Financial support

This is a reference page for Graduate student information.

THIS PAGE IS NOT OFFICIAL DEPARTMENTAL POLICY. IT MERELY REPRESENTS THE PEER-ADVICE PROVIDED BY FELLOW STUDENTS AND FACULTY.

What the handbook says

Admission to the Columbia graduate program normally is made in conjunction with a Columbia Graduate Fellowship. The Fellowship includes an annual (twelve-month) stipend (for 2006/2007 $26,667 per year), payment of all tuition and fees, and basic health coverage. In addition, incoming students are guaranteed access to Columbia housing. It is important to become informed about the housing selection process well in advance of arrival in New York; the Departmental Administrator should be consulted for details. It is virtually impossible to gain access to the housing system after the first year, so careful consideration should be given to any choice involving deferral of accepting a Columbia apartment until later in one’s graduate career. Housing is guaranteed for five years; annual extensions of up to two additional years are routinely granted, but extensions beyond the seventh year are very difficult to obtain. The Fellowship continues throughout the student’s career (with annual increments in salary as determined by the Graduate School – and thus, largely beyond the Department’s control), as long as the student is making “satisfactory progress toward the degree”. Satisfactory progress is defined below.

Various opportunities for earning additional compensation are described (and circumscribed) below. It is assumed, however, that graduate study in the program is a full-time occupation; students contemplating pursuit of substantial, long-term activities outside of the program are advised to discuss the matter with the Director of Graduate Studies or another faculty member.

Additional information

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