<p>You ONLY get a degree from “Columbia University” – Barnard doesn’t grant a degree of its own. The degree is in latin – but translated, it says at the top that it has been issued by Columbia University – then in the body of the text it says that you are a graduate of Barnard College, and it will be signed by both the President of CU and the President of BC. FWIW, the degree that Columbia College (CC) students is exactly the same, although of course it says that they attended CC and is signed by the Dean of CC. </p>
<p>When you apply for a job, your resume would probably say either “Barnard College, Columbia University” or “Columbia University (Barnard College)”.</p>
<p>Despite the kerfuffle that generally is raised about this, this is exactly what my undergrad and grad diplomas were like, at a totally different U. I attended the University of California, which had 9 campuses at the time and each campus had its own set of colleges. So my diplomas say “University of California” at the top, and then the text in the body of the diplomas has the information about which campus I attended, and the college or school that was granting the degree. And of course I always listed both the name of the state U. as well as specifying my campus & school/major for job applications.</p>
<p>Outside of CC, there is also no one who cares about the distinction. My d. graduated 3 years ago; she lives in NY & shares an apartment with a Columbia grad, their circle of friends includes grads of both BC & CC, they all seem to have good jobs, there is no distinction at all (other than the fact that some are male, and all the males went to CC)</p>
<p>And yes, most educated people generally know that Barnard is affiliated with Columbia. Most do not know or particularly care to know details of the distinction – for example, most would not know that Barnard is financially separate from CC or other nuances. </p>
<p>Most larger “Universities” are comprised of multiple undergraduate colleges or schools. So I think that most people outside of the very narrow BC/CC universe would be very puzzled by what all the debate is about.</p>