Columbia College, a private, coeducational institution, offers associate, baccalaureate and master’s degrees that prepare students of differing backgrounds for entry level or advanced positions in various occupations and professions. Founded in 1851 by charter of the Missouri legislature and then named Christian Female College, Columbia College assumed its current name and became coeducational in 1970. Although it retains a covenant with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Columbia College is a nonsectarian institution.
The college is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and holds a specialized accreditation in its education program. Students may enroll in day, evening or online education classes at the home campus in Columbia, Missouri, or through the Division of Adult Higher Education (AHE) at one of our many nationwide campuses.
Degree requirements, course objectives, and academic standards at each AHE campus are the same as those established for students on the main campus in Columbia, Missouri. Classes at extended campuses are taught primarily by adjunct faculty who meet the qualifications for appointment by the full-time faculty of each academic department, based at the Columbia campus. The credentials of adjunct faculty are reviewed by academic department chairs who determine the courses they are qualified to teach; faculty who are determined qualified by the departments are then approved by the Dean of the course’s School.
Course goals and objectives are prescribed by full-time faculty. They develop master syllabi for all courses and recommend textbooks to be used. The Vice President for the Division of AHE, along with the director of each AHE campus, has the responsibility of recruiting faculty and ensuring the academic programs and instruction at the campuses are of the highest quality. The campus classrooms are housed in appropriate facilities and are equipped with computers with internet access, projectors and other equipment in support of academic courses and programs of study.
Columbia College educates more than 25,000 students each year and has more than 83,000 alumni.
College Profile
| Classification: |
Private, coeducational undergraduate and graduate-degree granting college with a liberal arts and sciences foundation. Carnegie Foundation classification: Master’s Level College. |
| Location: |
Home campus in Columbia, Missouri (population 100,000 plus more than 30,000 students at three separate colleges), on Interstate 70, halfway between St. Louis and Kansas City. Air service via major airline to Columbia Regional Airport. Nationwide campuses located throughout the U.S. and in Cuba: Alabama: Redstone Arsenal; California: Coast Guard Island, Lemoore, Los Alamitos, San Diego, San Luis Obispo; Cuba: Guantanamo Bay; Colorado: Denver; Florida: Jacksonville, NAS Jacksonville, Orlando, Patrick Air Force Base; Georgia: Fort Stewart, Hunter Army Air Field; Illinois: Crystal Lake, Elgin, Freeport, Lake County; Missouri: Fort Leonard Wood, Jefferson City, Kansas City, Lake Ozark, Moberly, Rolla, Springfield, St. Louis; New York: Fort Drum, Hancock Field; Oklahoma: Fort Sill; South Carolina: Joint Base-Charleston-Weapons Station; Texas: Fort Worth, Mesquite; Utah: Salt Lake City; Washington: NS Everett/Marysville, Whidbey Island. |
| Degrees Conferred: |
Associate in Arts, Associate in General Studies, Associate in Science, Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of General Studies, Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Fine Arts, Master of Arts in Teaching, Master of Business Administration, Master of Education and Master of Science in Criminal Justice. |
| School Code/FICE #: |
002456 |
| Campus: |
26 buildings on a 33-acre campus four blocks from downtown Columbia, and also including a building in downtown. |
| Library: |
Print: More than 60,000 items including 140 print periodicals and 1,900 audio-visual items. Electronic: More than 190,000 e-books, 22,000 streaming videos, 119,000 streaming audio discs and 65 databases. Member of MOBIUS statewide consortium. |
| Enrollment: |
More than 1,000 full and part-time day students, representing 24 states and 33 foreign countries; more than 2,000 evening and graduate students and more than 21,000 Nationwide and Online students per year. |
| Alumni: |
More than 83,000 Columbia College alumni. |
| Athletics: |
Member, American Midwest Conference of the NAIA (men’s and women’s soccer and basketball; men’s and women’s cross country; men and women’s track and field; men’s and women’s golf; women’s volleyball, softball, and esports) and a variety of intramural sports. |
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