Tuition is so expensive. Doesn’t it cover most expenses?
In a word, no. The actual cost of educating most Columbia students greatly exceeds tuition, so Columbia ends up subsidizing the overwhelming majority of students—even those who pay full freight. That said, because of the relative size of our endowment, we do rely much more heavily on tuition income than do our better-endowed peers, and, since tuition cannot go up infinitely, we have to compete with less. Our New York City location, too—while key to Columbia’s identity—makes doing business expensive.
