Sciences Po-Columbia University Dual BA Program to Include Fourth Campus in Poitiers

In addition to the Sciences Po campuses in Le Havre, Menton, and Reims that have welcomed Dual BA Program students since the Program's inauguration in 2010, the Poitiers campus will begin welcoming incoming Dual BA students in Fall 2022.

October 04, 2021

The Dual BA Program Between Columbia University and Sciences Po announced last week that applicants to the Program may now apply for admission to the Sciences Po Poitiers campus starting with the incoming class of Fall 2022.

The Poitiers campus, situated in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of France, is housed in a former Jacobin convent that dates back to the early 18th century. The campus was first established in 2001 and is now home to 275 students from over 30 countries. 

With an academic program centered on Euro-Latin American social sciences, the campus hosts students from Latin America and those students interested in furthering the understanding of the region, exchanging with Latin America, and engaging in dialogue between Latin America, Europe, and the world. Life on campus means being in close touch with the region while surrounded by the beauty of an exceptional historic setting.  

Poitiers is the fourth Sciences Po campus to officially welcome Dual BA students as part of this internationally-renowned partnership, joining the campuses in Le Havre, Menton, and Reims that have been part of the Dual BA Program since the Program's launch in 2010.

We are thrilled to add the Poitiers campus, and its Latin American focus, to the Dual BA Program Between Columbia University and Sciences Po, further enriching one of the most innovative and diverse undergraduate educational programs in the country, and providing prospective students with an even broader array of academic tracks and areas of focus.

Lisa Rosen-Mestch, Dean of the Columbia University School of General Studies

Dual BA students spend their first two years at Sciences Po, France’s leading university for the social sciences, studying a specific region of the world on one of four campuses, after which they matriculate at Columbia to complete a major and the University’s Core Curriculum in years three and four. Dedicated Dual BA Program advisors from both Sciences Po and Columbia are assigned to students as soon as they enroll, providing guidance and support on academics and student life.

This multidisciplinary educational experience, focused in the humanities and social sciences, provides students with a strong liberal arts education while empowering them to succeed in an increasingly complex and fast-changing world.

Set in the very center of the historic part of town, the Poitiers campus offers both an immersion into French culture and an opening to the world. Our mission is to foster intellectual discussion, encounters, and collective reflection on Latin American issues through the social sciences and humanities as well as active engagement in community service through the civic learning program,... all the while enjoying a very special Euro-Latin ambiance.

Professor Stéphanie Balme, Dean of the Sciences Po Undergraduate College

The addition of the Poitiers campus to the Dual BA Program builds upon the decade-long partnership between the Columbia School of General Studies and Sciences Po. The Program currently has 400 students enrolled across all four years and already boasts more than 400 alumni around the world.

About Sciences Po

Founded in 1872 as the École Libre des Sciences Politiques, Sciences Po began as a private school before becoming fully integrated into the public education system as the Institut d’Ètudes Politiques de Paris, or Sciences Po, in 1945. Concurrently, the Fondation Nationale des Sciences Politiques was established to manage the University’s research centers, library, university presses, and facilities. Today, Sciences Po is one of Europe’s most distinguished universities and a full-fledged, self-governing institution that enjoys the freedom of a grande école and the resources of a major research university.

About Columbia University

Among the world’s leading research universities, Columbia University in the City of New York continuously seeks to advance the frontiers of scholarship and foster a campus community deeply engaged in the complex issues of our time through teaching, research, patient care, and public service. The University comprises 16 undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools, four affiliated colleges and seminaries in Manhattan, and a wide array of research institutes and global centers around the world. More than 40,000 students, award-winning faculty, and professional staff define the University’s underlying values and commitment to pursuing new knowledge and educating informed, engaged citizens. Founded in 1754 as King’s College, Columbia is the fifth oldest institution of higher learning in the United States.

About Columbia University School of General Studies

The Columbia University School of General Studies (GS) is the premier liberal arts college in the United States for students pursuing a nontraditional path to a rigorous, traditional, Ivy League undergraduate education, including students who have interrupted their educational path and those enrolled in one of the School’s innovative dual degree programs. GS students take the same courses, study with the same faculty, and earn the same degree as all other undergraduates at Columbia University.