Columbia University - Film Division - Overview
Columbia University School of the Arts Is Innovative and Intellectual
Columbia University School of the Arts is an innovative graduate professional school with a tradition of risk-taking, grounded in a deeply intellectual Ivy League university and energized by our location in New York City -- one of the great cultural capitals of the world. The study and practice of art-making at the school is an immersive, constantly evolving process. Aspiring, emerging, or established, our filmmakers, writers, theatre practitioners, and visual artists grow individually through intensive engagement with their craft and lively, often profound exchanges of ideas and work.
The School is located on Columbia¿s Morningside campus in the vibrant Upper West Side of Manhattan, with New York City¿s world-renowned museums, Broadway and Off-Broadway theatres, film centers, galleries, cultural foundations, poetry houses and literary hubs all nearby. The School is also home to Miller Theatre, the LeRoy Neiman Center for Print Studies, the Columbia University Arts Initiative, and the Office of Community Outreach for the Arts. The University¿s 22 libraries and countless research centers and institutes are all also available for students.
Columbia University School of the Arts Boasts Faculty and Alumni with Astonishing Successes
From the Sundance Film Festival to the Venice Biennale, from the cover of the "New York Times Book Review" to Broadway, from America's most established regional theaters to Europe and Asia's renowned film and theatre festivals, the success of the school's faculty and alumni has never before been as prominent and celebrated.
Members of the faculty have received the highest recognition in their fields, including Academy Awards, Tony Awards, MacArthur Foundation Fellowships, Guggenheim Fellowships, Pulitzer Prizes, National Book Awards, and the Nobel Prize for Literature.
School alumni also claim a record of astonishing success, measured not simply by awards and prizes, contracts and contacts, but by the quality and cultural significance of their artistic achievements.
Columbia's School of the Arts Offers Degrees in Film, Theater Arts, Visual Arts, and Writing
The School of the Arts offers M.F.A. degrees in film (directing, creative producing, and screenwriting), theater arts (acting, directing, dramaturgy, playwriting, stage management, and theater management/producing), visual arts (new genres, painting, photography, printmaking, and sculpture), and writing (fiction, nonfiction, and poetry) and an M.A. degree in film studies. In addition, the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences offers the Ph.D. degree in drama and theatre arts.
The School also offers Summer Programs, including master classes, workshops, and credit and non-credit courses in Film, Theatre Arts, Visual Arts and Writing, and Global Programs around the world.
The School of the Arts enrolls full-time students only, except in the MA in Film Studies Program, where students can attend part-time. The MFA degree programs require 60
points of completed coursework. Once the 60 points of coursework are completed, each student completes a thesis and/or internships, often under Research Arts student status.
See arts.columbia.edu for all specific Program requirements and information.
Columbia University School of the Arts Assists Students in Finding Ways to Cover Costs
The school seeks to work with students in arranging to cover costs through fellowships, scholarships, loans, and work-study. University scholarships, which are awarded by each program based upon a combination of financial need and merit, are limited. During the second year, an increased number of opportunities for work and/or service fellowships become available. The Office of Financial Aid and Admissions helps qualifying students arrange for federal financial aid, working in collaboration with Columbia's Office of Student Financial Planning.
Columbia's School of the Arts Serves a Diverse Population
Today, the school serves 867 students from 42 countries in the film, theatre arts, visual arts, and writing programs, and 16 Master of Arts students in film studies. The School's faculty also teaches more than 1,627 undergraduate students in 120 courses offered each year.