Columbia College (Columbia
University)
Columbia College
Established 1754
School type Private
Dean
Austin Quigley
Location
New York, New York, USA
Enrollment ca. 4,100
Homepage www.college.columbia.edu
Columbia College is the oldest undergradu-
ate college at Columbia University, situated
on the university’s main campus of Morning-
side Heights in the Borough of Manhattan in
the City of New York. It was founded in 1754
by the Church of England as King’s College,
receiving a Royal Charter from King George
II of Great Britain. Columbia College is the
oldest institution of higher learning in the
state of New York and the fifth oldest in the
United States. The college is highly selective
in its admissions. For the class of 2013, the
college accepted 8.9% of its applicants, the
third lowest acceptance rate in the Ivy
League behind Harvard and Yale.[1]
History
Columbia College was founded as King’s Col-
lege by royal charter of King George II of
Great Britain in the Province of New York in
1754. Due in part to the influence of Church
of England religious leaders, a site in New
York City in the Trinity Church yard, Wall
Street on the island of Manhattan was
selected.
Samuel Johnson was chosen as the col-
lege’s first president and was also the col-
lege’s first (and for a time only) professor.
During this period, classes and examinations,
both oral and written, were conducted en-
tirely in Latin.
18th century
In 1767, the college established a medical
college,
now known as
the Columbia
University College of Physicians and Sur-
geons, which was the first medical school to
grant the Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) degree
in America.
Due to the American Revolutionary War,
instruction was suspended from 1776 until
1784, but by the beginning of the war, the
college had already educated some of the na-
tion’s foremost political leaders. Even at this
young age, King’s College had already edu-
cated Alexander Hamilton, who served as
military aide to General George Washington,
then as the first Secretary of the Treasury
and author of m