Starting in fall 2025, Barnard recentered our student's first-year academic experience to deepen connections, expand course offerings, and guarantee that every new student begins her journey fully immersed in Barnard’s unparalleled, rigorous liberal arts environment.
Along with the requirement to take First-Year Seminar and First-Year Writing courses at Barnard, first-year students take their coursework at Barnard with Barnard faculty with few exceptions. The College has more courses taught by Barnard faculty, more opportunities for first-year students to build strong relationships with professors and peers, interdisciplinary exploration, and the unmatched opportunity of studying right in the heart of New York City. In addition, first-year students still have access to a small number of Columbia courses, especially those tied to potential majors, but the foundation is firmly set at Barnard.
Also, consistent with the First Year at Barnard policy, any First Year Student taking a language during their first year that is offered at Barnard must take the language at Barnard, not Columbia.