FAQs - Prospective Students

Frequently Asked Questions from prospective students to the MA in European History, Politics, and Society program at Columbia University.

Graduates of European History, Politics, and Society go on to careers in government, business, journalism, and the non-profit sector as well as doctoral and professional programs at North American and European universities.

More information about recent alumni can be found on the Featured Alumni page.

No, the GRE is not required. Applicants have the option of submitting GRE scores to be considered by the admissions committee.

The European Institute offers tuition remission to highly qualified students, decided at the time of admission.

Students are also able to apply for financial aid through the Graduate School of the Arts.

Please view the Financial Support page for more information.

The European Institute offers competitive Thesis Grants for European History, Politics, and Society students who want to conduct thesis research in Europe. The funds may be used for travel expenses and research expenses.

Please see the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS) Cost of Attendance page for the most detailed information.

A student who wishes to fulfill the program in 12 months, would pay for 2 full Residence Units (2 semesters total, and if need be, taking an Incomplete to finish the thesis during the summer) at $61,180 total tuition. *Tuition rate for the 2020-2021 academic year.

A student who wishes to finish the program in 18 months (3 semesters total), would take 1 RU in the first Fall semester, and then 0.5 RU in the Spring semester, and 0.5 RU in the second Fall semester, at $63,746 total tuition. *Tuition rate for the 2020-2021 academic year.

For international students: please note that student visas require full-time enrollment at Columbia. International students therefore need to register for a full Residence Unit (1 RU) each semester. If an international student requires a third semester to complete their program requirements, they would need to register for Extended Residence (ER) in that semester.

No Transfer Credit is granted toward the Master of Arts (M.A.) degree at Columbia for courses taken outside Columbia University.

For graduate courses taken previously at Columbia in their post-baccalaureate years, students registered in M.A. programs may request up to 15 points of Transfer Credit toward fulfillment of the coursework requirement for an M.A. degree. Credit must not have been used to fulfill requirements for any other degree previously awarded. In this case, M.A. coursework requirements may be shortened by the amount of Transfer Credits, subject to approval by the department. For example, if the M.A. degree requires 30 credits and the student transfers 10 credits, he or she may only need to fulfill the remaining 20 credits. Transfer Credits for post-baccalaureate coursework may also partially fulfill the Residence Unit requirement for completion of the M.A. degree (2 RUs), subject to approval by the department.

  • 2 classes or 6 credits are the equivalent of 0.25 RU
  • 3 classes or 9 credits are the equivalent of 0.5 RU
  • 4 classes or 12 credits are the equivalent of 1 RU

We accept part-time students, but favor applications from full-time students.

No, all European History, Politics, and Society students begin in the Fall semester.

No. Most PhD programs at Columbia are offered through departments. Among the many departments that support the study of Europe at the doctoral level are History, Sociology, Film, Political Science, and departments of literature such as French and Romance Philology and Slavic Languages.

Students who have earned a degree at an institution where the language of study is a European language other than English are exempt from our program's European language requirement.

However, please note that these students must likely supply TOEFL or IELTS scores when applying, in order to meet the GSAS requirements for English Proficiency.