Teachers College
New York, New York
Overview
Teachers College was founded in 1887 to provide a new form of schooling for teachers of children from low-income families of New York, one that combined a humanitarian concern to help others with a scientific approach to human development. For more than 100 years, Teachers College has conducted research on the central issues facing education, prepared generations of education leaders, and shaped debate and public policy in education. The College provides programs of study in administration, counseling, curriculum development, and school health care and continues its efforts to strengthen teaching skills, prepare leaders to develop and administer psychological and health-care programs, and develop new teaching software. In 1898, the College became affiliated with Columbia.
Columbia University was founded in 1754 as King’s College by royal charter of King George II of England. It is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York and the fifth oldest in the United States. From its beginnings in a schoolhouse in lower Manhattan, the University has grown to encompass two principal campuses: the historic, neoclassical campus in Morningside Heights and the modern Medical Center in Washington Heights. Today, Columbia is one of the top academic and research institutions in the world, conducting research in medicine, science, the arts, and the humanities. It includes three undergraduate schools, thirteen graduate and professional schools, and a school of continuing education. Sixty-four Nobel laureates have taught or studied at Columbia. Each year, the faculty of approximately 4,000 teaches more than 23,000 students from more than 150 countries.
There are approximately 5,000 students enrolled at Teachers College. About 77 percent are women, 12 percent are African American, 11 percent are Asian American, and 7 percent are Latino/a. The student body is composed of 13 percent international students from eighty different countries and 87 percent domestic students from all fifty states.
The Location and Community
The College is located in the Morningside Heights section of Manhattan’s Upper West Side. Home to such venerable New York landmarks as Lincoln Center, the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, Grant’s Tomb, Morningside Park, and the Manhattan School of Music, the Upper West Side is bounded by Central Park on the east and the Hudson River on the west. Because the College is located in New York City, students have access to an outstanding array of learning organizations, including museums, libraries, galleries, corporate learning centers, and K-12 schools.
Programs of Study and Degree Requirements
Teachers College is the world’s largest and most comprehensive graduate school of education, applied psychology, and health professions. Programs lead to Master of Arts, Master of Science, Master of Education, Doctor of Education, and Doctor of Philosophy degrees. The College comprises the Departments of Arts and Humanities; Biobehavioral Studies; Counseling and Clinical Psychology; Curriculum and Teaching; Health and Behavioral Studies; Human Development; International and Transcultural Studies; Mathematics, Science, and Technology; and Organization and Leadership. These nine departments are augmented by centers, institutes, and projects that reinforce instructional areas with research, service, and experiential initiatives. Teachers College puts strong emphasis on consultation and field research and on close faculty-student relationships. Day and evening classes are available.
Areas of study are administration of special education; adult education; adult learning and leadership; anthropology and education; applied anthropology; applied behavior analysis; applied linguistics; applied physiology; applied physiology and nutrition; art and art education; arts administration; bilingual/bicultural education; blindness and visual impairment; clinical psychology; cognitive studies in education; communication and education; community nutrition education; comparative and international education; computing and education; conflict resolution; counseling psychology; cross-categorical studies; curriculum and teaching; curriculum and teaching in physical education; deaf and hard of hearing; developmental psychology; early childhood education; early childhood special education; economics and education; educational leadership; educational leadership and management (with Columbia Business School); educational policy; elementary/childhood education; gifted education; guidance and habilitation; health-care human resources; health education; higher and postsecondary education; history and education; instructional practice; instructional technology and media; interdisciplinary studies in education; international educational development; kinesiology; learning disabilities; mathematics education; measurement, evaluation, and statistics; mental retardation; motor learning and control; music and music education; neuroscience and education; nursing education; nurse executive; nutrition education; philosophy and education; physical disabilities; physical education; politics and education; psychological counseling; psychology in education; reading and learning disabilities; reading specialist; school psychology; science education; social-organizational psychology; social studies; sociology and education; speech and language pathology; supervision of special education; teaching American Sign Language as a foreign language; English education; teaching English to speakers of other languages.
Facilities & Resources
The Gottesman Libraries, with more than a million books and materials, is one of the nation’s largest and most comprehensive research libraries in education, psychology, and health services. Students also have access to the 5.5 million volumes in the Columbia University library system. Organized research and service activities at Teachers College, in addition to being carried out by individual professors, are conducted through special projects and major institutes. Many of these centers of research are listed later.
Data, voice, and video outlets are found in every classroom, office, and residence on the main portion of the campus, and laptops and projectors may be borrowed from Media Services. The Microcomputer Center provides students with PCs and Macs, software, printers, and other peripherals. The center’s software library includes PC and Mac programs for word processing, Web development, graphics, statistical analysis, and qualitative analysis and databases. The Instructional Media Lab (IML) is a facility in which students and faculty members create rich content for classes, online learning, student teaching, and research. Digital cameras and other equipment are loaned. Workstations allow computer-based full-motion video from camera, VCR, or videodisk to be edited and integrated with animation, digitized voice, and music and to be written to CD, DVD, or tape. IML also provides satellite downlink. Computer classrooms for hands-on instruction include both a PC and a Macintosh room, and the Goodman Family Computer Classroom suite includes a classroom with thirty-two notebook computers on tables that can be reconfigured for varying work groups.
