Does Columbia University pay their employees well?

According to anonymously submitted Glassdoor reviews, Columbia University employees rate their compensation and benefits as 3.6 out of 5. Find out more about salaries and benefits at Columbia University. This rating has been stable over the past 12 months.

How satisfied are employees working at Columbia University?

65% of Columbia University employees would recommend working there to a friend based on Glassdoor reviews . Employees also rated Columbia University 3.8 out of 5 for work life balance, 3.6 for culture and values and 3.7 for career opportunities.

What are the top reviewed jobs at Columbia University?

Research Assistant (329) , Teaching Assistant (162) , Graduate Research Assistant (161) , Graduate Student (150) , PhD Student (144) , Postdoctoral Research Scientist (94) , Administrative Assistant (78) , Graduate Teaching Assistant (78) , Postdoctoral Fellow (73) , Associate Research Scientist (70) , Assistant Director (66) , Director (55) , Postdoctoral Researcher (51) , Associate Director (45) , Program Coordinator (44)

What are the pros of working at Columbia University according to real employee reviews?

"Columbia and the Business School are great to work for because of the benefits and the people." ((in 495 reviews)); "The people are great and it's a pleasure to work with students" ((in 335 reviews)); "Great colleagues and talent employed" ((in 152 reviews)); "Flexible hours and in an understanding environment while being able to develop real world skills." ((in 117 reviews)); "Flexibility and good work life balance" ((in 110 reviews))

What are the cons of working at Columbia University according to real employee reviews?

"The pay can be low and slow" ((in 291 reviews)); "Salaries in the teaching and research tracks are low compared to private industry; many positions depend on grant funding." ((in 268 reviews)); "extremely low on pay and poor management" ((in 108 reviews)); "Senior leadership can be difficult to deal with." ((in 38 reviews)); "If you get a bad manager, not much can be done." ((in 36 reviews))

What are employees saying about Columbia University layoffs in 2026?

Explore Glassdoor’s employee reviews to understand what current and former employees are saying about Columbia University layoffs and their outlook for job security at Columbia University in 2026.

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Columbia University

Columbia University reviews

4.0

65% would recommend to a friend

(5,406 total reviews)

Lee C. Bollinger

60% approve of CEO

51% positive business outlook

Ratings by category

4.0

Diversity & inclusion

3.8

Work/Life balance

3.7

Career opportunities

3.6

Culture & values

3.6

Compensation and benefits

3.4

Senior management

Columbia University has an employee rating of 4.0 out of 5 stars, based on 5,406 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Columbia University employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Educación industry (3.7 stars).

Ratings by demographic groups

Race / Ethnicity

Gender

Sexual orientation

Disability

Parent or family caregiver

Veteran status

Reviews by job title

5K reviews

1.0

Apr 7, 2024

Antisemitic hellhole

Anonymous employee

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Good benefits, great tuition remission, often rewarding work.

Cons

Do you want to work in an institution where there are weekly, even daily protests where people are calling for your death? Do you want to by physically assaulted on campus for wearing a yarmulke? Perhaps you want to be spat on or called a "dirty Jew" when wearing a Star of David. Or maybe you want to work somewhere where actual terrorist groups who celebrate the mass murder of Oct. 7 are invited on campus. Then Columbia is the perfect place for you to work!

3.0

Jul 8, 2023

Be Careful What Department You Work For

Program coordinator

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Good Benefits Prestige of Name

Cons

Depending on your department/office, the people you work with can be extremely arrogant, entitled, and overall just bad people (not everyone, but there are plenty of bad apples here) HR does NOT care about you as an employee and does NOT care about your mental health

3.0

Jan 30, 2023

Tuition remission

Technical specialist

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

- If you want to go back to school the tuition remission benefit is great. However you need to be employed for two full years to take advantage of it - 20+ vacation days - Main campus is beautiful, very easily accessible by bus/subway/bike/walking

Cons

- Salary is lower than an equivalent job not in academia, I would not recommend working here unless you plan on taking advantage of the tuition benefit - Aside from slight cost of living increases, raises are hard to come by for full time administrators unless you are promoted and move up to a higher grade - Night and weekend work was advertised as occasional in the job listing but ended up being quite regular

Viewing 37 - 39 of 5,406 Reviews

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Administrative Assistant

Administrative Assistant

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Administrative Assistant

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Antisemitic hellhole

Be Careful What Department You Work For

Tuition remission

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