Is Columbia University Ivy League?

Some of the most coveted universities in the world are the Ivy League schools located in the Northeastern region of the United States.

These schools are known as leading research institutions with world-class faculty and an impressive list of notable alumni — including former presidents, Nobel prize winners, and award-winning actors.

Being an Ivy League school carries considerable distinction. Only eight universities are members of the Ivy League. Among them is Columbia University located in New York City.

Columbia University was first established in 1754, before the founding of the United States. Formerly an all-male university called King’s College, the academic institution was first established by a royal charter issued by England’s King George II.

Instruction at Columbia was suspended during the American Revolution and didn’t reopen until 1784. Given the nation’s new found independence from King George II, the university dropped the name of “King’s College” and chose Columbia University as its new name.

Columbia University had two homes before its current location in the iconic neighborhood of Morningside Heights. Originally, its campus was located in the now-financial district of lower Manhattan. In 1857, the college relocated to midtown Manhattan, where it remained for the next 50 years until it found its current home on the Upper West Side.

The Ivy League originated as an athletic conference in 1954, with Columbia University as one of its founding members.

While all eight Ivy League schools are located in the Northeast, Columbia is the only one in a major metropolitan city.

Being in New York City provides a unique appeal. Its NYC location sets Columbia apart by providing students with cultural and extracurricular opportunities unavailable at other Ivies.

Cornell University, another one of the eight Ivies, is also located in New York State, but it is about four hours northwest of New York City.

Ivy League colleges are undoubtedly some of the most difficult schools to get into. This is due to the combination of a large number of applicants and low admission rates.

That’s not to say that Ivy League schools are the hardest to get into. There are many prestigious schools with low admission rates that aren’t a part of the Ivy League — think MIT and Stanford. But Ivies have historically kept their admissions rates lower than average.

Each fall, the Ivies admit less than 10% of their total applicants. For the 2022-2023 academic year, applicant admission rates among the Ivies were between 3 and 7%, with Harvard admitting the lowest percentage of applicants, at just 3%. That same year, Columbia admitted 4% of its applicants.

There are a total of eight Ivy League schools. They are all considered some of the oldest and most prestigious universities in the nation. In addition to Columbia University, the Ivy League schools are Princeton, Harvard, Yale, the University of Pennsylvania, Dartmouth, Brown and Cornell.

While none of the Ivy’s are easy to get into, Cornell University had the highest acceptance rate amongst all the Ivy schools in 2022, with 7% of students admitted.

Columbia’s tuition for the 2022-2023 academic year was $66,139. Additional fees associated with attending college, including books and supplies and room and board, were estimated to be an additional $4,000-$20,000 per year, depending on each student’s circumstances.

Beyond its location in New York City and being known as one of the oldest universities in the United States, Columbia is renowned for the caliber of faculty, scholars, and researchers it attracts and retains.

It is also known for its high-profile alumni and being home to some famous awards, such as the Pulitzer Prize.

Columbia’s notable alumni span a wide range of time and industries. They include former presidents Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Barack Obama, singers Art Garfunkel and Alicia Keys, actors Maggie and Jake Gyllenhaal and Julia Stiles, and even founding father Alexander Hamilton (when Columbia University was still known as King’s College).