44 Facts About Columbia University

1.

Columbia University is a private Ivy League research university in New York City.

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2.

Columbia University is one of the most prestigious universities in the world.

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3.

Columbia University was established by royal charter under George II of Great Britain.

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4.

Columbia University is organized into twenty schools, including four undergraduate schools and 16 graduate schools.

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5.

Columbia University is a founding member of the Association of American Universities and was the first school in the United States to grant the MD degree.

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6.

Under the leadership of Low's successor, Nicholas Murray Butler, who served for over four decades, Columbia University rapidly became the nation's major institution for research, setting the "multiversity" model that later universities would adopt.

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7.

Columbia University has an extensive tunnel system, more than a century old, with the oldest portions predating the present campus.

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8.

Columbia University adopts LEED standards for all new construction and major renovations.

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9.

Columbia University has been rated "B+" by the 2011 College Sustainability Report Card for its environmental and sustainability initiatives.

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10.

Kuchler U S potential natural vegetation types, Columbia University would have a dominant vegetation type of Appalachian Oak with a dominant vegetation form of Eastern Hardwood Forest (25).

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11.

Columbia University received 60, 551 applications for the class of 2025 and a total of around 2, 218 were admitted to the two schools for an overall acceptance rate of 3.

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12.

Annual gifts, fund-raising, and an increase in spending from the university's endowment have allowed Columbia to extend generous financial aid packages to qualifying students.

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13.

In 1919, Columbia University established a student application process characterized by The New York Times as "the first modern college application".

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14.

Columbia University is an independent, privately supported, nonsectarian institution of higher education.

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15.

Columbia University Senate was established by the trustees after a university-wide referendum in 1969.

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16.

The Columbia University Senate is a unicameral body consisting of 107 members drawn from all constituencies of the university.

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17.

President of Columbia University, who is selected by the trustees in consultation with the executive committee of the University Senate and who serves at the trustees' pleasure, is the chief executive officer of the university.

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18.

Columbia University has four official undergraduate colleges: Columbia University College, the liberal arts college offering the Bachelor of Arts degree; the Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science, the engineering and applied science school offering the Bachelor of Science degree; the School of General Studies, the liberal arts college offering the Bachelor of Arts degree to non-traditional students undertaking full- or part-time study; and Barnard College.

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19.

The Columbia University Senate includes faculty and student representatives from Teachers College and Barnard College who serve two-year terms; all senators are accorded full voting privileges regarding matters impacting the entire university.

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20.

Pursuant to an affiliation agreement, Columbia University is given the authority to confer "degrees and diplomas" to the graduates of Teachers College.

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21.

In 2015, Columbia University was ranked the first in the state by average professor salaries.

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22.

Columbia University is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity".

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23.

Columbia University was the first North American site where the uranium atom was split.

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24.

Columbia University scientists have been credited with about 175 new inventions in the health sciences each year.

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25.

Columbia University owns many unique research facilities, such as the Columbia University Institute for Tele-Information dedicated to telecommunications and the Goddard Institute for Space Studies, which is an astronomical observatory affiliated with NASA.

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26.

Columbia University is a long-standing participant of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs Yellow Ribbon Program, allowing eligible veterans to pursue a Columbia University undergraduate degree regardless of socioeconomic status for over 70 years.

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27.

Columbia University is home to many fraternities, sororities, and co-educational Greek organizations.

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28.

Humor publications on Columbia University's campus include The Fed, a triweekly satire and investigative newspaper, and the Jester of Columbia University.

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29.

Professional journals published by academic departments at Columbia University include Current Musicology and The Journal of Philosophy.

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30.

Columbia University is home to two pioneers in undergraduate campus radio broadcasting, WKCR-FM and CTV.

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31.

Columbia University Television is the nation's second oldest student television station and the home of CTV News, a weekly live news program produced by undergraduate students.

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32.

Columbia University is a top supplier of young engineering entrepreneurs for New York City.

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33.

Columbia University athletics has a long history, with many accomplishments in athletic fields.

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34.

In 1870, Columbia played against Rutgers University in the second intercollegiate rugby football game in the history of the sport.

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35.

Eight years later, Columbia University crew won the famed Henley Royal Regatta in the first-ever defeat for an English crew rowing in English waters.

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36.

Columbia University Orchestra was founded by composer Edward MacDowell in 1896, and is the oldest continually operating university orchestra in the United States.

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37.

In one of the school's longest-lasting traditions, begun in 1975, at midnight before the Organic Chemistry exam—often the first day of final exams—the Columbia University Marching Band invaded and briefly occupied the main undergraduate reading room in Butler Library to distract and entertain studying students with some forty-five minutes of raucous jokes and music, beginning and ending with the singing of the school's fight song, "Roar, Lion, Roar".

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38.

Columbia University has graduated many notable alumni, including five Founding Fathers of the United States, an author of the United States Constitution and a member of the Committee of Five.

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39.

Alumni of Columbia University have occupied top positions in Wall Street and the rest of the business world.

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40.

Many Columbia University alumni have gone on to renowned careers in the arts, including composers Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II, Lorenz Hart, and Art Garfunkel; and painter Georgia O'Keeffe.

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41.

Columbia University alumni have been very prominent in the film industry, with 33 alumni and former students winning a combined 43 Academy Awards.

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42.

In total, the Columbia University faculty has included 52 Nobel laureates, 12 National Medal of Science recipients, and 32 National Academy of Engineering members.

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43.

Columbia University faculty played particularly important roles during World War II and the creation of the New Deal under President Franklin D Roosevelt, who attended Columbia Law School.

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44.

Notable figures that have served as the president of Columbia University include 34th President of the United States Dwight D Eisenhower, 4th Vice President of the United States George Clinton, Founding Father and U S Senator from Connecticut William Samuel Johnson, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Nicholas Murray Butler, and First Amendment scholar Lee Bollinger.

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