Columbia University is one of the world’s most important centers of research and at the same time a distinctive and distinguished learning environment for undergraduates and graduate students in many scholarly and professional fields. The University recognizes the importance of its location in New York City and seeks to link its research and teaching to the vast resources of a great metropolis. It seeks to attract a diverse and international faculty and student body, to support research and teaching on global issues, and to create academic relationships with many countries and regions. It expects all areas of the University to advance knowledge and learning at the highest level and to convey the products of its efforts to the world.

Both global and local in focus, the University offers an outstanding and comprehensive array of academic programs. These include three undergraduate schools, thirteen graduate and professional schools, a world-renowned medical center, four affiliated colleges and seminaries, twenty-five libraries, centers for the arts, and more than one hundred research centers and institutes.
And many more universities located in the USA such as, Illinois Institute of Technology, Carnegie Mellon University, Stevens Institute of Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), The New School, Northeastern University, Rice University, etc.