Location:
Morningside Heights, Upper West Side, New York City, New York, USA
Campus:
Main campus consists of four acres, between 116th and 120th Streets, Claremont Avenue and Broadway
Year founded:
1889, named for Frederick Augustus Porter Barnard, then-president of Columbia University. Founding is credited to the efforts of Annie Nathan Meyer.
President:
Debora L. Spar, inaugurated in October 2008
Population:
2,390 students (over 30% students of color, nearly 10% educated abroad)
Geographic Distribution:
48 States, plus D.C. and Puerto Rico
53 countries
Faculty:
Nearly 375 Faculty Members (65% female); 7:1 student to faculty ratio (9:1 full-time equivalent)
Academics:
There are nearly 50 areas in which to major.
For many years, the top six majors have been English, Psychology, Political Science, Economics, History, and Biology.
Library:
Our collection holds more than 300,000 volumes. Because of our partnership with Columbia, we have access to over 10,000,000 volumes, over 100,000 journals, and countless rare books and manuscripts.
Athletics:
16 Varsity Teams, as part of Columbia's Division I Ivy Program (No other small liberal arts college and no other women's college offers Division I Athletics!)
Mascot:
Millie the Dancing Barnard Bear
School Color:
Barnard blue
Alumnae:
Approximately 33,000 living alumnae
Class of 2016 Admissions Statistics:
Applications – 5,440
Number Admitted – 1,228
Percentage Admitted – 22.6%
Enrolled – 605
Yield – 49.3%
Student Clubs & Organizations:
More than 80 at Barnard; several hundred within the University
Career Development/Internships:
The College's networks link students to more than 2,500 internship possibilities in fields ranging from finance to media, healthcare to arts management. By senior year, two-thirds of the class has taken part in internships.
Study Abroad:
Over 30% of our graduating seniors have studied abroad, in more than 45 countries.
2012-2013 Tuition, Room & Board, and Fees:
- Tuition $41,850
- Comprehensive Fee $1,652
- Room (Multiple) $8,240
- Board (Unlimited) $5,570
- Total Tuition, Room & Board, and Fees: $57,312
Financial Aid:
- 50% of all students are receiving some form of financial aid
- 39% of all students are receiving a grant directly from Barnard
- Average loan indebtedness of class of 2011, $17,416
- Average grant for all students (including federal, state, and BC grants) $35,430
Barnard FUN FACTS
New York Notables who have led Barnard classes: UNICEF President Carol Bellamy, musician Wynton Marsalis, former Mayor David Dinkins, writers Erica Jong and Salman Rushdie.
Past Commencement speakers and Barnard medalists have included… for the class of 2010, actress, Meryl Streep. Hillary Clinton, US Secretary of State, spoke in 2009 and NYC Mayor Bloomberg spoke in 2008. President Barack Obama spoke for the class of 2012.
The Morningside Heights neighborhood is known as the "Academic Acropolis" and, as such, is home to nearly 30,000 students from around the world. (NYC is home to more than 600,000.)
The Fantasticks premiered at Barnard's Minor Latham Playhouse and became the longest running off-Broadway musical of all time.
The College paid $160,000.00 for its first plot of ground, an acre at Broadway and 119th Street, in 1896.
The Seven Sisters were born in 1927 and originally included Barnard College, Bryn Mawr College, Mount Holyoke College, Radcliffe College, Smith College, Vassar College, and Wellesley College. Of the original Seven Sisters, only 5 remain single-sex. Of these schools Barnard receives the most applications and is the most selective.
The original Barnard Greek Games were from 1903 to 1967. These Greek Games were contests between the freshman and sophomore classes featuring original poetry, dance, costume and athletic competitions. Hoop-rolling, discus-throwing, chariot-racing, and hurdling for form were also included.
Laurie Andersen, Natalie Angier, Jacqueline Barton, Ann Brashares, Edwidge Danticat, Cristina Garcia, Lauren Graham, Maria Hinojosa, Zora Neale Hurston, Erica Jong, Jeanne Kirkpatrick, Jhumpa Lahiri, Margaret Mead, Cynthia Nixon, Anna Quindlen, Joan Rivers, Atoosa Rubenstein, Ntozake Shange, Martha Stewart, Twyla Tharp, and Suzanne Vega are all graduates of Barnard College.
Approximately 65% of Barnard's faculty members are women, more than one-and-a-half times the national average.
Barnard on Location: In recent years, countless movies and television shows like "Law and Order" and "Gossip Girl" have filmed on or near campus.
Barnard students can take courses in nearly 50 languages including Arabic, Hebrew, Korean, Swahili, Tagalog, Persian, Sanskrit, Punjabi, Hindi-Urdu, and Russian.
Milbank Hall, Brooks Hall, Hewitt Hall, and Barnard Hall are all on the National Registry of Historic Places.
Barnard College math professor Dave Bayer served as the math adviser on the film "A Beautiful Mind" and also was Russell Crowe's hand double for the scenes where he is writing equations on windows, etc.
The family coat of arms of Frederick Augustus Porter Barnard, President of Columbia University 1864-1888, is the source of Barnard's symbol, the bear.
The only American female delegate to the 1945 San Francisco Conference, which established the United Nations, was Virginia Gildersleeve, Dean of Barnard, 1911-1945.
Barnard's neighboring institutions, in addition to Columbia University, include the Manhattan School of Music, Teachers College, Bank Street College of Education, Union Theological Seminary, and Jewish Theological Seminary.
Barnard is the only women's college that competes at the NCAA Division I level of competition.
A recent incoming class at Barnard included a tae kwon do Olympian, a NASA lab assistant, a talk show hostess, and a circus performer.
Many Barnard students continue their education in graduate or professional programs. Barnard ranks third among liberal arts colleges in graduates who earn a Ph.D.
Barnard ranks first among select U.S colleges in the number of women graduates who are now professors of chemistry and is one of the top schools in the nation in the number of female graduates who have entered the medical profession.
72% of Barnard's classes have 19 or fewer students. Only 1% enroll more than 100 students.
The NYPD ranks Barnard's neighborhood as one of the safest in Manhattan.
Women's intercollegiate and club teams use outdoor facilities at Baker Field, a 26-acre complex at the northern tip of Manhattan that includes a 20,000-seat stadium with an eight-lane, all-weather NCAA-regulation running track and practice fields, seven composition tennis courts, facilities for crew, and a spacious field house.
For students worrying about what to wear to a job interview, Barnard's Career Development Office offers "Suitable Suits", a program through which students can borrow a classic black suit.
More than 90% of Barnard students live in 12 Barnard residence halls and 4 Columbia residence halls; options include dorms, suites, and apartments. 98% of first-year students live in Barnard residential housing.
In a typical year, the number of Barnard students taking classes at Columbia, and the number of Columbia students taking classes at Barnard are nearly equal.
Barnard's campus includes an underground hallway system that connects all the academic buildings. Students can go through "the Tunnel," in order to get to their classes, the dining hall, the student center, and the library.
In 2010, Barnard's Career Development Office was ranked as one of the top 5 Colleges with Best Career Services nationwide by the Princeton Review.
