Founded in 1754 as King`s College by royal charter by King George II of England, Columbia University is the educational and research heart and soul of the city that never sleeps, New York.

The university is the oldest institute of higher learning in the state of New York and one of the oldest in the nation.  Originally conceived as competition for nearby Princeton University in New Jersey, the university was devastated by the Revolutionary War as battles raged throughout the area.

Today, Columbia is one of the most prestigious academic and research universities in the world and a member of the Ivy League.

Columbia is home to the prestigious American literary award, the Pulitzer Prize.  The award is given annually to the best talent in the newspaper, online journalism, literature, and musical composition fields.

This school offers a wide range of educational opportunities for the 25,000 undergraduate and graduate students who study here.  The university is home to a renown nursing school, law school, medical school along with the world-renown Graduate School of Journalism and hundreds of other courses of study and departments.

The campus occupies 32 acres in the neighborhood of Morning Heights that is marked by excellent late 19th Century neo-classical architectural wonders such as the Low Memorial Library.

Built in 1895, the building is the focal point and most prominent building on the campus.  Though it has not served as a library in years, it still goes by the name Low Memorial Library and today serves as a meeting place for students and an administrative center.

Getting around on campus is easy thanks to the underground tunnel system and subway access located outside the main gate of the university.  Columbia`s system of libraries contain over 10.4 million volumes making it the eighth largest library in the country.

Columbia University is one of the most selective universities in the country with around a 9% acceptance rate for incoming freshmen.  It is annually rated as one of the best first-tier research universities in the country and many of its programs are rated as top 10 in the nation.  Columbia`s graduate schools in the fine arts, education, business, engineering, law, and medicine are also among the most esteemed in the country.

The university is long on tradition and one of 8 member schools in the storied Ivy League for intercollegiate varsity competition.  Columbia fields teams for men and women in 29 sports.

The Lions of Columbia have varsity teams that compete at the highest levels of the NCAA in baseball, wrestling, volleyball, swimming, diving, fencing, and football.

Some famous alumni from Columbia are Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Sid Luckman of the Chicago Bears leader of the team that won four NFL championships in the 1940`s and baseball Hall of Famer Lou Gehrig.

Attending Columbia University exposes the student to not only the rich and diverse campus life of the school, but the equally exciting life in the great city of New York.