Is Columbia or Fordham better for accessing NYC internships?

The biggest practical tradeoff is that Columbia offers a larger national-name and alumni-network advantage for highly competitive NYC opportunities, while Fordham can provide similarly direct access to the city with a more career-oriented, often less intimidating path to building experience. Columbia’s Morningside Heights campus is in Manhattan, and Fordham has both a Lincoln Center campus in Manhattan and a Rose Hill campus in the Bronx with straightforward access to Manhattan employers. At either school, students can intern during the academic year rather than relying only on summers, which matters more than campus proximity alone.

Columbia’s advantage is most visible in fields where employer recruiting and alumni connections carry particular weight, such as finance, consulting, media, technology, research, and certain policy or nonprofit roles. Its career center, school-specific resources, faculty connections, and extensive alumni presence can help open initial conversations, although students still need strong applications and active networking. Being at Columbia also places students among peers who are frequently pursuing selective internships, which can make information about openings and recruiting timelines easier to find.

Fordham is well connected to New York employers, especially through its business programs, communications, arts, nonprofit, legal, and public-service communities. The Lincoln Center location is especially convenient for media, arts, publishing, nonprofits, and corporate offices in Midtown and downtown. Fordham students may also find it easier to take visible roles in student organizations, work closely with professors, and develop relationships with alumni, all of which can translate into internship leads.

For access to NYC internships alone, Columbia has the edge because of its broader alumni reach and stronger pull with the most selective employers. Fordham is still an excellent platform for NYC internships, particularly for a student who will network consistently, use the career office early, and choose the campus and program that align with the industries they want to enter.