Expenses and Aid
For the academic year, tuition is $1,085 per point, with 12 or more points considered full-time. Fees included the Teachers College, $210; Teachers College research, $210; health service, $388; continuous doctoral advisement registration, $2,925; and Ph.D. oral defense, $4,970. The tuition deposit was $250. Medical insurance ranged from about $472 to $1,462.
Financial Aid:
Each year, Teachers College awards approximately $6 million of its own funds in scholarship and stipend aid and $2 million of endowed funds to new and continuing students. There are no separate scholarship applications; faculty members nominate new students based upon their admission application. Financial assistance is also available through federal aid programs. All students are encouraged to file the FAFSA regardless of eligibility for aid; 51 percent of students receive financial aid.
Housing/Living Expenses:
Teachers College offers a variety of on-campus housing options that are unique to the area and convenient to the campus. Housing for a single student ranges from $2,800 to $8,750 per semester, depending upon the type of setting selected. Family housing ranges from $6,790 to $8,488 per semester. Teachers College has approximately 705 spaces available for single students and 150 apartments for students with families. The buildings are located in the vibrant and historic urban neighborhood of Morningside Heights. Current residence halls are historic buildings similar to other apartment-style buildings that were in New York City in the early-1900s.
How to Apply / Application
Teachers College welcomes applicants who wish to pursue graduate study associated with the education, psychological, and health service professions. All applicants receive consideration for admission without regard to race, color, creed, religion, sex, national origin, age, or disability. In order to be considered for scholarships, students must meet the priority deadline. Admissions applications received after the priority deadlines may be considered on a space-available basis. Certain programs have special application deadlines. The final and priority deadline for PH.D. and all psychology doctoral programs is December 15. The priority deadline for Ed.D. programs is January 2, with a final deadline of April 1. The priority deadline for master’s programs is January 15, with a final deadline of April 15. The priority deadline is November 1 for the spring semester. Teachers College requests that applicants collect the required documents for the application process and submit the entire package to the Office of Admission at one time. Admission application deadlines always refer to the date by which the Teachers College Office of Admissions must have received the application components and any other supporting material required by the department.
International Students
Teachers College welcomes students from other countries. We have a long history of participation in international education, from which we have developed an understanding of the differing needs of students from abroad. We can help you plan a degree of study which will be rewarding while you are here and useful to you when you return to your own country. A detailed description of the application procedure and components will help you understand the process and obtain the needed documents. Because considerable time is often required for sending credentials, making admission decisions, and arranging for passports and visas, you might want to expedite the process by using the online application.
Who to Contact
Teachers College
Columbia University
525 West 120th Street
New York, New York 10027
Graduate Research Centers
The Center for Adult Education is interested in research on adult and organizational learning and on transformative learning for adults in a variety of settings. The center has conducted award-winning research on literacy and has pioneered an innovative Action Research Professional Development program.
• The Center for Arts Education Research is an interdisciplinary arts group that engages in basic and applied research in the arts and human development, art education, and the arts in education. The center calls upon expertise from professionals in visual, music, dance, theater, and media arts and also philosophy, psychology, education, and technology. Studies explore the role of the arts in diverse educational settings.
• The Center for Children and Families advances the policy, education, and development of children and their families. The center produces and applies interdisciplinary research to improve practice and to raise public awareness of social issues that affect the well-being of America’s children and families. This work is accomplished through cutting-edge research and analyses; the systematic training of future leaders, scholars, and policy scientists; and dissemination of information to the media, policy makers, and practitioners on the front lines.
• The Center on Chinese Education is aimed at contributing to a better understanding of education in China and to educational exchange between the United States and China.
• The Center for Educational and Psychological Services is both a training and research center for the College and a community resource that provides help to people of all ages with educational and personal problems. Several hundred psycho-educational assessment and evaluation instruments, as well as a growing library of materials for reading remediation, are available for use by the students attending practicums affiliated with the center.
• The Center for Health Promotion comprises diverse working groups of faculty members and students interested in stimulating research and development efforts responsive to national priorities in health promotion and disease prevention.
• The Center for Opportunities and Outcomes for People with Disabilities confronts the challenges facing special education today and broadens the scope of research at Teachers College. The center is committed to producing knowledge and professional expertise that enhances the quality of life for people with disabilities.
• The Center for Social Imagination, the Arts, and Education is committed to the development of alternative modes of inventing, creating, and interpreting. Working in the tradition of Dewey, James, and the Existentialists, the center brings schoolchildren, artists, academics, and social activists together in conferences and workshops to explore possibilities of reform and transformation in schools and social communities.
