Columbia University reviews

Racist institution that looks the other way when people of color are being discriminated against. Several racist acts have occurred throughout campus in the past among blacks and Latinos. The institution emphasizes that they encourage multiculturalism and diversity, but their practice places many barriers. Staff are expected to conform and not challenge upper management. Communication is from the top down, as well as performance evaluations (e.g., staff do not evaluate their supervisor). Employee morale in my department was extremely low and high turnover.

The pay is low relative to similar functional roles at for-profit companies. The only people who make average (or even way above average) salaries are those in senior management. For the 401K, the university has a good matching plan but make sure to try to enter as an office at grade 14 or above - the University won't match employee contributions for two years for officers at grade 13 or below. Also, this is not the right environment for a motivated, ambitious person. It's filled with cronyism and incompetence at many levels throughout the organization. And this can lead to very low morale among the rank and file.