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 (330) , Graduate Research Assistant (162) , Teaching Assistant (162) , Graduate Student (150) , PhD Student (145) , Postdoctoral Research Scientist (95) , Administrative Assistant (79) , Graduate Teaching Assistant (78) , Postdoctoral Fellow (74) , Associate Research Scientist (72) , Assistant Director (66) , Director (56) , Postdoctoral Researcher (54) , Associate Director (45) , Researcher (45)

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 481 reviews)); "The people are great and it's a pleasure to work with students" ((in 324 reviews)); "Flexible hours and in an understanding environment while being able to develop real world skills." ((in 121 reviews)); "Flexibility and good work life balance" ((in 110 reviews)); "Great staff and a community that helps you grow" ((in 85 reviews))

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

"low pay compared to state schools that pay more to perform the same exact duties." ((in 294 reviews)); "Salaries in the teaching and research tracks are low compared to private industry; many positions depend on grant funding." ((in 270 reviews)); "extremely low on pay and poor management" ((in 111 reviews)); "Senior leadership can be difficult to deal with." ((in 40 reviews)); "If you get a bad manager, not much can be done." ((in 39 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.

Columbia University reviews

4.0

65% would recommend to a friend

(5,429 total reviews)

Lee C. Bollinger

60% approve of CEO

51% positive business outlook

Company ratings over time

Ratings trend for the last 6 months (5,429 reviews)

Ratings by demographic groups

Race / Ethnicity

Gender

Sexual orientation

Disability

Parent or family caregiver

Veteran status

Columbia University has an employee rating of 4.0 out of 5 stars, based on 5,429 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).

Reviews by job title

5K reviews

3.0

May 12, 2011

There is very little room for growth

Photographer

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Columbia provides excellent benefits to it's employees.

Cons

Columbia often hires supervisors who are not qualified to run a department . Columbia in general does not value employees education or skills.

3.0

May 12, 2011

There were ups and downs with some exciting projects to work on but overall poor senior management affecting happiness

Project manager

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Descent benefits, often exciting projects to work on, linked in to other parts of universities, free classes.

Cons

Poor management, university systems don't talk to each other, lots of red tape, and low salaries.

3.0

May 11, 2011

Not very exciting

Associate director

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

great benefits (unless they change, which is in process) good work/life balance (but depends on manager/department)

Cons

everything moves slowly, inefficient, siloed, and bureacratic not very challenging, goal-driven, which is ok for some if you want to just cruise, but if you want a stimulating, entrepreneurial environment, look somewhere else

Viewing 5362 - 5364 of 5,429 Reviews

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Jobs at Columbia University

Adjunct Lecturer, Solving Real World Problems with Analytics (ONLINE - Summer/Fall '26)