Welcome

The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences invites applications from students who have, or will have received by the time of enrollment, a baccalaureate granted by a regionally accredited U.S. college or university or an international university of recognized standing. Such applications are examined with regard to the student’s breadth of general education, preparation and fitness for graduate work in the proposed subject of study, and expectation of scholarly attainment. 

The preeminence of graduate studies at Columbia is reflected in the size and diversity of the Graduate School — one of the largest private graduate schools in the country. More than 700 faculty members instruct some 3,400 students. Doctoral programs are offered in 31 Arts and Sciences departments and in numerous interdepartmental and interschool programs that link the Graduate School with the University’s major professional schools in architecture, the arts, business, engineering, law, medicine, and public health.

Study within the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences leads to the degrees of Master of Arts, Master of Philosophy, Doctor of Musical Arts (in Composition) and Doctor of Philosophy, as well as to certain certificates (see Regional Institutes). Please look under Academic Programs for an alphabetical listing of all departments and programs of study.

Applicants are normally expected to have prepared for graduate study through undergraduate or previous graduate work in the liberal arts, unless professional study is also accepted by the department as suitable preparation. Applicants must also meet the specific admission requirements of the department in which they intend to study. Those who hold American doctorates or their international equivalents in the same or similar fields as those to which they propose to apply, or who have completed most of the work required to earn the Ph.D. elsewhere are not eligible for admission to the Graduate School. The decision to review any application from a student who holds an American doctorate or its international equivalent, or who has completed most of the work required to earn the Ph.D. elsewhere in a different field rests with the faculty in the department.

Only the Dean of the Graduate School has the authority to make an offer of admission.

Columbia University does not discriminate against any person nor permit the harassment of an student or applicant on the basis of race, color, sex, gender, pregnancy, religion, creed, marital status, partnership status, age, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, military status, or any other legally protected status in the administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship and loans programs, and athletic or other University-administered program.