Civic engagement is woven into the fabric of student life at Columbia—from tutoring and mentoring to environmental conservation to homelessness advocacy, students here have a long and important tradition of civic engagement. Service learning components are incorporated into many academic programs at the University; find out more on our Curricular Enhancements page. But some of the most far-reaching and longest-lived initiatives are those founded and run by student volunteers.

Community Impact
Community Impact consists of a dedicated corps of more than 950 student volunteers participating in 25 community service programs that serve more than 8,000 people each year.





Double Discovery Center
Founded in 1965, Double Discovery Center runs programs that help students graduate from high school, gain admission to college, and earn college degrees. The center now serves more than 1,000 low-income and first-generation college-bound New York City youth each year in grades 7 through 12.



Give + Go Green
This program run by student “eco-reps” and Housing and Dining collects items destined for the landfill—cast-off clothing, books, furniture, computer equipment, and household items—and donates them to charity.




Read more about Columbia’s involvement in the community in the Columbia in New York section of this report.

Community Partnerships Watch Video >

The Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science has a robust service learning program in which students and faculty participate in a breadth of partnerships, from school-based projects that help teachers at six uptown New York City public schools expand their knowledge of math and science to workforce development programs that train New Yorkers in career-enhancing skills in technology, communication, project management, and teamwork. Among them is SLICE (Service Learning in a Community Environment), a sixteen-month program designed to help unemployed members of the community acquire technical and professional skills. The program teaches skills in software engineering, Web and database design, and Java programming.