Research University

Established in 1754 as King’s College by Royal Charter issued by King George II, Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, research-intensive university offering degree programmes from undergraduate to post-doctoral level. Located in uptown Manhattan’s Morningside Heights, Columbia is an academic powerhouse with a global renown. As the oldest institution of higher learning in New York State and the fifth oldest in the United States, Columbia’s story is deeply intertwined with the birth of the nation – originally located in a small schoolhouse in lower Manhattan, its purpose was to train the future leaders of the British colonies but instead produced many of the revolutionary heroes of American independence with alumni including Founding Fathers: Alexander Hamilton, John Jay and Gouverneur Morris. Maintaining its tradition as an educator of American leaders, the college counts three former Presidents amongst its alumnus and another as a former President of the University. The university changed its name to Columbia College following the War of Independence and to reflect its patriotism to the republic and moved to its uptown location in 1897.