School of General Studies

The School of General Studies, or GS as it is known, was formed out of the University Extension Program in 1947. It became Columbia's third official undergraduate school. It is sometimes claimed that Barnard College is Columbia's third undergraduate school, and GS is its fourth, however Barnard is officially only affiliated with Columbia University, whereas GS, its deans and students are formally integrated into the university proper, along with Columbia College and the Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. It initially served to educate GIs returning from World War II. GS originally had its own faculty and degree programs. In the 1980s it was separated from the Division of Continuing Education. In 1990, its faculty merged into the Faculty of Arts & Sciences. Since then, the classes available to GS students are generally the same as those available to Columbia College students. The median age of GS students is 29.