I was recently accepted to Columbia University’s School of Professional Studies M.S. program and had some concerns and questions before I make the investment. I’m an established business owner and professional and wanted to “beef up” my resume and gain some more insight into my line of work and previous undergraduate studies. Unlike some of the students that I have seen apply and get accepted, I’m not looking to seek employment or further my career in a cooperative setting. This degree is to help expand my company. With that said, I’ve seen so much back and forth on the internet to the merit and return on investment of SPS. The naysayers contend that SPS is an extension school and is frowned upon within the Columbia Graduate and Undergrad circles. That it’s a pathway for lesser qualified applicants to get the “prestige” of an Ivy degree, and a “cash cow” for the university. Being concerned and a “dot your I’s and cross your T’s” type person, I reached out to some of the admission specialists and counselors. They of course validated that the program was on par with all the other graduate schools. I don’t know if these are students or cold callers being told what to say from the “higher-ups” to draw in students, so SPS can survive financially… or that the school really is on the up and up. On the flip side, I did see where the incoming class for SPS obtained their undergrad degrees and was extremely impressed. Michigan, Johns Hopkins, UVa, Cornell, Rutgers, Cooper Union, Barnard, Yale, just to name a few. In closing, I would like to know from actual current SPS students, past alumni, and people “in the know”, what the SPS experience was like for them and the validity of the program. Thanks in advance.
How, exactly, do you see this degree doing that?
Columbia SPS is a real school and their degrees are “valid”. They are also revenue streams for the university. What matters is whether cost:benefit is a net positive for you. And to figure that out, you need to be clear about what - exactly - you will get from the program. Your list of goals:
*“beef up” my resume: for whom? are there prospective customers for your business who will be favorably impressed by having this on your promotional materials / LinkedIn page? How meaningful will it be, to what #/% of potential customers?
*gain some more insight into my line of work and previous undergraduate studies: through industry knowledge? tools that have evolved since your undergraduate days? being really specific here is useful.
What is the overall cost to the program for you, in the actual tuition, as well as the distraction from your day job & personal life?
Draw direct lines between the program and your goals and stack them up against the costs. B/c at the end of the day there are naysayers about every single program- what matters is its value to you.
ps, some in academic circles scorn ‘professional studies’ b/c of their practical focus and their association with filthy lucre, as opposed to the pure, life of the mind, intellectualism of the ivory tower. 
Geez, rough crowd. But I understand and respect your insight. I’ll answer your questions, one by one.
I love the logistical end that the M.S. program at Columbia, SPS offers, that my undergrad did not (and amazing business connections). After reading the syllabus and guts of the program, I knew it would be a great marriage to both my degrees. If I can speak with faculty and they can refer me to workshops within the university, then I will take it from there.
I understand that SPS is a “real school”. I was very concerned that there was chatter on Wikipedia, Quora, and Reddit, about other schools protesting against SPS, saying that they let in lesser qualified applicants. I know the internet is full of lies and misinformed armchair gurus, but there has to be validity in someone’s argument…one being that SPS was an extension school, and when I Googled “Columbia Extention school”, SPS came up. At the end of the day, I’m paying for this, not you, so I have every right to be concerned.
Maybe the word “beef up” was a little presumptuous. I could have used the word “enhance”. Regardless, there is nothing wrong with an Ivy League pedigree on your resume. My current and potential clients will be impressed, nonetheless. Outside of that, my chief concern is to gain more insight and knowledge from one of the most esteemed faculties in the world.
Not going into details, but my current profession is very infield-based. I will leave it at that. I liked the fact that these programs at SPS are “specific”. By freak luck, I found a university that was prestigious, somewhat local, and a graduate program that was a perfect marriage to my undergrad degree. Kind of a lottery winning. Obviously, when there is scrutiny, and a hefty tuition price tag, you get concerned.
I’m paying for everything out of pocket. Not to sound like a hero, but I’ve done very well for myself with building businesses from start-ups, real estate investments, and customer connections/relations. really no distractions. I could leave for a week and my company wouldn’t skip a beat. Great management, infield, and in-office employees.
