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 (94) , Administrative Assistant (79) , Graduate Teaching Assistant (78) , Postdoctoral Fellow (74) , Associate Research Scientist (72) , Assistant Director (66) , Director (56) , Postdoctoral Researcher (53) , 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 487 reviews)); "The people are great and it's a pleasure to work with students" ((in 325 reviews)); "Flexible hours and in an understanding environment while being able to develop real world skills." ((in 125 reviews)); "Flexibility and good work life balance" ((in 118 reviews)); "Great staff and a community that helps you grow" ((in 87 reviews))

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

"The pay can be low and slow" ((in 298 reviews)); "low salary very far from my home not much increase yearly not much chances of growth departments are not well interconnected" ((in 266 reviews)); "extremely low on pay and poor management" ((in 111 reviews)); "Senior leadership can be difficult to deal with." ((in 38 reviews)); "I have seen on more than one occasion, staff members completely stop doing their jobs with no serious repercussions (b/c the managers don't want to deal with the strenuous process of terminating someone)." ((in 38 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

(5,423 total reviews)

Lee C. Bollinger

60% approve of CEO

50% positive business outlook

Company ratings over time

Ratings trend for the last 6 months (5,423 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 5,423 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

4.0

Aug 13, 2008

Good pay, good benefits, develop a tough skin for egos

Research assistant

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

The plusses of working at CU are: the chance to interact with brilliant minds in research, the experience in getting your hands involved in more opportunities than other research employers offer, the prestige and boost on your resume.

Cons

The downsides of working at CU are interaction with large egos, poor management

2.0

Aug 13, 2008

Unless you are a librarian do NOT work for Columbia Libraries!

Web developer

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

The tuition benefits are the best part of working at Columbia. Especially as they cover your kids (school, Columbia, and even other undergrad colleges) your spouse can earn an undergrad degree too. Master's Program are good if you don't have one already but there are only a few part-time degrees available and they are not always ones that you are interested in and are somewhat mixed in as far as actually value of education and teaching. Vacation is very good with 23 days as the standard starting amount. The health Benefits are good with a wide range of choices and optional vision and dental Plans

Cons

Incompetency of leadership especially in the upper echelons of libraries. The 'Peter Principle' is in full effect here. The are also a lot of lifers here, unmotivated and incompetent people can eek out a long and fruitless existence with the bureaucracy. This is problematic if you work or even need to deal with them. Managers are too often picked for their subservience over their leadership abilities, vision, management skills or general competency. Salaries tend to be very poor and those involved in the budgets are very cheap and do not understand ideas of value of bottom line especially when it comes to investment in technology.

4.0

Jul 3, 2008

Quick opinion about working at Columbia

system administrator

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Benefits, including free tuition to all undergraduate and graduate schools, except for the law school.

Cons

Pay, as with all universities the pay is usually not very competitive.

Viewing 5419 - 5421 of 5,423 Reviews

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