Application Materials

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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 three partner agencies IIE, LASPAU and AMIDEAST, and by the Danish-American Fulbright Commission (DAF), Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (DAAD), and Vietnam Education Fund (VEF). 

If you have any questions about this requirement, please contact the admissions office at certificates [[at]] sps [[dot]] columbia [[dot]] edu (certificates[at]sps[dot]columbia[dot]edu).

Fee payment must accompany the online application.

Transcripts from all post-secondary institutions attended are required. In the Academic History section of your online application, you must list and upload unofficial transcripts for all colleges and universities you have attended for at least one term, regardless of the number of credits received. This includes any summer program(s), study abroad program(s), or transfer coursework (regardless of the number of credits received or whether these credits were transferred to your home institution).

Please note: your transcripts must include your full name, the institution name, and all courses and grades earned at that institution. Yours transcript must also confirm your current enrollment or degree conferral. 

Domestic Institutions
You must list and upload unofficial transcripts for all post-secondary institutions you have attended full-time for at least one term. This includes any summer program(s), study abroad program(s), or transfer coursework including any additional mark sheets, official translations, or degree certificates for international transcripts as needed with the exception of: 

• Coursework where no credits are earned.
• You completed a total of 11 credits or less (on a traditional U.S. credit system) outside of your degree-granting institution and those credits appear on your degree-granting institution transcript.

If requested, applicants may be required to provide transcripts from any and all post-secondary institutions. 

International Institutions
You must list and upload unofficial transcripts for all post-secondary institutions you have attended full-time for at least one term. This includes any summer program(s), study abroad program(s), or transfer coursework including any additional mark sheets, official translations, or degree certificates for international transcripts as needed with the exception of: 

• Coursework where no credits are earned.
• You completed a total of 11 credits or less (on a traditional U.S. credit system) outside of your degree-granting institution and those credits appear on your degree-granting institution transcript.

Before your application can be considered complete and ready for evaluation you must submit official transcripts from your institution. For Indian universities, this includes all semester mark sheets. If your university provides transcripts in a language other than English, both the original language document and English translation are required.

Admissions staff will carefully review these official translations for accuracy and authenticity, and investigate any credentials that seem suspect if a student is being considered for admission.

All applicants must submit certified and secure electronic transcripts directly from their institution or via the vendor that provides that service for their institution to transcripts [[at]] sps [[dot]] columbia [[dot]] edu (transcripts[at]sps[dot]columbia[dot]edu).

If a school does not offer electronic delivery, you must write to transcripts [[at]] sps [[dot]] columbia [[dot]] edu (transcripts[at]sps[dot]columbia[dot]edu) to provide us with the link to your institution’s web page regarding transcript orders. After verification, we will respond with further instructions.

If requested, applicants may be required to provide transcripts from any and all post-secondary institutions. 
 

Documents required if admitted:

If your institution is within the United States
You must submit a certified and secure electronic transcript sent directly from the institution or via the vendor that provides that service for their institution to transcripts [[at]] sps [[dot]] columbia [[dot]] edu (transcripts[at]sps[dot]columbia[dot]edu).

If you are requesting an official transcript via a third-party vendor, such as Parchment or National Student Clearinghouse, please ensure that Columbia University, School of Professional Studies (SPS) is the recipient.

If a school does not offer electronic delivery, you must write to transcripts [[at]] sps [[dot]] columbia [[dot]] edu (transcripts[at]sps[dot]columbia[dot]edu) to provide us with the link to your institution's web page regarding transcript orders. After verification, we will respond with further instructions.

If your institution is located outside of the United States
You will have provided an official transcript from the institution for use in review of your application. No other transcripts are required at this time.

Please note: The School of Professional Studies will not accept as official any transcript submitted directly by an applicant, either in person, via email or by mail.

Falsification, forgery, and misrepresentation of any type will risk forfeiture of admissions and/or enrollment. Forfeiture may occur whenever an integrity lapse is discovered, and may include admissions revocation, expulsion, or another sanction outlined within the Student Conduct and Community Standards. Applicants would not be entitled to request any refund of the application fee, enrollment deposit or tuition in the case that the official transcript deviates from the unofficial.

Three recommendation letters are required as part of your application. 

• If you are in your last year of undergraduate study at the time of applying, you are required to submit three academic recommendations from a faculty member with whom you have completed an academic credit-bearing course. 
  • Your academic recommendations must be from faculty members who can assess your academic work, intellectual ability, and academic potential for graduate work. The recommender should have instructed you directly. Academic advisors are not appropriate.
• If you received a bachelor’s degree within 1 year or more of the application term, three academic references are preferred, however, you may submit a professional recommendation letter as an alternative. 
  • Your academic recommendations must be from faculty members who can assess your academic work, intellectual ability, and academic potential for graduate work. The recommender should have instructed you directly. Academic advisors are not appropriate.
  • Your professional recommendation must be from a current or former supervisor from a Full-Time or Part-Time employment experience, or internship (if applicable). Research supervisors are appropriate if you were employed as a full-time or part-time employee. 

If you have questions about providing academic reference letters, please contact certificates [[at]] sps [[dot]] columbia [[dot]] edu (certificates[at]sps[dot]columbia[dot]edu.)
 

IMPORTANT NOTE:  All recommendations must be submitted using an academic or professional email domain.  References submitted from personal or anonymous email domains (e.g. Gmail, Yahoo, 123.com, 163.com, qq.com etc.) may result in your application being considered ineligible for admission. If you are unable to provide a professional email address for your recommender, please email us at certificates [[at]] sps [[dot]] columbia [[dot]] edu (certificates[at]sps[dot]columbia[dot]edu) with an explanation of why a professional email address cannot be provided. 

