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The College

Barnard College was among the pioneers in the late nineteenth-century crusade to make higher education available to young women. Founded in 1889, it became affiliated with the Columbia University system in 1900 and today serves 2,360 students who come from nearly every state and almost forty countries. It remains a partner of the university, and students at the two schools may cross-register for courses at either institution. Barnard students have access to Columbia University libraries, and graduates receive their degree from the university. Despite this close connection, Barnard College remains a small, independent liberal arts college, devoted solely to the undergraduate education of women. The College maintains its own Board of Trustees, faculty, and administrative staff; its own endowment; an independent admissions process; and sole ownership of its property and physical plant. It offers the intimacy of a small college with all the added advantages of a major university.

The self-contained Barnard campus occupies 4 acres of urban property along Broadway between 116th and 120th streets. Barnard Hall, with its newly renovated Ethel S. LeFrak 41 and Samuel J. LeFrak Gymnasium and Julius S. Held Lecture Hall, stands opposite the main gates of the College, while the south end of the campus contains the Brooks, Reid, Hewitt, and Sulzberger residence halls complex. Additional housing is located nearby, and some options for coed housing with Columbia are available. Students are guaranteed housing for all four years at Barnard. The College is currently building a new state-of-the-art student center called the Nexus, which is scheduled to open fall 2009. The Nexus will house student leadership offices, a coffee house, a theater, and lounges.

Location

Barnard is located in the safe and quiet Morningside Heights neighborhood of New York City, directly across from Columbia University. Abounding with cultural, educational, internship, and professional opportunities, New York is Barnards laboratory.

Majors and Degrees

Students can earn a Bachelor of Arts in the following subjects: Africana studies, American studies, ancient studies, anthropology, architecture, art history, Asian and Middle Eastern cultures, astronomy, biochemistry, biological sciences, chemistry, classics (Greek and Latin), comparative literature, computer science, dance, economics, education, English, environmental biology, environmental science, film studies, foreign area studies, French, German, history, human rights studies, Italian, Jewish studies, mathematics and applied mathematics, medieval and Renaissance studies, music, neuroscience, philosophy, physics, political science, psychology, religion, Russian and Slavic studies, sociology, Spanish and Latin American cultures, statistics, theater, urban studies, and womens studies.

Barnard College also offers double- and joint-degree programs in cooperation with other schools within the Columbia University community. These include a five-year (3-2) program offered in conjunction with the School of International Affairs, in which a student earns both an A.B. degree and a Master in International Affairs (M.I.A.) or a Master of Public Administration (M.P.A). In cooperation with the School of Law, Barnard offers an accelerated program in interdisciplinary legal education, whereby selected students can begin their legal studies after three years of undergraduate course work. Through the School of Engineering and Applied Science, Barnard students can pursue a five-year (3-2) program in all branches of engineering, including aerospace, civil, and electrical engineering, leading to both an A.B. and a B.S. degree. In cooperation with the School of Dentistry, a limited number of students may enter the Columbia University School of Dental and Oral Surgery after three years of undergraduate work at Barnard. Outside the university, a student can earn both an A.B. degree and a Master of Music (M.M.) in a five-year (3-2) program with the Juilliard School. Through an agreement with List College of the Jewish Theological Seminary, students can earn an A.B. degree from Barnard and a bachelors degree in Hebrew literature.

Academic Programs

Two required courses, First-Year Seminar and First-Year English, set the foundation for a Barnard education with small classes limited to 16 students. General education requirements are organized around nine Ways of Knowing that reflect the breadth and depth of a true liberal arts education while building the skills of analysis, independent thought, and self-expression. The Ways of Knowing offer a flexible structure and a wide array of courses under the following categories: reason and values, social analysis, cultures in comparison, language, laboratory science, quantitative and deductive reasoning, historical studies, literature, and visual and performing arts.

Advanced placement and I.B. credit are available. Barnard operates on a two-semester calendar, with classes beginning in early September. The fall semester ends in mid-December; classes resume for the spring semester in mid-January and end in mid-May.

