Columbia Will Expand College by 900-1400

Columbia College has revealed plans to expand enrollment from 2600 to 3500 or 4000 students in the next six years.

The expansion will be a part of the University's current $74 million dollar development program that was announced last April by President Grayson Kirk.

John G. Palfrey '40, Dean of the College, gave the first indications of the College's plan in his annual report two weeks ago. Palfrey stated that the plan "clearly requires additional physical facilities" and stressed that no student expansion would take place without an accompanying increase in all educational facilities.

The expansion will make Columbia the fourth largest Ivy League undergraduate college, roughly equal in size to Yale. At present, only Brown is smaller than the New York City institution.

The decision to expand the College was reached last year after a committee headed by Justus Buchler, Johnson Professor of Philosophy, concluded that an increase in the College's size would benefit both the College and the graduate schools. Dean Palfrey in his report emphasized that the expansion was designed to "encourage a more integrated undergraduate and graduate educational process" and to permit "greater flexibility and opportunity for the College to experiment and diversify its offerings."