Facts and Figures

Students 

Numbers 

• 14,580 graduates since 1892  
• 639 students currently enrolled in degree programs (MS, DNP, PhD)* 
• 146 students currently enrolled in the non-degree OPEN (Online Prerequisites for Entry to Nursing) program*

* As of July 15, 2025

Demographics (for enrolled degree and non-degree students) 

• Average age of enrolled students: 30*
• Age range: 17–66*
• States represented: 32*
• Countries represented: 26* 
• Students who identify as men: 13%*
• Students who identify as Asian, Black, Hispanic, Native American, and/or Pacific Islander: 46%* 
• Students of unknown racial identity: 27%*

* As of July 15, 2025

Admissions 

• Average undergraduate GPA: 3.4 
• Top careers of entrants into the Masters Direct Entry program: public health/health policy, health care, business, education, social work   
• Students who receive financial aid: 80%

Faculty and Staff 

Dean 

• Lorraine Frazier, PhD, RN, FAAN 

Numbers 

• 81 full-time faculty members 
• 20 attending faculty members 
• 308 part-time faculty members  
• 854 clinical faculty members (preceptors)  

Demographics 

• 35% of full-time and part-time faculty identify as Asian, Black, Hispanic, Native American, and/or Pacific Islander 
• 15% of full-time and part-time faculty identify as male
• 60% of staff identify as Asian, Black, Hispanic, Native American, or Pacific Islander *

Honors

• 33 faculty are Fellows of the American Academy of Nursing^†
• 21 faculty are Fellows of the New York Academy of Medicine^†
• 4 faculty are members of the National Academy of Medicine
• 3 faculty are U.S. Fulbright Scholar alumni^†
• 10 faculty are Sigma Theta Tau International Nurse Researcher Hall of Fame inductees†
• 4 faculty are Fellows of the American College of Medical Informatics
• 5 faculty are Fellows of the American Heart Association^†
• 4 faculty have been named Living Legends of the American Academy of Nursing^† 

* Does not include multiracial staff or those who choose not to disclose their race 
† Through 2024 

Academics 

• Degrees offered: MS, DNP, PhD  

• Non-degree, certificate, and subspecialty programs 

  • Non-degree OPEN (Online Prerequisites for Entry to Nursing) program 

  • Certificate of Professional Achievement in Palliative Care Throughout the Lifespan for Advanced Practice Registered Nurses (APRNs)  

  • Subspecialty programs in Oncology and Women’s Health 

• Class size  

  • Masters Direct Entry program: didactic classes, 40; clinical simulation classes, 8; clinical placement integration, 1:1 

  • DNP program: 23 

  • PhD program: 8 

• National licensure and certification exam pass rates 

  • Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner program (ANCC): 93% (MSN program), 74% (postgrads), 50% (DNP program), 82% (overall)*

  • Family Nurse Practitioner program (ANCC): 91% (MSN program), 100% (postgrads), 83% (DNP program), 96% (overall)* 

  • Masters Direct Entry program NCLEX-RN (NCSBN): 93%* 

  • Midwifery program (American Midwifery Certification Board): 100%†  

  • Nurse Anesthesia program (National Certification Examination): N/A (Masters)‡

  • Pediatric Primary Care Nurse Practitioner program (PNCB): 93%* 

  • Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner program (ANCC): 100% (MSN program), 93% (postgrads), 100% (DNP program), 99% (overall)* 

• Job placement upon graduation: 95% 

• Alumni hold leadership positions in hospitals, academia, federal agencies, professional organizations and associations, and state and local government   

* Test taken in calendar year 2024 
† The calculation of this pass rate for the 2024 graduating class is based on ACME accreditation standards
‡ The pass rate was 97% in 2023, but there was no graduating class in 2024 due to the program’s transition to doctoral status 

Clinical Care

• One of only eight nursing schools in the nation associated with a major academic medical center (Columbia University Irving Medical Center)  

• All clinical faculty maintain a faculty practice 

• Faculty practice through the ColumbiaDoctors Primary Care Nurse Practitioner Group   

• 178 clinical partnership practice sites throughout New York City  

• 9 global clinical integration sites in 9 countries on four continents* 

• Home to the 14-room, two-story, 16,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art Helene Fuld Health Trust Simulation Center

• Among the first nursing schools in the country to use Pediatric HAL, the world’s most advanced pediatric patient simulator

* This is the number of clinical integration sites active in 2025; a few are currently on pause 

Research  

• #1 among U.S. schools of nursing in National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding for federal fiscal year 2024* 

• Over $14 million in federal and nonfederal funds awarded in fiscal year 2025† 

• Over 67 active grants in fiscal year 2025† 

* October 1, 2023 – September 30, 2024 
† July 1, 2024 – June 30, 2025 

Nationwide Firsts 

• First U.S. nursing school to establish a graduate university-based midwifery program (1955)

• First U.S. nursing school to award a master’s degree in a clinical nursing specialty (1956)

• First U.S. nursing school to offer a doctorate in clinical nursing practice (DNP) (2004)

• Only U.S. nursing school designated a Collaborating Center for Advanced Practice Nursing by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO)/World Health Organization (WHO) 

• First U.S. nursing school to require all faculty to establish either a clinical practice or research program (1988). This clinical requirement led to the 1994 establishment of the Center for Advanced Practice (CAP), eventually called Columbia Advanced Practice Nursing Associates (CAPNA), the first independent primary care practice run by nurse practitioners. Today, Columbia Nursing’s faculty practice is known as ColumbiaDoctors Primary Care Nurse Practitioner Group.