Teachers College at Columbia University Reviews

"The is an excellent institution. The students here are exceptional and the faculty are knowledgeable and willing to support you. I am a current PhD student and am feeling like I am being well prepared for a career in research and academia. My mentors are the absolute best."

"Teachers College Columbia University is ranked #1 out of all graduate schools of education (US NEWS) 2023. My experience enabled me to work with the best scholars in their fields, and for me, it was worth it. Class size were small which is important"

"I mention things at interviews I learned in the first semester at TC that the interviewing admins had never heard of. It can definitely make you more knowledgeable of education than those to whom you report, which can cause friction with those who view their employees as objects to mold rather than sources to bring them up to speed. I never heard block scheduling mentioned once while at TC, despite its having such an impact on instruction delivery. I also didn't leave with a lot of content, except from the chem concepts class. Fortunately I took a few hundred hours of workshops outside of TC that gave me materials to use my first few, struggling years. That saved me, but that wasn't to TC's credit. I would not consider going back to get my EdD from the same department while a particular prof is still there. She (and some students who wanted to keep course rigor low) got my second-favorite prof canned. I had to unlearn... well, improve upon a lot that she taught us. "Controlled chaos" doesn't impress admins who are looking for teachers who can control their classes. And "guide on the side" can lead to admins hearing complaints that you leave the students starving for content and that you must be evading teaching to cover up that you don't know your own subject! I often felt that she prepped us more for fifth graders than high school students. Unfortunately she was the only one teaching three of our required courses. I also wish more distinction were made between what grades and demographics a method would be appropriate. In this sense, there wasn't enough clarification about differentiation of instruction. The rigor is a bit low. If you're in your first year of teaching, the workload can get to you. If you're doing TC full time, it's far too little. I read far more in the literature on my own than they assigned. I wish they'd taught us the distinction between consulting literature and peer-reviewed literature. Admins seem to favor the former, and we should know that to understand some of the politics involved. There's much misinformation in education, and I felt only somewhat equipped to distinguish it and navigate those who buy into it. I also had to take New Jersey's alternate route track, which allowed me to see what sort of training most teachers were getting. The difference is pretty depressing. With all the problems my colleagues and I saw at TC, it was urgent to get our training there. But after you're placed, you'll make another teacher's eyes roll if you say "metacognition," and an interviewer will probably not know what you mean by "constructivism," "post-modernism," "concepts inventory," or "modeling instruction." They might not even be able to define the terms they themselves assess you against, like "engaging" and "inquiry-based." And while you keep improving and innovating each year as a teacher, as TC tells you to do, your boss's simplistic checklist won't improve along with you, and you'll be anchored to methods you have long since found improvements on, because TC gave you the tools and attitude to do so."

"This year, I received my master's in clinical psychology from TC. Apart from the impressive faculty and broad course selection, I consider the graduate student network to be the most valuable draw to the program. Let me be frank - there are several master's in psych programs across the country - almost all of which will be cheaper to attend than TC. However, this is the only program that will connect you to a tight-knit group of leaders in psychological research. After the first month or two (when everyone is competing for the "best" RA and internship positions), people in your cohort will start to lend each other a helping hand. All you have to do is ask, and someone you know will be able to get you a first interview at any leading psych research institute in the city. This is why the tuition is worth every penny. These connections will, if you allow them to, last a lifetime."

"I received my BA and MA from Columbia University. Here's my experience... As an undergrad, I felt like I was constantly competing with my classmates for the best grade; this geared my focus on academics rather than research. As a psych major, I was devastated when my high GPA didn't solidify my spot in a clinical psych PhD program. I began working as a research coordinator at NYU Medical School and decided to apply to psych PhD and MA programs the following cycle. While I did match into a PhD that year, I was not excited about the school or supervising professor. Luckily, I was accepted to the MA in clinical psych at Columbia, as well as the MA in general psych at NYU, BU, and Wake Forest. In retrospect, I am thrilled to have chosen TCCU. As a graduate student, I felt much more connected to my cohort - there were intelligent and driven people with vastly diverse experiences coming into the program. In my year, there was a former defense attorney, two investment bankers, and a coder from Google, each of whom had a clear and inspiring reason for pivoting their careers. While some students in the program considered graduate school to be merely an extension of their undergrads (partying a lot, focusing on only getting good grades, etc.), many more seemed to immerse themselves in research. I made lifelong friends that inspired and supported me. I just completed the third year of my PhD at Boston College and continue to look back on my MA program experience at TCCU as one of the best times of my life."

