Frequently Asked Questions

The School of Professional Studies is one of the graduate and professional schools at Columbia University. Graduates of the School of Professional Studies receive a degree from Columbia University. You can find the full list of Columbia University's schools here.

All of our applications for our Master’s programs are submitted online. You can start an application by clicking here.

There is an application fee of $150 USD due upon submission of your application. It is nonrefundable.

Each program has different application deadlines. Please check your program’s website for their deadlines.

Applications submitted on or before the priority deadline will be reviewed first, then programs will review applications on a rolling basis until the final application deadline. We encourage applicants to apply by priority deadlines if an early decision is needed for an application to on-campus housing, funding opportunities, a visa, or to ensure an application is reviewed before a program reaches its capacity.

After your application is considered complete and includes all of the required application materials, please allow at least 6-8 weeks for your admissions decision to be released. Please check your specific program’s website for more information regarding decision release dates, as this can change.

To monitor your application status, you can log into your application portal and review your Application Checklist after you have submitted your application. You will receive a notification via email once a decision has been made and updated in your portal.

Materials received will be marked complete on your Application Checklist. However, transcripts and WES evaluations will not be marked complete until we receive the final document with degree conferral (if applicable). If you scroll past the Application Checklist to the “Upload Materials” section, you will see all the materials we have received for your application. 

Test scores can take up to two weeks to processed once we receive them.  If it has been more than two weeks after your score delivery or application submission (whichever is later), please email apply [[at]] sps [[dot]] columbia [[dot]] edu with your application ID, confirmation number for your test score, and the date it was taken.

Once you have submitted your application and paid your non-refundable application fee, it could take up to 24 hours to see your video essay loaded into your application portal. If it has been over 24 hours, please reach out to us at apply [[at]] sps [[dot]] columbia [[dot]] edu.

We recommend the following tips to troubleshoot your video essay: 

• Clear your browser cookies and cache
• Use a wired Ethernet connection instead of a wireless internet connection
• Use Chrome instead of Firefox, Safari, or Internet Explorer
• Use a different computer

Please write to us at apply [[at]] sps [[dot]] columbia [[dot]] edu letting us know the reason your recommender does not have a professional email address or company letterhead. We will review your case and reply with further instructions if necessary. Please do this before you add the recommender into your application.

Academic recommendations should be written by current or former faculty members with whom you have studied in the classroom who can assess your past academic work, intellectual ability, academic potential for graduate work, suitability for the program, and your ability to commit to our rigorous curriculum. Coach or mentor letters are not eligible as academic recommendations.

No, you can submit only two letters of recommendation in your application. Please note that your application will not be reviewed until we have received letters from both of your recommenders.

If you studied domestically within the US, we can review your application with unofficial transcripts. If you studied at an international institution, your application requires a WES evaluation and we will need that official evaluation to review your application.

No. You must submit all materials directly, not through an agent or third-party vendor, with the sole exception of submissions by the U.S. Department of State’s Fulbright Program and its partner agencies. The use of an agent or consultant for the purposes of creating an application, submitting an application, or creating or submitting any application materials is not permitted.  Agent or consultant contact information cannot be listed in place of the student's or emergency contact's information.

No, you can only apply to one program in any one semester. Please carefully review our application policies.

Applicants may apply to the School of Professional studies for the next similar intake. For example, if an applicant applied for a fall intake and was not admitted, the applicant can apply for the next fall intake. If you have been denied admission to the same program three times, you are no longer eligible for admission to that program and any further application will not be considered.

The Admissions Committee reviews each application thoroughly and with great care but does not discuss individual applicant cases or the reasons behind their decisions. All admissions decisions are final.

Students should contact the International Students and Scholars Office with any Visa questions and concerns. Their website is isso.columbia.edu.

We only accept WES evaluated transcripts at the School of Professional Studies. For more information regarding WES, please visit our How to Apply page.

Please select the WES ICAP course-by-course evaluation (with GPA and course-levels) and request to have WES send your evaluation electronically to Columbia University’s School of Professional Studies. Please visit www.wes.org for more information. 

WES should not require you to mail any of your reports to us. We should receive your report digitally if you have correctly selected Columbia University School of Professional Studies as the intended recipient, for report delivery.

We currently have six STEM designated Master's programs at SPS:

• Actuarial Science
• Applied Analytics
• Enterprise Risk Management
• Information & Knowledge Strategy
• Sustainability Management
• Sustainability Science
• Technology Management

This is dependent on the format of the program and your study option. Tuition is based upon how many credits you register for a given term, as well as many other contributing factors. To see more information regarding finances, please visit our Tuition and Financing page.

SPS awards a small number of merit-based fellowships that are generally less than $10,000 USD and awarded on a one-time basis by each program. Each applicant is evaluated for a merit-based fellowship and no additional application is required. 

SPS also offers an HBCU fellowship and CUNY fellowship.

You may contact the office of Student Financial Services to inquire about other types of financial aid.

The following Master's degree applicants are considered eligible to receive an application fee waiver:

• Columbia University employees

   

• Veterans and members of the military

   

• Applicants who apply to the SPS HBCU fellowship (current HBCU senior or recent graduate)

• Applicants who apply to the Columbia SPS CUNY Fellowship

   

• Current Peace Corps and AmeriCorps volunteers 

   

• Current members of Teach for America or other Teach for All network partners

• Applicants to the Fulbright Scholarship program (current nominees)

SPS requires documentation of an applicant's affiliation with one of the above organizations before processing any application fee waiver request.  To obtain additional information about application fee waivers or submit documentation, please email inquire [[at]] sps [[dot]] columbia [[dot]] edu.  

If you have already paid your tuition deposit, you should receive this information via email. Please email inquire [[at]] sps [[dot]] columbia [[dot]] edu (inquire[at]sps[dot]columbia[dot]edu) with any questions.

Across Columbia's many schools and programs, active military members and veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces play an integral part in the student life, academic endeavors, and intellectual accomplishments of the University. You can see more information regarding the services, policies, and procedures that affect this group at our Veterans and Service Members website here.

Congratulations! To commit to your program you must submit your non-refundable tuition deposit within your application portal. This deposit will be applied to your first semester’s tuition and will be reflected in your first billing cycle. Once you have submitted your deposit, you will receive your University ID (UNI) and list of next steps via email.

Applicants are encouraged to apply for the term in which they plan to enroll.  Please reach out to contact email within your application to request a deferral. If approved, students may only defer once for up to one year after acceptance.

To pay your tuition deposit, please log into your application portal and complete your Offer of Admission Enrollment Form. After this form is submitted, you will be prompted to pay your tuition deposit via credit card. Please note the deposit schedule.

Your UNI will be emailed to you after you have committed to your program. If you have not received your UNI as specified in your decision letter, please reach out to apply [[at]] sps [[dot]] columbia [[dot]] edu.