Columbia University

Image: Daniel from Glasgow, United Kingdom, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Columbia University is an Ivy League research university in New York City. Columbia is one of the oldest and most prestigious universities in the United States. Its location and prestige are at the center of its branding. Note that Columbia has far more graduate students than undergraduates.

Affordability: Columbia meets 100% of demonstrated need without student loans. Theoretically, then, Columbia is affordable for any student admitted. However, they do not offer merit aid. Higher income students will pay full price, which is high. According to NCES data, most students do not take out loans (7% of freshman borrowed an average of $13,338 in 2020-21).

Rankings:

#18 national research universities, U.S. News
#21 colleges and universities, CollegeSimply
#12 best colleges and universities, Niche

Popular Majors:

Computer Science
Econometrics
Political Science
Experimental Psychology
History
Neuroscience

Students, Admissions, enrollment, graduation rates

8,832 undergraduate students; 24,944 graduate students
4% acceptance rate
65% enrolled
97% graduation rate