In 2021, our students joined 118 media organizations.
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Class of 2021 faced severe disruption in the journalism job market. Nevertheless, many of our students found jobs and internships after graduation. As of August 2021, most members of the class of 2021 had plans lined up after graduation (i.e. internships, fellowships, full-time and part-time jobs, continued in another academic degree program, or freelanced). In a typical year, 71% to 77% of the class is employed shortly after graduation. Regardless of the journalism economy, the number of Columbia students finding employment rises with each passing week post-graduation and that continues to be the case in the pandemic.
Most of our international students are legally permitted to work for one year in the U.S. after graduation if they apply for an Optional Practical Training (OPT) visa. International M.S. students in our three-semester M.S. Data Journalism program and our dual degree M.S. Journalism and M.S. Computer Science program qualify for longer-term STEM visas. Our international students are competitive in the U.S. job market for short-term internships and positions while on OPT but will find the landscape very challenging. Longer-term work authorization (also known as sponsorship) is rarely granted, so international students should expect to return to their home countries at the conclusion of their OPT year. Once back home, our international graduates typically find that their Columbia degree has made them highly marketable.
The Class of 2021 landed at 118 companies after graduation:
| AARP Magazine | Insider Inc | Science News |
| ABC News | Insurance Insider | Spoon University |
| ABC News (20/20) | Jing Culture & Commerce | Spotlight PA |
| ABC News (Good Morning America) | KFSK | TELEMUNDO |
| Associated Press | KQED | The 19th |
| Bangor Daily News | McClatchy | The Beacon |
| Barron's (Dow Jones News Fund) | Miami Herald | The Berkshire Eagle |
| BBC (Washington, D.C.) | Mission Local | THE CITY |
| BBC Global News Limited (New York, N.Y.) | Mississippi Center for Investigative Journalism | The Detroit News |
| BBVA | Morgan Stanley | The Information |
| Block Club Chicago | MSNBC (PoliticsNation with Al Sharpton) | The (Jackson, Miss.) Clarion-Ledger |
| Bloomberg | NBC | The Journal News |
| Blue Chalk | NBC News | Richard Engel Unit | The Lede Program | Columbia Journalism School |
| CNBC | New Mexico in Depth | The Marshall Project |
| CNN - Digital | News 12 | The New Yorker |
| Coda Story | NewsGuard | The New York Times |
| Columbia Business School | Next City | The Paris Review |
| Columbia Journalism Investigations | Nikkei Asia | The Real Deal |
| Columbia Journalism Review | NJ Spotlight | The Salt Lake Tribune |
| Columbia Journalism School | North Carolina Health News | The San Diego Union-Tribune |
| Columbia Law School | NPR | The Seattle Times |
| Columbia University | NY1 - Spectrum News | The Tennessean |
| Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs | OZY | The Upshot (The New York Times) |
| Concord Monitor | PassBlue | The Washington Times |
| CT Mirror | PBS NewsHour | The Wire China |
| Detroit Free Press | POLITICO | United Nations |
| Diverse: Issues in Higher Education | PolitiFact | Valor Econômico |
| Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) USA | Popular Science | VICE |
| Dotdash | Pulitzer Center Campus Consortium | VTDigger |
| el Nuevo Herald | WAMU | |
| ESI ThoughtLab | Religion News Service | Washington Monthly |
| European Broadcasting Union | Report for America (AL.com - Alabama Education Lab) |
Western Sound |
| Everyday Health Group | Report for America (Flint Beat) |
WFAE |
| Financial Planning | Report for America (IndyStar) | Wisconsin Watch |
| Financial Times | Report for America (Miami Herald) |
WNIN |
| Forbes | Report for America (WSKG) |
WNYC |
| FRONTLINE | Reuters | WWD |
| Harvard Kennedy School | Reuters Institute at Oxford University | Yahoo Finance |
| Honolulu Civil Beat | Richemont North America | |
| inewsource | Salmagundi Literary Magazine |