• The Center for Technology and School Change helps schools integrate technology into their curricula and daily lives by planning for the use of technology with schools, educating teachers how to use it, planning curriculum projects that include technology, helping teachers to implement projects, and assessing the effect of technology on schools.
• The Community College Research Center carries out and promotes research on major issues affecting the development, growth, and changing roles of community colleges in the United States.
• The Creative Arts Laboratory prepares teachers of economically disadvantaged and educationally challenged students to change school cultures by integrating the arts into core curricula of public elementary and middle schools.
• The Edward D. Mysak Speech-Language and Hearing Center provides advanced students in the Speech and Language Pathology and Audiology Program practical experience in a professional setting. The center offers evaluation and therapy services to individuals who have speech, voice, language, or hearing problems.
• The Elbenwood Center for the Study of the Family as Educator pursues various lines of systematic research and inquiry that bring the behavioral sciences to bear in illuminating the educational functions of the family and the relationships between the family and other educative institutions. Recent topics include social networks and educative styles of teenagers, the mediation of television by the family and television in cross-cultural perspective, multigenerational education, grandparents as educators, and immigration.
• The Rita Gold Early Childhood Center supports and promotes the growth and development of infants, toddlers, and preschoolers and their families through supportive early care and education; transdisciplinary professional preparation for students; ongoing research to improve practice and inform theory in early development, care, and education for young children and families; and outreach. The center is a resource for students across the College who are engaged in observation, teaching, and research with young children and families.
• The Hechinger Institute on Education and the Media endeavors to help journalists who cover education to do a better job. The institute carries out its mandate primarily through seminars for journalists held at Teachers College and at locales around the country.
• Hollingworth Center is a service, research, and demonstration site designed to provide internship and training opportunities for the graduate students at Teachers College. The center develops model programs in early childhood education and offers enriching educational services for children and educators in the neighboring communities.
• The J. M. Huber Institute for Learning in Organizations conducts research on learning and change in organizations. The institute works through partnerships with organizations, including businesses, not-for-profits, and government agencies, to assist those who want to improve their ability to use learning strategically to address business and organizational challenges.
• The Institute for Higher Education promotes and supports scholarly activity on the range of purposes, practices, policies, problems, and perspectives framing the higher education enterprise. The institute views postsecondary teaching, learning, and scholarly and creative endeavors in social, political, economic, and historic perspectives and promotes efforts to strengthen and enrich these core activities for all participants in the higher education enterprise.
• The Institute for Learning Technologies (ILT) uses digital communications technologies to advance innovation in education and society. Rapid change in information technology is reconfiguring social, cultural, and intellectual possibilities. ILT is a major element of Columbia University’s effort to shape these transitions.
• The Institute for Urban and Minority Education is committed to better understanding and influencing the educational, psychological, and social development of urban and minority group students and the schools that serve them.
• The Institute of International Studies helps to formulate and coordinate the College’s international effort, to serve as both catalyst and repository for grants and gifts in aid of international studies at the College, to strengthen instructional programs with comparative and international thrusts, and to upgrade the quality of research on international or cross-national themes.
• The Institute of Research and Service in Nursing Education carries on a program of research and course work on questions in the education of nurse professors, deans, chief executive officers, and developers of human resources. Institute members examine theory-based questions within nursing’s history and provide consultant services to professionals involved in nursing research.
• The Institute on Education and Government develops ideas and implementation strategies for education innovations.
• The Institute on Education and the Economy (IEE) is an interdisciplinary policy research center that focuses its attention on the interaction between education and the economy. IEE’s research agenda includes issues such as the changes in the nature, organization, and skill requirements of work; education reforms designed to address the changing needs of the workplace; work-based learning; employer participation in education; and academic and industry-based skill standards.
• The International Center for Cooperation and Conflict Resolution helps individuals as well as institutions better understand the nature of conflict and how to achieve its constructive resolution. The center particularly emphasizes the importance of the social, cultural, organizational, and institutional contexts within which conflicts occur.
• The Esther A. and Joseph Klingenstein Center for Independent School Education sponsors programs aimed at the professional development of independent school teachers and administrators and research activities that contribute to the advancement of independent school education.
• The National Center for Restructuring Education, Schools, and Teaching supports restructuring efforts by documenting successful school improvement initiatives, creating reform networks to share new research findings with practitioners, and linking policy to practice.
• The National Center for the Study of Privatization in Education serves as a nonpartisan venue to analyze and disseminate information about the contentious private initiatives in education, including vouchers, charter schools, and educational contracting.
• The Research Center for Arts and Culture provides data and ideas for applied research, education, advocacy, policymaking, and action. Collaboration and cooperation with service organizations, trade publishers, and arts institutions strengthen the center’s unique position and enable it to translate its findings into useful, practical forms.
• The Teachers College Reading and Writing Project is a staff development organization that works in intimate and long-lasting ways with educators in the metropolitan area and provides more limited assistance to educators all over the U.S. to establish reading and writing workshops.