The Center for Undergraduate Global Engagement (UGE) is committed to supporting Incoming Exchange Students from our partner institutions around the world. On this page, you will find information about our application requirements, offered programs, and information during your stay.

Columbia University Morningside Campus

About Columbia University

Columbia University is one of the United States' leading universities and centers of undergraduate and graduate education. From classes with Nobel Laureates to numerous student societies, from the bustling energy of Manhattan to the diverse, local charms of the Morningside campus, Columbia has something to offer everyone. We hope that you are excited about joining the Columbia community in the city of New York, and we look forward to working with you.

Please visit the About Columbia University, Columbia College Bulletin or the Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) Bulletin pages for more information.

Partner Institutions

Columbia University's Incoming Exchange program is conducted by reciprocal exchange agreements with our select partner institutions. You may only apply to our Incoming Exchange program if your university is a partner institution and provides us with an explicit endorsement/nomination.

If your university is not a partner institution, but you would still like the opportunity to study at Columbia, please visit the Columbia Visiting Students program for more information.

Application Requirements

After being nominated by your university's outgoing, exchange, or study abroad adviser, Incoming Exchange Students must submit all of the application materials by the stated deadline in order to be considered for the program.

The application deadline for the Fall Term + Academic Year will be March 1st. The application deadline for the Spring Term will be October 1st.

Notification about acceptance will be made for the Fall Term + Academic Year around April 1st and for the Spring Term around November 1st.

A complete application includes the following components listed below:

UGE Exchange Application

In the UGE Portal, you will be asked to complete a series of short-answer questions about your current studies and academic interests at Columbia. Please review the items below:

1. Current Studies - You will be asked to describe your current studies, such as your institution, department, degree, and year in your program (class standing).
2. Universities Attended - You will be asked to include the name of any university you have attended, including your current program, the city and country of the program and your dates of attendance.
3. English Proficiency - To be considered for admission to Columbia, you must be comfortable with rapid and idiomatic spoken English. If your home language is not English and your primary language of instruction has not been in English for at least five years, you are required to submit an English Proficiency Test. Please view the "English Proficiency Test" tab for more information.
4. Disciplinary Action - You will be asked to answer if you have ever been suspended, placed on probation or had any disciplinary action taken against you. If yes, you will be asked to explain.
5. Personal Statement - You will be asked to upload in Word (.doc or .docx) or .PDF format a one-page essay summarizing your academic career to date and detailing your plans for your proposed time at Columbia. Please include whether you would like to undertake formal coursework or include your research proposal if applicable.
6. Proposed Course of Study - As an exchange student, you will be registered for a full-time non-degree program and will be able to register for a variety of courses at Columbia College or at the Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS). Please view the "Academic" tab on this page for more information about how to locate courses that might be of interest to you.

English Proficiency Test

To be considered for admission as an Incoming Exchange Student, you must be comfortable with rapid and idiomatic spoken English. There are several different ways to demonstrate that you are proficient in English on your application.

1. TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) - A minimum score of 105 (Internet-based test) is necessary. In response to the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, we accept the TOEFL iBT Special Home Edition.
2. IELTS (International English Language Testing System) - A minimum score of 7.5 is necessary. In response to the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, we accept the IELTS Indicator.
3. DET (Duolingo English Test) - A minimum score of 135 is necessary.
4. Cambridge English Qualifications - A minimum score of 191 on the current C1 Advanced or C2 Proficiency Cambridge English Exams is necessary.
5. Your home language is English - Even if you are a native English speaker, please mark "N/A" in the UGE Portal Questionaire.

Recommendation Letter

You must submit one (1) recommendation letter in the UGE Portal. The most effective recommendation will come from someone (mentor, professor, etc.) who knows you well, can speak to your character on a personal level, and share their evaluations of your academic performance.

Official Transcript

You will need to request that your outgoing, exchange, or study abroad adviser send via post-mail or email a copy of your Offical Transcript to our office, the Center for Undergraduate Global Engagement.

Nomination Form

We ask you to download and bring the Nomination Form to your outgoing, exchange, or study abroad adviser to complete on your behalf. A candid and considered remark from your adviser will be of great help to the Committee on Admissions in its evaluation of your nomination.

Accepted Students

After being accepted to Columbia University as an Incoming Exchange Student, we will share information and email communications regarding move-in options, dates, and additional steps to complete. We understand that moving to a new city is very exciting — and can also be confusing and exhausting!
During your stay, you will have access to a wide variety of Columbia resources and supportive services.

Student Visas

You will need a student visa to study at Columbia and reside in the United States. You should plan on applying for an F-1 student visa immediately after acceptance as an Incoming Exchange Student. You can find instructions and the online application for getting your I-20 (F-1 status) on Columbia's International Students and Scholars Office (ISSO) page.

You must submit all required paperwork directly to ISSO, and if you have any questions regarding your student visa, please email them at newintlstudent@columbia.edu.

More information will be provided to you after acceptance and can be found in our Incoming Exchange Student Handbook.

Important Dates

Use the Office of the Registrar to find important dates and resources. For a more extensive calendar overview, please see here.

Fall 2024 Term:

Spring 2025 Term:

Academics

As an exchange student, you will be registered for a full-time non-degree program and will be able to register for a variety of courses at Columbia College and/or at the Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS).

A full-time course load is 15-18 points per semester, which usually means five classes. At a minimum, you must register for at least 12 points each semester. Classes meet for two (2) to four (4) hours per week and can consist of lectures, seminars, labs, and discussion sessions.

