1. Online Application
Completed online application form with $95.00 nonrefundable application fee.
You must submit all materials directly, not through an agent or third-party vendor, with the sole exception of submissions by the U.S. Department of State’s Fulbright Program and its three partner agencies IIE, LASPAU and AMIDEAST, and by the Danish-American Fulbright Commission (DAF), Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (DAAD), and Vietnam Education Fund (VEF). If you have any questions about this requirement, please contact the admissions office at apply@sps.columbia.edu.
If you are applying to the Sustainability Analytics, Sustainable Finance, or Sustainable Water Management program, when prompted to select an application type, please select Master’s Affiliated CPA Program, rather than Non-Degree and Other Certificate Programs.
2. Transcripts
You are required to disclose and provide official academic transcripts for all post-secondary academic study completed and in progress. This includes individual courses for academic credit, certifications, certificates, transfer coursework, study abroad, second bachelor’s degrees, and advanced degrees. All institutions attended must be listed in the Enrollment History section of the online application.
Instructions for Submission of Transcripts When Applying:
Applicants should upload a transcript (unofficial transcripts are permissible) of any academic work from each university-level institution you have attended for use in review of your application. Falsification, forgery, and misrepresentation of any type, will risk forfeiture of admissions and/or enrollment. Forfeiture may occur whenever an integrity lapse is discovered, and may include admissions revocation, expulsion, or another sanction outlined within the Standards of Campus Discipline.
If your post-secondary credentials are from an institution outside the United States, the Office of Admissions also requires you to submit all post-secondary credentials (undergraduate and graduate) to World Education Services, Inc. (WES), a third-party verification agency for a course-by-course evaluation for admission consideration.
Applicants must upload an unofficial transcript from each institution attended for use in review of your application, as well as any degree certificates. For Indian universities, this includes all semester mark sheets. If your university provides transcripts in a language other than English, both the original language document and English translation are required.
Falsification, forgery, and misrepresentation of any type will risk forfeiture of admissions and/or enrollment. Forfeiture may occur wheneveran integrity lapse is discovered, and may include admissions revocation, expulsion, or another sanction outlined within the Student Conduct and Community Standards would not be entitled to request any refund of the application fee, enrollment deposit or tuition in the case that the official transcript deviates from the unofficial.
Instructions for using WES:
WES must complete a course-by-course evaluation of all post-secondary credentials. Please select the WES basic course-by-course evaluation (with GPA and course-levels) and request to have WES send your evaluation to Columbia University School of Professional Studies. The school can be found by searching Columbia University and then selecting School of Professional Studies. The evaluation provided to the School of Professional Studies becomes an official academic record and sole property of the School of Professional Studies upon its receipt.
WES evaluations will be reviewed by the School of Professional Studies administrators and the determination of degree equivalency to U.S. degrees is at the discretion of the School of Professional Studies.
Instructions for Submission of Transcripts When Accepting an Offer of Admission:
All students who have attended a college or university in the United States must submit electronic transcripts directly from their school or via the vendor that provides that service for their institution to transcripts@sps.columbia.edu.
If a school does not offer electronic delivery, you must write to transcripts@sps.columbia.edu to provide us with the link to your institution's webpage concerning transcript orders. After verification, we will respond with further instructions.
If your post-secondary credentials are from an institution outside the United States, and you have completed additional coursework since the initial WES evaluation was provided, you must request an updated report and have WES send your course-by-course evaluation to Columbia University School of Professional Studies.
3. Resume
Please upload your most recent resume with your application.
4. Statement of Academic Purpose
Statement of Academic Purpose (500 – 750 words) that addresses:
1) Your purpose and interest in pursuing a degree or certificate in sustainability management, and, 2) How the degree or certificate program fits into your overall professional growth, focusing in particular on the connection between the program and your academic and/or professional experience
5. Recommendation Letters
Two Letters of Recommendation
These letters should be written by current or former supervisors or by faculty members with whom you have studied, that address your suitability for the program and your ability to commit to the rigorous curriculum. We strongly recommend that all applicants submit at least one academic reference. Applicants who have received their bachelor’s degree within the last five years must submit at least one recommendation from a teacher who can comment on your academic aptitude.
Applicants must list recommenders and their contact information within the online application. Please provide your recommender’s professional email address and note that your recommender will receive an email requesting the recommendation upon your completion of the recommendation section of the application. Your recommender will be asked to log into the online application system, answer a few questions, and upload a letter of recommendation typed on professional letterhead. Recommendations must be submitted within the online application system. We strongly suggest notifying your recommender of these requirements prior to entering their information into the application system. You have the ability within the application system to re-notify your recommender of the request, and change your recommender if necessary. Apart from the initial notification sent through the application system, applicants are responsible for notifying and reminding the recommender about the request.
Recommendations must be submitted through the application system and by the recommender directly. Applicants who have uploaded their own recommendation letters are not admissible.
Information to Share with your Recommenders
Before adding their information to the application, please contact your recommenders and inform them that they will receive an email from apply@sps.columbia.edu that will provide instructions regarding their letters. They may wish to add apply@sps.columbia.edu to their address book or list of contacts to ensure that the message is routed to their inbox.
Ensure your recommender is aware that they will be asked to complete a brief evaluation form within the application system and upload a letter of recommendation on letterhead (whenever possible). Both components are necessary to fulfill the requirement and must be provided within the application system. We will not accept letters sent via email or post mail.
Inform your recommender that they should expect to be contacted by a third party verification provider, Re Vera Services, who will reach out to them via email to confirm that they supplied the recommendation.
We strongly suggest you give your recommender a timeline for providing the recommendation and that you proactively follow-up with them until the letter is submitted.
6. Demonstrated English Proficiency
To be considered for admission, students must be comfortable with rapid and idiomatic spoken English. If the language of instruction of your undergraduate degree conferring institution is English and you completed two or more years at the institution, you need not take further steps to prove fluency. However, if your undergraduate education is not conducted in English, or you completed fewer than two years at your degree conferring institution where English was the language of instruction, you must provide official scores on the TOEFL or IELTS.
Please note: Applicants for the Information and Knowledge and Strategy, Sports Management and Strategic Communication programs must submit TOEFL and IELTS scores regardless of the language of instruction used at their degree conferring institution.
Applicant total scores must meet the Columbia SPS minimum requirement of 100 (TOEFL iBT) or 7.0 (IELTS). You will be required to enter your test scores or your anticipated testing date within the online application, and official test score reports will be required for your application to be considered complete and ready for admission review. TOEFL and IELTS scores are valid for two years after your test date. Applicants receiving scores below the posted minimums may be advised to apply directly to the American Language Program. (Use school code 2594 to report TOEFL scores.)
If you are unable to provide official scores on the TOEFL or IELTS due to the closing of testing centers, please email with the specific details of your situation.
7. Video Essay
Applicants are required to submit a 1-minute video essay. Once the application and fee are submitted, the video essay section will become available. You will be given time to create test videos to ensure that your system is working properly. When you are ready, you will be given a randomly selected prompt for which you will have one minute to prepare and one minute to record a response. The questions are random and have no right or wrong answers (like ice breaker questions).