"I graduated with MA , M. Ed. and Ed. D . Degrees - I am sure I am in a perfect situation to write a great review gif my alms mater . With the many years at TC , I never wanted to finish and go out in the world of work . I aired this to my adviser of Doctoral studies ; he said go out and work and you will see you have an overload of knowledge / information. What he said is absolutely true ; you turn out knowing more than you think ; anc probably feel like never leaving TC; it is such a stimulating learning environment , great for work ; great for learners ; great for career prospects as well ! I highly recommend a TC to any one who wants to learn ,get a rigorous education; with highly knowledgeable faculty / advisors who walk you thru this exciting path of knowledge and future prospects ! So I say “ go for it “ no place like TC! Parting shot to prospective/ current student to see after graduating with three Graduate Degrees at TC you can take my word for TC , the best educational institution ! Thank you"

"Having earned my PhD in Clinical Psychology here, I can say for sure it is one of the most prestigious experiences. The program is highly selective, around 5-7 students per year, and professors are very supportive and are true experts in their field. There are a mixture of students doing certs and degrees from different backgrounds. I cannot speak for those doing certs, but students in degree programs are all of high standards."

"Saying that I am extremely disappointed in this school is an understatement. The professors are BRILLIANT and teach WONDERFULLY. They are genuinely concerned about their students and are largely fair graders who love to teach! However, the administration and college environment has absolutely no regard for their students. This is nothing but a money-hungry institution that will make your life 100x more difficult than it needs to be in terms of administrative tasks. They put holds on my records for no reason and made me spend hours trying to fix the issue, had almost every class online but never decreased tuition, had no spaces in most of their classes since mandatory and core requirements fill up within the first minute of registration, they have EXTREME technical difficulties not just during registration times but in general with printing services, ID services, etc., advisors never reach out to you about anything you're supposed to be doing, they take extra money for everything (money for printing, money for classes that require assessments, etc.), and they are LESS THAN accommodating to your concerns if/when you bring them up. Do not waste your time and money on this institution because it will do nothing but disappoint you. It used to be my dream school before I got in and now I regret wasting a dime here."

"I can only speak for the counseling psych program at TCCU (it seems as though someone is going through a hard time in the education program - see below comment), but I have very much enjoyed my experience in my program and at Columbia. My professors were brilliant and attentive, and I owe my acceptance into my #1 choice of doctorate programs to them. If you get accepted into the counseling MA program, try to get into Dr. Huang's Health Promotion of Minority Youth & Families Lab; she is well respected in the counseling field, and a letter of rec from her goes a long way."

"Had I known that Teachers College is condescendingly as an affiliate and not a real Columbia school, I would not have attended this school. The School is so fake it feels completely detached from Columbia. TC students are treated as a second class citizens, pitied on by School, staff, and everyone around at Columbia knowing the situation although they won't say that to your face; plus not being recognized as a real Columbia alum despite having the Columbia diploma and having to pay extra-phenomenal tuition with little rebate and horrible, low quality classes. Teachers College is so desperate to take money from its students that it offers health, nutrition and psychology programs- at the graduate school of education--- some of which are sub-par with those from community colleges or CUNY equivalents and certainly a far cry from the real Columbia Departments at Columbia. The clinical psychology program, by the way, is offered at Columbia, in the Columbia Psychiatry Department and is part of Columbia Medical School where students are recognized as Columbia students. Those admitted to TC clinical psychology program, are either those not accepted into the real Columbia Medical School/Psychology Department at Columbia (totally different from Teachers College), or just simply do not know. Teachers College is not a real Columbia School as Columbia College of Chicago is certainly not a Columbia School, althought both have "Columbia" in their names."

"I am currently in my second year in the clinical psych MA program at TC Columbia (Teachers College, Columbia University). I chose the program at Columbia over a comparable program at Wake Forest, given the success rates of students matching with competitive clinical psych PhD programs after graduation. The school does a horrible job at marketing itself, but their stats speak for themselves."

"During my senior year at Yale, my academic advisor recommended that I apply to the MA in clinical psych program at Columbia to enhance my application to doctorate programs. Throughout my time at TC, I was impressed with the diversity and intellect of my fellow peers. Furthermore, there is no question that the faculty are highly respected researchers offering exciting research opportunities (I learned quite a bit about suicide ideation in adolescents)."

"I found out today that although "Columbia University" is included in the name of the School, Teachers College is an affiliate school, and does not have the same status as a Columbia graduate school. Researching further, on Columbia Alumni Association website, it is stated clearly that "Please note that we cannot provide alumni online access to certificate holders, alumni of affiliate schools, current students, faculty, or staff." , or "Unfortunately, this business card service is currently unavailable to alumni of Barnard College, Teachers College, and the Jewish Theological Seminary," or in Alumni Access Page, "Please note we are currently not permitted to offer access to alumni of affiliate schools (Teachers College, Barnard College, Union Theological Seminary, Jewish Theological Seminary, and affiliate programs)." This clearly means that Teachers College are not Columbia alumni. That explains why Teachers College students do not receive Columbia ID cards. Yet, the School lied to students by saying that it is the Columbia School, when even on Columbia's website, Teachers College is listed as an "affiliate school," and not a "Columbia graduate school" as many others. I wonder what happens if current students and Alumni sue the School for defrauding them by lying about what they do not have to sell."

