Financing Your Education

Students at the School of General Studies may be eligible to receive scholarships, grants, loans, and work-study. Financial aid may come from GS, federal and state governments, or private sources. Approximately 70 percent of all GS students receive some form of financial aid.

How the GS Institutional Aid System Works

In addition to aid from federal and state governments or private sources, GS students may apply for institutional aid. While need is taken into consideration, the GS institutional aid system is based primarily on merit, and is specifically designed for students who are usually financially independent and are often adults with families. Consequently the burden of financing an education falls disproportionately on the individual student, unlike the traditional- or dependent-student model, in which parental contributions are considered in the determination of need.

Where Aid Comes From

Institutional aid for GS students is derived from three sources: endowment returns, annual gifts, and general University funds.

Applying for Institutional Aid

To apply for institutional aid, please visit the Institutional Scholarships page.

Financial Aid Initiatives

• Need Enhancements

  In 2008, GS announced a plan to enhance financial aid that targeted continuing students with the highest demonstrated economic need and substantial loan debt. This enhancement constituted a 29 percent increase in the financial aid budget for the 2008-2009 academic year, resulting in an additional $1.7 million being disbursed for GS institutional aid. GS will sustain this need enhancement for continuing students who met published deadlines for all aspects of the financial aid process in the 2009-2010 academic year while also increasing the overall financial aid pool by an additional 17 percent, or approximately $1.3 million.

  Funding for Columbia's financial aid enhancements is provided entirely by generous alumni and friends of the University, through annual fund gifts and permanent endowments.

• Endowed Scholarships

  In March 2009, GS received generous gifts of $1.5 million each from Larry Lawrence ’69, BUS ’71 and an anonymous donor. This $3 million will be used as a challenge matching fund, to encourage alumni and friends to establish endowed scholarships for $100,000 or more, matched dollar for dollar from the new fund. The ultimate result will be an increase of $6 million to the GS financial aid endowment, or 30 percent.

• Columbia Campaign for Undergraduate Education

  The Columbia Campaign for Undergraduate Education seeks to raise more than $440 million in new gifts to undergraduate financial aid endowment. Success in meeting the campaign goals for GS will increase the endowment by $15 million, a 68 percent increase, and make an additional $10 million in current use funds available for undergraduate financial aid over the campaign period.