Academic Life of Columbia University

Since the founding of the school in 1864 as the nation's first engineering school within a liberal arts college, the University has always placed engineering and applied science in its broadest intellectual context. The school's graduates, shapes of industrial and academic programs across the country, have been educated, not trained.

From their first days as undergraduates, Columbia's engineers work to master scientific fundamentals problems, problem-solving, and original thinking. To give the broad perspective necessary for a successful career, first and second year undergraduate students take courses from different disciplines within the University that include Columbia's famed Core Curriculum in the humanities as well as professional courses in individual engineering disciplines. Columbia SEAS is committed to educating the whole person to ensure students have both the fundamental technical knowledge and the professional skills required to participate in the rapidly changing technological environment. This integrated approach to engineering education begins from the start of the first year.