columbia's more traditional college life.
The School of General Studies has approximately 1,200 undergraduate degree candidates and more than 400 students enrolled in the post-baccalaureate premedical program. The average age of a GS student is 29, and more than 60 percent of GS students attend classes full-time, and more than 70 percent of GS graduates go on to earn advanced degrees.
Columbia is a military-friendly school that caters to adult and transfer students. Students who are going back to school to finish degrees, professionals going back to school, adults going back to school, military veterans who are finishing college or completing their degrees, older students, and those who are seeking college re-entry find Columbia's School of General Studies very accommodating.
Columbia University Campus
Columbia University is located in Morningside Heights, on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The university's neighbors include the Union Theological Seminary, the Jewish Theological Seminary, the Manhattan School of Music, St. Luke's Hospital, Riverside Church, and the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. The diversity of intellectual and social activities offered by these institutions is one of Columbia's great assets as a university; another is New York City itself, which offers Columbia students a rich and almost boundless variety of social and cultural opportunities.
Columbia University Majors and Degrees
The School of General Studies at Columbia offers a traditional liberal arts education designed to provide students with the broad knowledge and intellectual skills that foster continued education and growth in the years after college as well as providing a sound foundation for positions of responsibility in the professional world.
GS grants the B.A. and B.S. degrees, and the top three majors selected by GS students are economics, English, and political science. A full list of the more than 70 majors is available on the School of General Studies Web site. Individually designed majors are also available.
In addition, GS offers two undergraduate dual-degree programs: one in conjunction with Columbia's School of Engineering and Applied Science and the other in conjunction with the Jewish Theological Seminary.
Columbia University Study Abroad
Columbia students may enhance their academic experiences through a variety of study abroad programs around the world, which include the Reid Hall Program in the Montparnasse district of Paris, the Berlin Consortium for German Studies, the Kyoto Consortium for Japanese Studies, or the Language Program in Beijing, China. Students may also apply to participate in one of the Columbia-approved study abroad programs located in countries around the world.
Columbia University Tuition, Scholarships and Financial Aid
Columbia's School of General Studies awards financial aid based upon need and academic ability. Approximately 70 percent of GS degree candidates receive some form of financial aid, including Federal Pell Grants, New York State TAP Grants, Federal Stafford and unsubsidized Stafford Loans, Federal Perkins Loans, General Studies Scholarships, and Federal Work-Study Program awards.
Students in their first period of enrollment will typically receive a scholarship between $6,500 and $8,000. Priority application deadlines for new students are June 1 for the fall semester and November 1 for the spring semester.
Columbia University Faculty
The Faculty of Arts and Sciences is made up of more than 1,000 distinguished scholars in virtually every discipline, and more than 99 percent hold a Ph.D. Students, whether full- or part-time, have many opportunities to work closely with faculty members, both in small classes and in research projects. Faculty members also serve as advisers to students majoring in their area of study and maintain regular office hours to see students.
Notable faculty include: Martin Chalfie, Nobel laureate in chemistry; Brian Greene, author of "The Elegant Universe"; Rosalind Krauss, prominent scholar of 20th-century art and art criticism; Jeffrey Sachs, head of the United Nations Millennium Project to end poverty; James Schamus, head of Focus Features, producer of many films, including "Brokeback Mountain," and screenwriter whose credits include "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon"; Gayatri Spivak, pioneering scholar in the fields of postcolonial studies and deconstruction; Joseph Stiglitz, Nobel laureate in economics and former chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers to President Clinton; and Mark Strand, former U.S. Poet Laureate.
Columbia University Admissions Information and Deadlines
If the applicant has not taken the SAT or ACT within the last eight years, he or she has the option of taking the General Studies Admissions Exam (GSAE) as an alternative to the SAT. The application deadline for fall is March 1, and for early action (nonbinding), it is June 1; for spring, the deadline is October 1, and for early action (nonbinding), it is November 1.