I get it about academia! There are faculty that haven’t left the “ivory tower” and have ZERO working world experience. If you laid out a shovel, pick, and rake, they would not know what they are, or what to do with them. I get it. Unfortunately, there are more them than not, and I can’t fight the good battle, because I will lose. Criminal as it may seem…it’s just the way it is.
I was surprised that you read my comments as being negative or harsh- but as I re-read it I can see how you might have read the request for you to draw a direct link between the program and how it would help you as a skeptical ‘yeah, right’. It really was a genuine question! the questions were to tease out exactly the points you replied with. Overall, I was trying to say that it doesn’t matter what other people say- it matters if it’s right for you. Your concern about value for money is of course appropriate!
This is the crux of it.
Apologies for coming across as negative or judgemental- it’s almost the opposite of what I intended.
No need for apologies. I appreciate the candor and posted so I would get some “real insight”, instead of cold calling Columbia and having everyone “yes” me to death. I spoke to some of my friends who are in the know, and they told me that Columbia got the “Extention School” reputation, because SPS is the only school within the university, that offers certificates. Understandable, because the degrees are so specific. Furthermore, some of these “specific degrees”, render offshoot endeavors within that degree…hence the post-bac. and certificate degrees. Somewhat off-topic here. Do you have a child at Columbia, or are you an alum? Reason for asking is that you seemed to succor the university with an expeditious, and straightforward response. Thanks again for the insight!
No direct links with Columbia! What I do have is a decent amount of experience with grad schools (from both sides), which involves a lot of helping students figure out what they want from grad school (hence all those questions) and helping them find the right program for what they are looking for.
Glad it was helpful 
If the product that your business offers is YOU, your skills and services, and people are looking at your CV to decide whether they want to pay you to provide a service for them, then yes, a Columbia SPS degree could be valuable for you.
If your business provides a tangible product, rather than a service, then I don’t think that this is valuable for you. People will come for the product, and they couldn’t care less whether the person selling/producing the product has a Columbia SPS degree on their CV.
Columbia SPS is the home to the summer college program and the post-bacc. These are cash cows for Columbia. And for most universities, the masters programs generate a lot of cash flow. Reason is that very little financial aid is given out.
If the MS program suits your needs, I say go for it. It will be well recognized within the community. And the Columbia name will certainly be noticed. For the STEM based disciplines (Actuary science, analytics, etc) I would say that the ROI is positive. But for some of the others (conflict resolution, sports management, etc) I’m not so sure spending $100k would be worth it. But its up to you to decide.
I agree. Conflict resolution and sports management, in my world, make no sense, and spending 100k sounds like risible bragging rights. My discipline will be STEM-based, as my background is in environmental sciences. Thanks. Much appreciated.
Yes, as previously mentioned, I work for myself, and this sort of branding will benefit my company.
I’m on both sides of the coin here. I do offer product sales within my company, but service is our niche. Most of my company’s work schedule is infield services. I love that this degree enhances my undergrad studies and actual profession. There was no questioning that. My concerns were the validity and reputation, which seemed to be getting more negative press than the other schools within Columbia. I didn’t want to be known as the “dumber brother” Columbia attendee, spending over a 100k, at the program that was seen as a cash cow and offshoot of the more prestigious programs.
At almost all elite schools the masters and professional programs are going to be known as the “dumb brother “. That doesn’t make them the “illegitimate brother”.
Have to admit, you are right. Villanova undergrad is top-notch, but their law school is borderline 3rd tier. The same goes for Cornell’s Masters in Agriculture, Harvard’s School of Design, and Penn’s Analytics. The most perplexing is…why? If you are going for a Masters’s degree, wouldn’t it be seen as the next level of education, and for lack of terms, better than its undergrad curriculum?
Not necessarily, b/c the metrics are different. Columbia would have been a very unlikely admit for one of my collegekids, but was a safety for her when applying to PhD programs. The level of expertise needed for an UG curriculum is materially different than for PG. Lots more colleges and universities are as good as one another for most students than you might think here on CC (viz, your comment on Villanova). When you get to fourth level, the distinctions in areas of specialization become starker.
The whole question of Master’s programs and Professional Studies degrees is fraught on several levels.
