Auditing Programs

Listen to selected Arts and Sciences lecture courses.

The Auditing Program

The Auditing Program provides adults not currently enrolled in college with the opportunity to attend selected lectures drawn from the University’s offerings in the Arts and Sciences.

• Auditors are encouraged to attend class and to keep up with the reading.
• No examinations or papers are required, no grade is assigned, and a University transcript is not issued.
• Auditors are silent participants in class and may join in discussions only at the discretion of the instructor.
• Auditors have reading and reserve borrowing privileges (two hours) at the University's extensive library system (present the official auditor's receipt).
• Retroactive credit cannot be given for courses audited through Continuing Education.
• Student records are not kept, and transcripts are not created for auditors.

The Lifelong Learners Program

The Lifelong Learners Program at Columbia University was launched in 1986 by Continuing Education and the Brookdale Institute on Aging and Adult Human Development, with the aim of establishing at Columbia University a community of mature learners committed to the principles of lifelong education. Since then, the Program has grown to 200 participants.

Lifelong Learners enroll in the Auditing Program and select one or more courses from the University's offerings. Lifelong Learners are subject to the same guidelines as those for Auditors (listed above).

Faculty Lecture Series (Academic Year Only)
Fridays, 10 a.m.-12 noon, Lewisohn.Hall

In addition to their classes, Lifelong Learners attend weekly meetings of a faculty lecture series.

The faculty lecture series ranges widely in focus. This past year, topics included:

Faculty speakers are among the most eminent at the University, and they engage Lifelong Learners in animated discussions involving the intellectual interests, professional background, and personal experiences of each member.

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