The Columbia University provides under the Executive Order 11246, the Office of Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action, each year an Affirmative Action Program. The aim is to create a learning and living environment, based on the dignity and worth of all its members, free from any discrimination. Therefore, Columbia University offers equal opportunities to every person and affirmative action-oriented programs to assure that minorities are being employed at an expectable rate. Further, the University implemented diagnostic procedures to define employment patterns and compare them to the composition of the relevant labor pool.

The Columbia University maintains following the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Section 503) a written affirmative action program for employees and applicants with disabilities. As well as an affirmative action Plan for Covered Veterans in accordance with Section 402 of the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974.