The first one is a comment that has been made a few times in this thread: many PhD academics see professional studies of any sort as inherently ‘less than’. It is still common for PhD students to have advisors who see going into “industry” as the path for those who can’t cut it in academia. So, in that world: PhD-Academic > PhD-practice/industry > Masters in academic field > Masters in applied field > any diploma/certificate program. That sort of snobbery floats out and colors how other people see professional degrees and certs. Sometimes that is fair, sometimes not.
The second is the issue of degree inflation: what used to require a HS diploma now want a college degree, and in many fields a masters is now de rigueur for jobs that are essentially entry level.
Third you have an unwholesome case of ‘need, meet opportunity’. On the one hand, public universities have had their funding steadily cut over the last 20-30 years, and were left to their own devices to make up the difference. So, you get massive tuition hikes, astonishingly fancy new dorms done as public-private partnerships that make money for the university, and so on. On the other hand, you have more people needing paper credentials to qualify for jobs (as above). You also have people in public sector jobs with pay scales in which you can level up by increasing your credentials. For example, if you are a public school teacher in KY and get any sort of Master’s degree at all- no matter what topic / no matter what subject or age you teach- you get a pay bump. Et voilá here we are.
But to bring it back to you, or any given student: this is why the fit is so important. You are clear as to how this specific degree will add value to your professional life. You are in a position where you can afford both the time and the money, and you are ready to be in active learning mode. Those are the metrics that count.
So- do it and have fun with it! Expect in some ways to be disappointed- even people with world-class credentials can have feet of clay, and even famous institutions have their bureaucratic weak spots. Expect to be surprised at things you hadn’t thought would be interesting (or hard!) that are- and vice-versa. Expect your classmates to include at least one know-it-all, a couple of prestige hunters, somebody clearly too young and inexperienced to be there (but who doesn’t recognize that), and a couple of dark horses. Expect to have a few moments where you feel out of your depth, a few where the whole thing feels suspiciously easy, and plenty that are the right balance of challenging but achievable.
Love your practical and somewhat “blue-collar” approach to this. That is a lost narrative across all grounds in society. Yes, I am totally aware of academia having its shortcomings members. I shake my head every day, with some of the so-called “higher-ups” I deal with in business, wondering…" how the hell did you get that job?" I am totally aware and prepared to deal with it at Columbia. Heck, my uncle went to Harvard Business school and left because he was being taught by clueless adjuncts ( ultimately finished up at Stanford), and this was 30 plus years ago. On the flip side, I look at everything from a “poor man’s approach”. I wasn’t jumping up and down that I got accepted to Columbia. As soon as I knew, I expedited every scenario and possibility that Columbia could and could not offer me. The first, and most important was “price tag vs. actual value”. For me, the prestige of a Columbia title would only get me “oh wow, you’re a Columbia grad…anyway… how much does the project cost, when are you starting and when will you be finished?”. In a sense, I know I will bring value to the classroom, because of my “cut to through BS” approach. I also bring a ton of experience with contract negotiations, employee/vendor relations, on-site analysis, and actual hands-on work detail. I’d consider myself one of the very few white-collar/blue-collar guys…and that brings a lot of holistic value. Yet, after reading the Columbia syllabus, there were things in there that made me say “hmmm…I don’t know that side of my business”. That got me to hook, line and sinker. So, you could understand my concerns, when a program that seems a perfect fit for your undergrad, is under scrutiny. I get it, it happens at all levels.
I too have looked into SPS in the past. The issue with SPS is not whether it is legit but whether it is better than alternatives.
In my mind, it is a legit Columbia degree and you become a “real” Columbia alum. BUT…it will not create the same networking opportunities as enrolling in Columbia’s top programs. E.g. you will not be classmates with Columbia’s tier 1 undergrads, MBA students or Law students, etc. That network is what I believe makes a Columbia degree worth the $$$. An MBA from “lesser” schools such as Fordham or Baruch might have comparable networks to a Columbia SPS class. The question is - is it worth paying Columbia money for a Baruch quality cohort/education (still very good education)? Maybe, maybe not. For some people, having that Ivy degree is a lifelong dream like a Ferrari or a McMansion. If that’s the case and it’s something on your bucket list, then probably it’s worth it. If it’s for learning and developing networks, I don’t really see SPS’ advantage over Baruch or online MBA programs from Boston U (24K only) or UIUC.
