Columbia University Reviews
74% would recommend to a friend
(4406 total reviews)
Lee C. Bollinger
69% approve of CEO
Top Review Highlights by Sentiment
Excerpts from user reviews, not authored by Glassdoor
- "Columbia and the Business School are great to work for because of the benefits and the people." (in 382 reviews)
- "low salary very far from my home not much increase yearly not much chances of growth departments are not well interconnected" (in 213 reviews)
- "I have seen on more than one occasion, staff members completely stop doing their jobs with no serious repercussions (b/c the managers don't want to deal with the strenuous process of terminating someone)." (in 34 reviews)
Found 4,406 of over 5K reviews
Updated 4 Dec 2023
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- 5.018 Mar 2021Anonymous EmployeeFormer Employee
Pros
good good good good good
Cons
everything is good as professional
- 4.06 May 2023ScientistFormer Employee
Pros
good working enviroment and equipments
Cons
low salary part time job
- 3.027 Dec 2021Anonymous EmployeeFormer Employee, more than 5 years
Pros
Excellent benefits including tuition reimbursement. Varies by department, but overall good work/life balance.
Cons
Large institution makes it hard to navigate/have impact. Internal politics are real.
- 1.016 May 2018Anonymous EmployeeCurrent Employee
Pros
Nice buildings, caring faculty in my department, in New York City, etc.
Cons
The way that this administration treats its graduate students is absolutely disgusting. Despite being certified as a union by the NLRB, the university continues to neglect the ruling and refuses to bargain with its graduate union. Other "peer" universities, such as NYU and Harvard, have recognized their graduate students as workers. It is shameful for Columbia to disrespect the democratic right of its students to unionize.
1 - 5.01 Jan 2019Anonymous EmployeeCurrent Employee
Pros
Good Pay and balance of work and life
Cons
There is a salary cut and not sure what will happen in the future
- 5.029 Aug 2019Anonymous EmployeeCurrent Employee
Pros
Consulting firm for SME: business and digital transformation
Cons
Flexible working hours, engaging culture
- 1.028 Nov 2023Assistant Director, Student AffairsFormer Employee, more than 5 yearsNew York, NY
Pros
Working with the students Decent benefits package Opportunity to take classes and/or work toward a degree Looks good on CV
Cons
Students and Faculty can be challenging/disrespectful 24/7 expectations High stress, high anxiety Challenging personalities No work/life balance
- 3.016 Nov 2023Graduate Research AssistantCurrent Employee, more than 3 yearsNew York, NY
Pros
You get to work with brilliant people and students. The research facilities in terms of capabilities are also excellent
Cons
Sclerotic institution: getting anything ordered, getting re-imbursed etc. etc. is a bureaucratic nightmare, with requests endlessly being pushed between different offices so it's out of their hands. Their motto should be "The system doesn't allow it". The physical space is also not in good shape, with the facilities department being super unhelpful. We have had equipment break in our lab because the temperature control has been broken forever. There was a leak somewhere that facilities 'fixed' for MONTHS by taping a garbage bag over it. Insanity.
- 1.01 Nov 2023Data AnalystCurrent Employee, less than 1 yearNew York, NY
Pros
People will be impressed when you tell them you work here
Cons
Literally everything else: HR takes forever and does not help; they get mad when you ask for things Bosses use passive-aggressions/microaggressions to motivate: then moves to verbal abuse/illegal behavior when the above fails I was illegally "fired" for internal whistleblowing. When I threatened to sue, I was offered a settlement. When I refused to sign the settlement, my "firing" was delayed... so I still technically work there... even though I haven't been into the office in over a month... Bros and bro-nesses (and ofc my non-bronaries) just don't, If you want to do good work, go volunteer at a soup kitchen. These people are stealing money from grants and indenturing young, impressionable research assistants to use as cannon fodder until they extract every last dime from the capitalists/drop of blood and sweat from you.
1 - 4.04 Dec 2023Postdoctoral Research ScientistCurrent Employee, less than 1 yearNew York, NY
Pros
World-class research, State of the art equipment
Cons
Not a collaborative environment. Everyone is very possessive of their reagents and equipment.
Columbia University Reviews FAQs
Columbia University has an overall rating of 4.1 out of 5, based on over 4,961 reviews left anonymously by employees. 74% of employees would recommend working at Columbia University to a friend and 66% have a positive outlook for the business. This rating has been stable over the past 12 months.
74% of Columbia University employees would recommend working there to a friend based on Glassdoor reviews. Employees also rated Columbia University 3.8 out of 5 for work life balance, 3.9 for culture and values and 3.8 for career opportunities.