While completing the UGE Application Requirements, you should begin looking at the course listings online to aid in your course planning. Course descriptions and class details can be found at the following websites:

• The Columbia College Bulletin includes information about all departments, course offerings, and course descriptions.
• The SEAS Bulletin includes information about all departments, course offerings, and course descriptions.
• The Directory of Classes lists the most up-to-date course offerings and indicates the time and day of class meetings, points (credits), instructors, and current student enrollments.
• The Vergil is an online system where you can plan your schedule before registration to ensure that you do not have any course conflicts. You may also view course syllabi and read professor evaluations.

Please note that courses listed as 1000 – 3000 are undergraduate courses. Courses listed as 4000 – 9000 are graduate-level. For more information, please visit Taking Courses in Other Divisions of the University. Generally, you cannot take courses from any of the professional or graduate schools at Columbia, such as the School of Professional Studies, Journalism School, Columbia Law School, etc.

We do not guarantee that Exchange students will be able to enroll in any specific class until the time of registration, and we encourage students to have a wide selection of courses ready at the time of registration.

For more information about course registration and restrictions, please view our Incoming Exchange Student Handbook.

Finances

As an Incoming Exchange Student, you will pay tuition and academic fees to your home university.

At Columbia, you are responsible for the cost of room and board, student activity fees, medical insurance, travel to and from the United States, books, and personal expenses. Upon arrival, you should be prepared to pay for one semester of housing and fees.

Estimated Breakdown of Fees for 2023-24:

For more information on the fees, please see the following links:

• The Columbia College Bulletin Fees, Expenses, and Financial Aid page shares an itemized estimate of the cost of attendance.
• The SEAS Bulletin Undergraduate Tuition, Fees, and Payment page shares an itemized estimate of the cost of attendance.
• The Columbia University Student Health Insurance Plan works with Columbia Health to provide consistent, efficient care.
• Columbia Housing provides rates for the current undergraduate accommodations during the official Fall and Spring Terms.
• Columbia Dining provides convenient meal plans at a great value for students on-the-go.

Housing

As an Incoming Exchange Student, you are not required to live on-campus; however, it is strongly encouraged due to the limited amount of resources provided for off-campus housing.

Like most Columbia students, you will be living in a shared room or suite in student residential housing located near the Morningside campus. You most likely will not know exactly where you will be living until you arrive. As housing is very scarce in both Manhattan and on campus, placement in your first choice cannot be guaranteed.

After acceptance, you will receive information about a separate housing application through the Columbia Housing Portal. If you have questions, you can contact Columbia Housing by email at housing@columbia.edu.

Health & Well-Being

To ensure the safety of all students, New York State public health law and Columbia University policy require the completion of several immunization requirements and submission of documentation. The immunization requirements must be met at least 30 days prior to your scheduled registration date. Please visit the Immunization Compliance page for more information. If you have any questions, please email immunizationcompliance@columbia.edu.

It is also required to have U.S. Medical Insurance throughout the duration of your studies at Columbia University, even if you have insurance from your home country. Please visit the Columbia University Student Insurance Plan page for more information.

At Columbia, we offer a wide variety of services to support your well-being and safety during your stay. Please review the resources below (this is not an exhaustive list):

• Primary Care (John Jay Hall, 4th Floor) provides a full range of health care services on-campus.
• Counseling and Psychological Services (Alfred Lerner Hall, 8th Floor) support the psychological and emotional well-being of the Columbia community.
• Disability Services (Wien Hall, Main Flr., Ste. 108A) facilitates equal access for students with disabilities by coordinating accommodations and support services.
• Sexual Violence Response (700 Lerner Hall) provides trauma-informed, confidential support, and prevention programs focused on ending gender and power-based violence.
• Public Safety (101 Low Library) is committed to making Columbia's campus and its surrounding environments as safe and secure as they can be.
  If you are in an off-campus emergency, please dial 9-11.

We encourage you to let our staff know if you have any conditions (health, psychological, disabilities) that might require additional support while you are in the United States. By contacting the Center for Undergraduate Global Engagement as soon as possible, we will have ample time to provide you with more information and / or prepare the appropriate accommodations.

All students of Columbia University must regularly review the COVID-19 Resource Guide for the Columbia Community website for up-to-date details regarding University policies and procedures. As the situation continues to evolve, please keep in mind that additional email communications may also be sent to you directly to your LionMail Account.

University Communications

After acceptance, you will receive a University Network ID (UNI) that is your key to accessing computer services, electronic resources, the housing portal, class registration, and more at Columbia.

Towards the beginning of your semester, we will begin to send email communications to your LionMail Account. LionMail is Columbia's state-of-the-art email, contacts, and calendaring system, powered by Google. To verify your identity for Columbia's centralized applications, you will need to set up Duo as the Multifactor Authentication service.

General Data Protection Regulation

Introduced by the European Union (EU), the GDPR is intended to help protect the personal information of EU individuals/data subjects (any individual who is physically located in an EU member state, which includes both EU citizens and non-EU citizens). The EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) compliance date began on May 25th, 2018.

The GDPR provides a number of rights to EU individuals that include the following: the Right to be Informed, the Right to be Forgotten/Erasure, and the Right to Rectification. Any EU individuals who have/had a formal relationship with the University and were assigned a University Network ID (UNI) may leverage the online request forms (see Make a Request, right) for the following rights:

• Request for Information
• Right to be Forgotten/Erasure
• Right to Rectification

If you have questions or comments around these three specific rights or any other rights provided by the GDPR, please email gdpr-requests@columbia.edu. You may also visit Columbia University Information Technology @ CU—GDPR​ page for more information and updates.