COLUMBIA GSAS · GRADUATE STUDY GUIDE
Columbia’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences runs 46 master’s programs and 31 of the university’s 98 PhD programs. Start here, then check your program’s own page for its deadline and requirements.
Fall 2027 entry
GET TO KNOW THE SCHOOL
GSAS offers free-standing MA programs and PhD programs, in which students often earn an MA and MPhil along the way. If you want both degrees, Columbia advises applying directly to the PhD.
MA PROGRAMS
Most take two full-time semesters; the Economics MA runs three semesters and ends with a research paper.
PHD PROGRAMS
Doctoral students receive fellowships covering tuition, health insurance, and a living stipend, including international students.
YOUR DEPARTMENT
Each department’s faculty committee makes admission decisions, and programs set their own prerequisites, tests, and writing samples.
For fall entry, you can list two programs on one application: one PhD and one MA, or two MAs. The second program reviews your application only if the first can’t offer you a place.
To graduate: You need at least a 3.00 GPA, and some programs require a thesis or research paper.
Part-time study: Some programs allow it, but student visas require full-time enrollment, so international students register full-time every semester.
Toward a PhD: An MA doesn’t lead automatically to a PhD. The Economics department considers its MA graduates alongside every other PhD applicant.
The path: PhD study is full-time only. Several years of coursework come first; you earn an MPhil along the way, usually after an MA, and finish with a dissertation you defend and deposit.
Teaching: Every Arts and Sciences PhD student teaches for a year within the first four years, and fellowship holders typically teach for two more.
Funding: Six years in the humanities and social sciences, including five summers of support, and five in the natural sciences, if you stay in good standing. The latest listed humanities and social science stipend, for 2025–26, was $36,237, plus $6,556 for the summer. For most natural science departments, the listed 2025–26 stipend was $47,137 for 12 months.
English: Required if your bachelor’s degree comes from a country where English isn’t the sole official language, whatever your citizenship. The minimums are TOEFL 100 (5.5 on the new scale), IELTS 7.5, or Duolingo 135.
Waivers: You can request a waiver if your bachelor’s was taught entirely in English, or if you hold a master’s or PhD from a country where English is the sole official language. Send the request at least two weeks before your deadline.
Degrees: Three-year bachelor’s degrees are accepted from several countries, including India, Pakistan, and Australia, and from any Bologna Process country.
Scores: Official scores must arrive within two weeks of your program’s deadline, and scores more than two years old aren’t accepted.
Visas: If you’re admitted and need a student visa, you apply to Columbia’s International Students and Scholars Office for an I-20 or DS-2019, showing funding for your first year’s tuition, fees, and living costs.
The Economics MA: Take the TOEFL or IELTS unless you spent at least two years of your bachelor’s at an English-speaking university in an English-speaking country. The department accepts no other test, even though GSAS’s page for the program also lists Duolingo. It’s STEM-designated, so F-1 students can apply for extra work permission after graduating (STEM OPT).
UNDERSTAND WHAT PROGRAMS LOOK FOR
Each department’s committee reviews your academic preparation, including your record and test scores, and the personal contributions you might make to Columbia’s academic community.
YOUR PREPARATION
Programs set their own expectations. The Economics MA recommends intermediate micro and macro, multivariate calculus, linear algebra, and statistics, though an economics degree isn’t required.
Letrado’s adviceCheck your program’s page for its recommended background, and point to the courses where you met it.
YOUR PURPOSE
The statement of academic purpose, usually up to 1,000 words, covers your background, your plans for graduate study, and your goals.
Letrado’s adviceConnect one or two specific interests to courses or faculty in the program. Specific reasons carry more weight than general praise.
YOUR PERSPECTIVE
A separate personal statement of 500 to 1,000 words explains how your experiences would add to the range of perspectives in the entering class.
Letrado’s adviceChoose one or two experiences that shaped how you see your field, and show briefly how they’d shape your contribution.
WHAT GSAS AND ITS PROGRAMS SAY
GSAS sends questions about prerequisites and program content to departments. Each program’s page lists its contacts and, at the bottom, its special admissions requirements.
The Economics PhD, which receives about 1,000 applications a year and admits 20 to 25, says individual meetings with faculty aren’t possible. Chemistry students choose a research sponsor after arriving, once they’ve talked privately with at least three faculty members.
WHAT GSAS DESCRIBES
PhD decisions generally arrive by March. MA decisions depend on the program: some come in early spring, others as late as July.
GSAS doesn’t schedule interviews; if faculty want to speak with you, they contact you directly. Decisions come by email from the GSAS Office of Admissions, not from departments.
Some MA programs consider you for merit awards only if you apply by an early deadline, and the Economics MA says it may require an online interview.
GSAS AT A GLANCE
GSAS doesn’t compile an entering-class profile or overall admission statistics.
WHAT GSAS REQUIRES
AI programs may not be used to produce any application materials. No agent may submit materials for you; the only exceptions are sponsors such as the Fulbright Program.