"I attempted to find the highest rated graduate school in my field which is Developmental Psychology and found Teachers College Columbia University. The staff are well recognize scholars, but are also levelheaded and friendly. Campus life was wonderful… Literally seconds away from the main Columbia University campus. I would highly recommend Teachers College Columbia University."

"I chose TC because of the "Columbia" name brand, and because it advertised itself as the best. I was very wrong. The classes are a joke they're so easy, and the teachers don't actually teach anything. Almost every class follows the same format of, "Share your thoughts about the readings with your small group, and then report on your discussion with the larger group." My classmates are not the sharpest tacks in the drawer, and the discussions are typically surface level and inane and miss most of the nuances of the texts we're reading (but of course constantly correcting them makes you look like a jerk, so there's no real way to improve the discussion quality). Some of the assignments and activities we've had to do are offensively simple. For example, in one class we spent 45 minutes in groups taking images that "describe our discipline" from Google Images and putting them onto a Google Slide. This is work I would expect of a sixth grader, not graduate students at a top school. I haven't learned anything from the classes, and the readings themselves only teach me something new about 20% of the time because there is so much overlap from class to class. The administration is horrible too. My advisor hasn't ever lifted a finger to do any advising. The expectations and requirements in terms of paperwork, student teaching, deadlines, etc. are not clearly communicated, and I had to do a lot of digging myself to find what should be basic, accessible information. Complete waste of (a lot of) money and time in terms of learning, but at the end of the day you do need a degree from a teaching program in order to teach in public schools. I'd recommend getting that piece of paper elsewhere."

"Teachers College is not Columbia. Period. If you question, ask them their email address. They do not have access to LionMail like Columbia students. Even after graduation, all Teachers College grads have is the Columbia diploma. Columbia Alumni emails are not granted to Teachers College alumni, while other services are granted "upon request" (i.e. begging the Columbia Alumni Office), while they are supposed to be automatically granted as they are advertised. This is how you feel while a student too--- the School tries very hard to brand themselves as the "Graduate School of Education" of Columbia, even though they were doing their own course and Teachers College students are excluded from Columbia University's services and have to "request" to join anything Columbia. Sad, because some graduate programs are truly good and selective, such as mine, but Teachers College is so big and accepts so many (if not everyone) applying to their massive programs, it cheapens the whole School."

"Teachers college is Columbia University’s Graduate School of Education and Psychology. When I attended, out of all of the graduate schools ranked by US news, TC was ranked third I loved all my professors, the environment, and especially the housing."

"Very disappointed. Not really Columbia, but afraid to take away the Columbia tag lest they lose students.Teachers College is a completely separate corporate with a few administrative resources shared with Columbia to make the students- their clients- feel that they belong to Columbia--- while classes are huge & of poor quality of instruction. Some professors and PhD students, used as lecturers and TAs, are afraid to even talk and lecture in classes. So often nowadays, especially in this department, you will meet ESL speakers not able to communicate their ideas in English. It hard speaking a second language for sure, but if you attend a graduate school of education in the US (not an engineering school or science), you are supposed to speak English more than others. Or you will meet social warriors--- all you hear about is "justice and equality" nowadays--- from not very intellectually-minded individuals from the faculty and staff without a well-reasoned sense of what is right and just. All to promote the quota of diversity and inclusion. The School is not about education anymore, but indoctrination and marketing playing on the image of "Columbia." Feels like a third-rated state-school at the price of a prestigious private school when all they try to teach is "affordability" and "access to education" to students. I got out, and fortunately could do the majority of my classes in another department, which was caring and had talented, competitive students and faculty, but for a few classes that were required in this department, I saw a completely different story."

"I have to agree with the negative reviews. The program offers some nice classes and professors. but Teachers College is a degree mill. It is disorganized, no individual support, and not well regarded. I did not really find TC offered much in the way of opportunities or connections to Columbia. Don't get me wrong. The program is perfectly fine if you want to get in and get out with your degree. You will surely get a good education and it will be more than enough to pass a licensing exam. If you are deciding between places, it is not worth it at all for the name and ridiculously high price."

"Teachers College Columbia University is Columbia University’s Graduate School of Education. I personally appreciated the small class sizes. While admission is highly selective, and it is within the ivy league, my classmates were not pompous at all.."