At Columbia, your academic program will include a specific set of courses known as the Core Curriculum. For more than 100 years, the Core Curriculum has been the defining element of a Columbia education. The Core serves as a source of community for current students and alumni alike, creating a common dialogue among all students.

In most Core classes, you’ll engage with primary works that contain some of the most significant thoughts, images and sounds created by great artists and thinkers throughout history—from Homer to Toni Morrison, Plato to Gandhi, The Parthenon to Andy Warhol, the composers of Gregorian Chants to Kaija Saariaho.
Exploring together what these works mean to you as individuals, you’ll grapple with all the joys and challenges of what it means to be human.

With over 100 areas of study to choose from, you’ll have the opportunity to explore a range of academic disciplines and interests before declaring your major in your sophomore year.

At Columbia, you’ll either study at Columbia College, our renowned liberal arts school, or at Columbia Engineering, a community of engineers working together to create a more sustainable, healthy, connected, secure and creative world. Our 6:1 student-to-faculty ratio allows you to get to know your professors and dive deeper into your area of interest.