Columbia University

Columbia University is the oldest and most prestigious university in New York City, in Manhattan's Morningside Heights neighborhood, adjacent to Harlem. More Nobel Prize laureates graduated from Columbia University than any other university in the United States, and it is the seventh largest private employer in New York City. It is a member of the Ivy League and does not accept applications from homeschooled children.

History

Columbia University is the fifth oldest college in the nation, founded under the name "King's College" in 1754 under a royal charter by King George II of England. Its original religious affiliation was Anglican. Samuel Johnson held the first classes in a new schoolhouse next to Trinity Church in downtown Manhattan. Columbia's early students and trustees included future Chief Justice John Jay, future Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton, future drafter of the U.S. ConstitutionGouverneur Morris, and future co-author of the Declaration of Independence Robert R. Livingston.

Programs

Columbia has a law school, a medical school, and the Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science.

Campuses

Columbia has a large campus in Morningside Heights in northern Manhattan. It also owns Nevis Laboratories in Irvington, New York to study high-energy experimental particle and nuclear physics. That 60-acre estate was once ownd Alexander Hamilton's son. In addition, Columbia owns the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory in Palisades, New York, which allows study of global climate change, earthquakes, volcanoes, and environmental issues.