Off-Campus Programs

As independent affiliates of Columbia University, Barnard students have open access to the courses, libraries, and other facilities of Columbia. With special permission, students may also register for selected classes in Columbias graduate and professional schools. A program offered in cooperation with the Jewish Theological Seminary, located two blocks north of Barnard, allows qualified students to take courses for credit. In a similar exchange with both the Juilliard School and the nearby Manhattan School of Music, qualified Barnard students may take music lessons in a conservatory setting.

Under the auspices of Reid Hall in Paris, a Barnard-Columbia facility, several semester-long and full-year programs are offered. Students of classics are eligible to study at the Intercollegiate Center for Classical Studies in Rome. Qualified students may also study at Oxford (Somerville College), Cambridge (Newnham College), the University of London (University College, London School of Economics, Kings College, or Queen Mary College), or the University of Warwick. Qualified students are also eligible to study in Germany, Italy, Japan, and more than 300 programs in sixty countries worldwide. Students may also participate in exchange programs with Spelman College in Atlanta and Howard University in Washington, D.C.

Barnards metropolitan location offers its students a variety of work experiences through its extensive program of more than 2,500 internships. More than two thirds of Barnard students participate in internships throughout the academic year and summer; approximately one third of these internship opportunities receive stipends.

Academic Facilities

Milbank Hall, the oldest building on the campus, houses administrative and faculty offices, classrooms, the Arthur Ross Greenhouse, and the Minor Latham Playhouse. Fourteen-story Altschul Hall, devoted mainly to the sciences, has classrooms, department offices, and modern laboratory equipment.

Wollman Library offers three floors of reading areas and more than 170,000 volumes in open stacks. Students also have access to the 8 million volumes within the Columbia University library system.

Currently under construction, the Nexus, a 70,000-square-foot state-of-the-art facility, will expand and increase the space available for teaching, for learning, for student activities, for dining, and for large lectures and theatrical productions.

Costs

Tuition and fees for 200809 are yet to be announced. Room and board costs have not yet been determined.

Financial Aid

All financial aid supplied or administered by Barnard is awarded on the basis of demonstrated need as determined by federal regulations and the Colleges Office of Financial Aid. Barnard gives no merit or athletic scholarships. College aid is supplementary to family resources. Once need has been established, Barnard is committed to covering 100 percent of demonstrated need for U.S. citizens and permanent residents through a combination of grants, loans, and work-study. Approximately 55 percent of the students at Barnard receive some form of financial aid. A limited number of scholarships are available to international citizens.

Barnard College has a need-blind admission policy in which all applications are judged on merit without reference to the applicants financial circumstances.

Faculty

Barnard College employs 319 teaching faculty members. The student-faculty ratio is 10:1. The faculty includes editors of leading scholarly journals, prize-winning novelists and translators, and frequent winners of awards from respected foundations, corporations, and government agencies. They are actively engaged in research and publication in their respective fields, but they regard teaching as their primary commitment. All students have faculty advisers who assist them in selecting courses and designing individual academic programs.

Student Government

Every Barnard student is a member of the Student Government Association, which sponsors numerous extracurricular activities. These include the College newspaper, the literary magazine, dramatic groups, political and religious organizations, and preprofessional and departmental clubs. Cooperation between Barnard and Columbia groups is common and seamless. Students, faculty members, and administrators serve on tripartite committees and share responsibility for policy recommendations on curriculum, housing, financial aid, orientation, and the library.

Admission Requirements

The Committee on Admissions selects young women of proven academic strength who exhibit the potential for further intellectual growth. Careful consideration is given to candidates high school records, recommendations, writing skills, standardized test scores, and special abilities and interests. While admission is highly selective, no one criterion determines acceptance. Each applicant is considered in terms of her individual qualities of mind and spirit and her potential for successfully completing her program of study at Barnard.

Candidates for admission to the first-year class must have taken a college-preparatory program at an approved secondary school or have an equivalent level of education. A recommended program comprises 4 years of work in English, 3 or more years in mathematics, 3 or more years in a foreign language, 3 or more years in science (with laboratory), and 3 or more years in history. Barnard also requires candidates to submit scores from the SAT Reasoning Test, along with two SAT Subject Tests. Alternatively, students may submit scores from the ACT with writing in place of the SAT and subject tests. Students educated in a non-English-speaking setting or who have studied in English for less than five years should take the TOEFL exam as well. An interview is recommended but not required.

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