Columbia's U.S. Military Veterans

U.S. Military Veterans

The School of the Arts warmly welcomes veterans into our artistic community and strongly encourages former service members to apply to our MFA and MA programs. Please see below for links to campus resources, as well as targeted SOA scholarships, directed towards veterans and their families.

School of the Arts Programs and Resources

The Columbia Veterans Workshop is a free creative writing course open to anyone who is a veteran or a military family member. Students will have the opportunity to learn about craft, workshop with their peers, and receive feedback on their writing from instructors. This course is open to people of all levels working in any genre.

The Line Literary Review is a publication featuring work by service members, veterans, and military family members. Visit our website here

Scholarships and Financial Aid

Columbia University School of the Arts is pleased to participate in the Department of Veteran Affairs' Yellow Ribbon Program.

The School of the Arts is offering up to $5,000 in fellowship support for up to five eligible post-9/11 veterans for every academic year on a first-come, first-served basis. For information about the Post 9/11 GI Bill and Yellow Ribbon Program eligibility and benefits, please see the Columbia University Veterans' Affairs page and/or the Columbia University Yellow Ribbon Program page on the Student Financial Services website.

If you are an admitted or current student and would like to apply for Yellow Ribbon Program benefits, you must complete an online application no later than July 1. Please click here for the application.

Please click here for information on the Veterans Benefits and Transition Act of 2018.

The Clive Foundation Fellowship for Student Veteran Artists is made possible by the generous support of the Winifred Johnson Clive Foundation. This fellowship is intended to benefit up to two United States military veterans at the School of the Arts pursuing an MFA in Film, Theatre, Visual Arts, or Writing. 

The William Talbott Hillman Scholarship is intended to benefit one United States military veteran at the School of the Arts pursuing an MFA in Visual Arts.

*These generous fellowships may be combined with Yellow Ribbon benefits and other grants.

Veteran Students and Alumni in the News

Writing students Samuel Granoff, Jacob Thomas Schultz, and Stephanie Wobby have founded The Line, a new nonprofit journal dedicated to publishing v

Visual Arts alumni Baris Gokturk ’20, Bradley Pitts ’20, Cara Lynch ’20, Catalina Antonio ’20, Clare Koury ’20, Eric Brittain ’20, Erica Mao ’20, H

The Student Spotlight series aims to highlight the work of current MFA students, asking them to share thoughts on their practice by answering c