Before you enroll, Columbia verifies your transcripts, degrees, and letters, and Re Vera Services may contact your recommenders. Inaccurate or inauthentic materials can cost you your admission, or later your degree.
PLAN THE APPLICATION
The 2027 application opened in September 2026. Every deadline is at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time, and each program sets its own date.
Earliest PhD deadline
Nov 25, 2026Many PhD programs
Early DecemberEconomics MA
Jan 21, 2027Latest MA deadlines
May 6, 2027If your program’s deadline is before May 1, letters and official scores can arrive up to two weeks after it; otherwise, everything is due by the deadline. Some MA programs also have early or spring-entry deadlines. Early deadlines run from December 3, 2026, to March 18, 2027.
One online application with a $125 fee, paid by credit card. Need a fee waiver? Submit first, then request it from your Applicant Status page, and don’t pay while it’s pending. Review may take 5 to 7 business days.
A statement of academic purpose and a personal statement are both required.
Transcripts from every university you attended and a résumé. Economics MA applicants also list their specific courses.
Most programs ask for three; at least two must come from academic recommenders, and you can include up to four.
The GRE where your program requires it, with no waivers, and English scores if you need them.
Submit it yourself: Columbia requires you to submit every part of your application directly, not through an agent, consultant, or other third party.
Your own work: Everything you submit must be your own, and AI programs may not be used to produce any application materials or responses.
One application per term: You can submit only one GSAS application for each entry term. Use the second-choice option rather than a second application.
Proofread first: Once you submit, you can’t edit your entries or add a second-choice program, so check every entry and upload before you do.
Biomedical PhDs: Some biomedical PhD programs use the Columbia University Irving Medical Center’s separate application, not GSAS.
The GRE: Economics, the Political Science PhD, and Chemistry require the GRE General Test; History, QMSS, and the Statistics MA don’t. Psychology won’t review GRE scores, and the Mathematics PhD requires the GRE Mathematics Subject Test.
Writing samples: 30 pages for the Economics and Political Science PhDs, 15 to 20 for History, and 8 to 10 for the Human Rights Studies MA.
Portfolios: The Music Composition DMA asks for three audio or video recordings, each with a score or documentation of your process, and 4,000 to 5,000 words of writing.
WRITE IN YOUR OWN VOICE
Up to 1,000 words eachThe statement of academic purpose is usually up to 1,000 words; the personal statement runs 500 to 1,000 words.
Columbia requires everything you submit to be your own work, and doesn’t allow AI programs to produce any application materials. Some programs also ask specific questions in the statement of academic purpose.
Letrado’s adviceGive each statement a different job: one about the scholarship you want to do, and one about the person doing it.
Cover your past work in your field, your plans for graduate study at GSAS, and your professional goals, and answer any questions your program adds.
Describe how your personal experiences and history would contribute to the range of perspectives in the entering class and the wider Columbia community.
Human Rights Studies, for example, suggests you consider why its program interests you and which Columbia scholar you’d like to work with, if any. If you add a second program, you upload a separate statement of purpose for it.
Requirements vary: the Economics PhD asks for a 30-page sample, while the Economics MA doesn’t ask for one. For the PhD, that’s normally a research paper you wrote or co-wrote, such as a thesis chapter.
Letters go through the online system only, never by email or post. At least two should come from teachers who know your academic work.
MAKE ROOM FOR THE FINANCIAL QUESTION
Every admitted PhD student receives a fellowship covering tuition, health insurance, and a living stipend. MA scholarships are very limited, so most master’s students combine loans, work, and outside funding.
PHD STUDENTS
Tuition, health insurance, and a living stipend, including for international students, with no separate application.
MA STUDENTS
Scholarships are awarded only by departments, and a few programs offer fellowships at admission.
COMMON WAYS TO PAY
Federal or private loans, work-study, external fellowships, and, for international students, Fulbright.
Since July 1, 2026, federal loans for graduate students have been capped at $20,500 a year and $100,000 for the degree, and Grad PLUS loans are being phased out for new borrowers. GSAS also offers an MA billing calculator, so you can estimate your fall and spring charges before you commit. Its current version is labeled 2025–26 and may show last year’s rates, so check the year.
Financing for MA students (opens in a new tab)PUBLISHED 2026–27 COST · ECONOMICS MA, FULL-TIME YEAR
$135,207Two full-time semesters: $94,136 in tuition, $9,298 in fees and insurance (our sum), and $31,773 in estimated living costs. The third semester is charged at a lower rate.
For fall 2027 entry, use the 2027–28 costs when GSAS publishes them. Health insurance can be waived if you have comparable coverage.
2026–27 cost of attendance (opens in a new tab)Letrado’s adviceCompare the total cost of a self-funded MA with what it could lead to, and ask programs how their graduates have used the degree.
The Economics MA publishes where its graduates have gone on to PhD programs and jobs.
Economics MA placements (opens in a new tab)CLIENT JOURNEYS
M.C. received a Columbia MA offer. The other two stories cover questions many Columbia applicants share: proving technical growth and strengthening math before applying.
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