<p>Barnard is one of four undergraduate colleges at Columbia University, and differs from the others in that it is an “affiliate” rather than a direct subsidiary. This is due to a historical artifact, going back to the late 1880’s when Barnard was first established as a way of enabling women to earn a Columbia degree, but the men who ran Columbia were unwilling to sanction co-ed education. </p>
<p>For roughly the next 90 years, Barnard was generally understood as being the woman’s college at Columbia, which accepted only males into its undergraduate programs. Up until about 1970, this was pretty much business-as-usual at many American colleges – at Harvard, women attended Radcliffe; at Tulane, women attended Sophie Newcomb, etc. </p>
<p>The confusing part happened in in the early 1980’s, when Columbia realized it needed to get with the times and admit women, but Barnard was unwilling to merge, largely out of concern for preserving hard-fought faculty tenure battles.</p>
<p>I really didn’t quite understand the whole thing myself until I actually attended a Columbia graduation – and then it all became very clear to me. Nobody graduates from “Columbia University” alone – rather, Columbia University confers both graduate and undergraduate degrees on students upon the recommendation of their respective “faculties”. So to get a degree from Columbia U., a student needs to be affiliated with some “faculty”. Barnard is one of the respective faculties. </p>
<p>ALL Columbia degrees also specify which school – or faculty - the student studied under. </p>
<p>Employers understand that there is a relationship between Barnard & Columbia – if anything, they are less aware of the distinction. That is, many older people (age 60+) still have the mindset that Barnard=Columbia College for Women, and may not realize that women who graduate from Columbia College are not Barnard students. </p>
<p>I assume that most Barnard grads list both on their resume – either writing “Barnard College of Columbia University”, or “Columbia University (Barnard College)” – or something similar. </p>
<p>If an employer wants to verify graduation, they need to do so via the National Student Clearinghouse – see [Degree</a> Verification | Columbia University Registrar](<a href=“http://registrar.columbia.edu/employers-insurers/degree-verification]Degree”>Certifications | Office of the University Registrar) and [DegreeVerify</a> School Participants](<a href=“http://www.studentclearinghouse.org/secure_area/DegreeVerify/dv_ParticipatingSchools.asp]DegreeVerify”>http://www.studentclearinghouse.org/secure_area/DegreeVerify/dv_ParticipatingSchools.asp) Both Barnard & Columbia participate in the clearinghouse, which maintains data for all participating schools.</p>