Important Tips About Recommendations

• You should request letters of recommendation from your recommenders as early as possible and be sure to provide your recommender with the information below. Tell your recommender the name of the program you are applying to and the specific information they should address in their letter of recommendation and evaluation form.
• Track the status of your recommendation submissions within the application system on the Applicant Status page. To avoid any delay in the review of your materials, we urge you to verify that all your letters have been submitted by the time you submit your application, and re-notify your recommender through the application system if they are missing. Share our email address with them (certificates [[at]] sps [[dot]] columbia [[dot]] edu (certificates[at]sps[dot]columbia[dot]edu)) so they can look out for the notification and add it to their address book or list of contacts to ensure that the message is routed to their inbox.
• Columbia will use an outside verification vendor to verify all submitted letters of recommendation. You will be asked to authorize the vendor to contact your recommenders and must do so before your admissions decision will be released. Specific instructions will be provided after submission of your application. They should expect and comply with outreach from Re Vera Services, a third party verification provider, who will reach out to them via email to confirm that they supplied the recommendation.
• You may submit your application even if all of your letters have not yet been received, but your application will not be considered complete until the letters have arrived. In addition, you will be notified via email when a recommendation has been submitted.

Important Policies Related to Recommendations:

• Under no circumstances should you upload a letter on behalf of a recommender. Any person who writes a letter of recommendation must submit that letter themselves through the application system.
• All letters must be uploaded by the recommender directly to the application system. Letters of recommendation may not be sent via email, nor may paper letters be sent via postal mail.
• You must enter the institutional or professional email address of your recommender in the application system. If you are unable to provide a professional email address for your recommender, please email us at certificates [[at]] sps [[dot]] columbia [[dot]] edu (certificates[at]sps[dot]columbia[dot]edu) with an explanation of why a professional email address cannot be provided. References submitted from personal or anonymous email accounts without prior approval (e.g. Gmail, Yahoo, 123.com, 163.com, qq.com etc.) may result in your application being considered ineligible for admission.
• If the current supervisor, former supervisor, or faculty member writing a letter of recommendation for you is a family member, this MUST be disclosed in the letter of recommendation. You must also request two additional letters of recommendation from non-family members, for a total of three letters of recommendation with your application. If the affiliation is not disclosed OR you lack two additional non-familial letters of recommendation, you will be considered ineligible for admission. Please email  to inquire about your specific situation
• Under the guidelines of the Federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), all letters of recommendation are confidential during the admissions process, even if you have not waived your right to view them. This policy applies to both domestic and international applicants.  If you did not waive your right to see one or more of the letters, you may view them only after you are enrolled in Columbia SPS. Students who do not receive an offer of admission, or those admitted who do not enroll, are not permitted access to the letters at any time.  A complete explanation of the FERPA policy can be found here.

Include a copy of your most recent résumé.

STARTING FALL 2025 ONLY: Please upload a statement of academic purpose (approximately 500-750 words) that addresses why you are interested in pursuing the program, your relevant academic or professional experience, and how the program fits into your overall academic and/or professional goals.

Not required for Spring 2025 applications. 

English Language Proficiency

If your native/first language is not English, you must provide official scores on the TOEFL or IELTS unless both of the following are true:

• The language of instruction of your undergraduate degree conferring institution is English.
• You completed two or more years at the institution at the time of your application.

Applicant total scores must meet the Columbia SPS minimum requirement of 100 (TOEFL iBT) or 7.0 (IELTS Academic) to be admissible. You will be required to enter your test scores or your anticipated testing date within the online application, and official test score reports will be required for your application to be considered complete and ready for admission review. TOEFL and IELTS Academic scores are valid for two years after your test date. Applicants receiving scores below the posted minimums may be advised to apply directly to the American Language Program. 

• To submit TOEFL iBT scores: Visit www.ets.org and send your official score to our school code 2594. Please note: we do not accept TOEFL best scores.
• To submit IELTS Academic scores: After you have submitted your application, please upload your unofficial IELTS Academic score report. Alternatively, you can also send us your official score through your testing center.

Please note: if you send your scores to the university before submitting your application, please contact certificates [[at]] sps [[dot]] columbia [[dot]] edu (certificates[at]sps[dot]columbia[dot]edu) after your application is submitted so the scores can be associated with your record. 

Visa Requirements

International students are responsible for ensuring they have read and understand the University’s student visa application eligibility and requirements. Please note that it is not permissible to enroll while in B-1/B-2 status. International students enrolled in a full-time course load—registered for at least 12 points of credit-bearing courses a term—are eligible for a student visa.

Eligible international students who wish to apply for a student visa should do so immediately after they have received their letter of admission to Columbia University. This should be done by completing the Application for Visa Certificate (AVC). Applicants should be aware that after admission into a program it may take up to four weeks to receive the documents needed from Columbia to obtain a student visa, so please plan accordingly.

International students who require a student visa to study at Columbia are required to pay an International Services fee. See your program's Tuition and Fees for more information

You can find the online application for visa certificate by clicking here: http://isso.columbia.edu/. While you are not permitted to submit the application until you have gained admission, we strongly encourage you to read the instructional information provided.

For questions about individual cases, please contact:
International Students and Scholars Office (ISSO)
212-854-3587
isso [[at]] columbia [[dot]] edu (isso[at]columbia[dot]edu)
http://isso.columbia.edu/