Columbia University

Columbia University

Columbia University in the City of New York
Latin: Universitas Columbiae Neo Eboracensis
Former names	King's College (1754–1784) Columbia College (1784–1896)
Motto	In lumine Tuo videbimus lumen (Latin)
Motto in English	In Thy light shall we see light (Psalms 36:9)
Type	Royal (1754–1776) Private (Present)
Established	1754; 263 years ago (1754)
Academic affiliations	AAU URA 568 Group NAICU APSIA
Endowment	$9.639 billion (2015)
President	Lee Bollinger
Provost	John Henry Coatsworth
Academic staff	3,806 (fall 2014)
Students	27,942 (excluding 1,928 non-degree students; fall 2014)
Undergraduates	8,410 (fall 2014)
Postgraduates	19,532 (fall 2014)
Location	New York City, New York, United States 40°48′27″N 73°57′43″W / 40.80750°N 73.96194°W / 40.80750; -73.96194Coordinates: 40°48′27″N 73°57′43″W / 40.80750°N 73.96194°W / 40.80750; -73.96194
Campus	Urban, total 299 acres (1.21 km2)
Colors	Columbia blue and white
Athletics	NCAA Division I – Ivy League, EARC MAISA (sailing)
Mascot	Columbia Lions
Website	columbia.edu

Columbia University (officially Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private Ivy League research university in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It was established in 1754 as King's College by royal charter of George II of Great Britain. Columbia is the oldest college in the state of New York and the fifth chartered institution of higher learning in the country, making it one of nine colonial colleges founded before the Declaration of Independence. After the American Revolutionary War, King's College briefly became a state entity, and was renamed Columbia College in 1784. A 1787 charter placed the institution under a private board of trustees before it was renamed Columbia University in 1896 when the campus was moved from Madison Avenue to its current location in Morningside Heights occupying 32 acres (13 ha) of land. Columbia is one of the fourteen founding members of the Association of American Universities, and was the first school in the United States to grant the M.D. degree.

The university is organized into twenty schools, including Columbia College, the School of Engineering and Applied Science, and the School of General Studies. The university also has global research outposts in Amman, Beijing, Istanbul, Paris, Mumbai, Rio de Janeiro, Santiago, Asunción and Nairobi. It has affiliations with several other institutions nearby, including Teachers College (the university's Department of Education),Barnard College, and Union Theological Seminary, with joint undergraduate programs available through the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, University College London,Sciences Po,City University of Hong Kong, and the Juilliard School.