An Update on the 2025 Cyber Incident

June 3, 2026

Columbia has completed our notifications to those individuals potentially affected by the 2025 breach of certain University IT systems. We received a number of follow-up questions from individuals notified that their information may have been affected by the incident, but who had no known connection to the University, regarding how their information came to be in our systems. The University conducted a further investigation, and, based on available information, we believe that this information came to the University through student recruitment services that historically provided this type of information to colleges and universities from prospective students who indicated they wanted to share it, whether to report a test score or to request further information about specific colleges, universities, or scholarship programs. The Social Security numbers of these individuals have now been removed from or are in the process of being removed from the University’s systems, subject to relevant legal restrictions.

The University is in the process of responding to individuals, including those individuals with no apparent connection to the University, who have reached out with additional questions about the notification they received about this incident. For additional information, Columbia’s cyber incident hotline is available at (866) 819-7006, Monday through Friday, 9:00 am to 6:30 pm Eastern Time, excluding major U.S. holidays.

Thank you for your continued understanding and patience as we have worked through this process.