If you’re into consulting though, then yes, I can see a Columbia degree help establish credibility.
TL;DR Columbia SPS is a very good school, perhaps equivalent to good business schools such as Baruch or Fordham. Opportunities will not be at the level of Columbia’s MBA or Law school though. Is it worth the money? Depends on the other options you had in mind.
I have to disagree with you on the “classmates not being Columbia Tier 1” material. Unless Columbia’s SPS pays random people to make up fake Linkedin accounts, the former grads and incoming class seem equal, if not more impressive than some of Columbia’s undergrads. Duke, London School of Economics, University of Melbourne, Cornell, John Hopkins, Yale, Rutgers, McGill, NYU… non of them under a 3.4 GPA. Most being 3.8 and better. I’m not that vain to obtain a Columbia degree and put myself into serious debt with no return on investment. On the flip side, I really don’t need the connections. I have a very successful business in the tri-state area and have all the connections I need. I look at this as expanding my knowledge, learning new concepts and approaches to business, and maybe meeting a connection of two. I’m probably different from others in that I don’t work for a company and need advancement. This degree may afford me to get a Phd or adjunct at a small school. I’m not looking to climb the cooperate ladder.
That’s fair. Again, I think SPS is a very good school.
When I was first looking into SPS, I saw many articles and discussions among faculty and students online. Just keep in mind that even today, the faculty and some students feel Columbia SPS is “diluting” the Columbia brand. That doesn’t come from me. That comes from Columbia itself.
These articles turned me off a bit. The price of SPS is the same as any Columbia degree but even within Columbia, it seems it is seen as “second class”. Perhaps things have changed since then. Again, I am not bashing on SPS, I even wanted to enroll there. But these articles from Columbia itself keep on popping up.
http://senate.columbia.edu/archives/reports_archive/16-17/er_annual_report_2016-17.pdf
Also would like to add that several years ago I used to tutor prospective MBA students on the GMAT. One of my students could not raise her GMAT to the level needed in a good school. So instead of enrolling at a place like Pace or St Johns, she decided to go SPS. I haven’t been in touch with her for years, but her Linkedin does not show the name of her degree - she just lists it as MS, Columbia University. That kinda gives me a hint that she might be “embarrased” about the degree coming from SPS. Or maybe not. I don’t know.
Well, this article is over 3 years old, and I have read all this online ( Quora and Reddit). Thats’ what got me concerned, but someone did post a rebuttal. Here is the linkhttps://www.quora.com/Is-Columbia-School-of-Professional-Studies-prestigious-for-a-master%E2%80%99s-of-science-or-is-it-just-a-joke. It was a back and forth, pissing contest, but some people did shed light on the positives and the negatives. That is what was frustrating. That you didn’t know who to believe. My defense of SPS is that the people who graduated from there ( based on their Linkedin accounts), seemed equal to, if not better than some of these attendees at let’s say, The Journalism or MBA schools. Because of the scrutiny that Columbia has come under in the last decade or so, I was almost thinking that these people may not even be real, and a failed attempt on Columbia’s part to make SPS seem like they have legitimate cohorts, with respect to academic excellence. One person says it’s great, the other says it suc%s. If this was 15 to 20 k a year, I would care less about the naysayers. But it is not. I don’t want to walk around campus and people ask me “which school do you go too” and I tell them and they look at me like I’m a moron. Because at the end of the day, I signed the loan, and then I am stuck. For the life of me, with Columbia’s endowment, why would they make an inferior, cash cow school, knowing it will tarnish the reputation and good name of some of the faculty? Is the school really that unscrupulous???
Perhaps what you can do (and it’s something I’ve thought about mysef) is perhaps enrolling in just one course to start off your masters at SPS. Once you’re taking the classes, you’ll probably get more of an idea if it’s for you or not. Pretty sure when your classmates will share their own thoughts as well.
Worst case scenario, you learned something new at Columbia and perhaps didn’t spend too much. Best case scenario, it validates your decision. I think this is the safest route.
The program I’m looking at is IKNS. If I do decide to pursue in the future, I’ll probably take it primarily online but I’d like to take a course on campus for perhaps a summer (take a short sabbatical from my job). I like that the IKNS program has that flexibility.