Credit Caps, Undergrads…and Israel? SIPA Funding Constraints Reveal Priorities
By Emma Cregan
Course registration looms large over each semester at SIPA, but registration for Fall 2026 may have been the most unforgiving. During registration, Seeples were confined to 16.5 credits, lowered from the 18 of past semesters. Fear of incurring hefty additional credit fees left students with slashed schedules and a distaste for the bureaucracy behind the cap.
SIPA’s website states the 16.5 credit cap will help students “meet degree requirements while maintaining academic quality and allowing flexibility for exploration.”
When reached for comment, a SIPA spokesperson explained, “Students can complete SIPA's 54-credit degree comfortably within four semesters under this cap, and [that] those with a genuine academic need (...) may petition to take up to 18 credits at no additional cost.” SIPA assures the availability of advising support to help students.
Nevertheless, students fail to find said “flexibility for exploration” as their graduation pathways become increasingly rigid. For those pursuing a Master of International Affairs, SIPA’s core requirements control 30 of their 54 degree-required credits, excluding any concentration requirements.
When asked about the new credit cap, second-year SIPA student Grace Harris commented, “Decreasing the credit cap from 18 to 16.5...decreases the value we can get from a SIPA education,” considering rising tuition and limited federal aid options.
Strained by the language requirements of the MIA program, another SIPA student stated, “This semester and last semester, I was very close to the credit cap, which was exceptionally stressful for me.”
Second-year SIPA student Giselle Sami Dalili proposed options instead of the credit cap to support student well-being, suggesting, “More money should be allocated to mental health, disability, and community resources.”
Despite ongoing challenges faced by students, SIPA piloted a new Global Affairs and Public Policy (GAPP) undergraduate major this fall. GAPP includes an expansion of Israel-focused courses. In an April proposal, SIPA detailed a Middle East Area Studies track as part of GAPP, listing four new classes on Israel.
Supporters argue GAPP responds to undergraduates’ interest in the policy field. GAPP’s Israel courses are intended to provide alternative perspectives to existing MESAAS courses.
Professor Ester Fuchs, Director of the Urban and Social Policy Program and co-chair of Columbia’s Task Force on Antisemitism, explained GAPP’s Middle East Area Studies will provide “courses that have balance.” Yet, perplexed students question the roll-out of the new programs.
Harris questions “increasing the focus on Israel studies while suspending the SIPA Palestine Working Group and failing to support SIPA's very own Mahmoud Khalil as he faces deportation.”
Dalili wonders if the courses will be redesigned “when the 80-year war on Palestine has come to an end or, more likely, the colonial project that is Israel is less popular?”
A second-year SIPA student anticipates the suppression of Palestinian and pro-Palestinian students’ voices, fearing a “decrease [in] academic pluralism.”
Opponents suspect GAPP is connected to Columbia University’s July 2025 deal with the Trump Administration, requiring Columbia to reduce dependence on international student enrollment. While SIPA relies on international student enrollment, with 63% of Seeples being international in 2024, GAPP is largely made up of domestic students.
Disputing this narrative, Fuchs emphasizes the Trump agreement is irrelevant to GAPP: “This has been in discussion for 10 years; this is the right time to roll out the undergrad major because we have the operational capacity to do it.”
Expressing concern over available resources for graduate students, SIPA students question why GAPP was not placed within Columbia College, and highlighted that “undergraduates already have access to the 4+1 SIPA program.”
In addition to limited academic resources, another SIPA student laments the lack of basic necessities at SIPA, explaining “IAB is one of the few buildings where menstrual products are not readily available in general or for free.”
Responding to grad students’ concerns over SIPA’s capacity to meet student needs, Fuchs argues the new program will enhance the SIPA experience for grad students by increasing resources for the school. “With a larger pool of students there will be more resources for everyone.”
SIPA’s recent decisions come with a promised future abundance for students, but that abundance is yet to be felt among Seeples. Instead, there’s a sense of scarcity and uncertainty amidst the IAB community. Limited options for courses, an Israel-focused study of the Middle East, and consistent obstacles from SIPA’s administration detract from the world-class education Seeples hoped for. SIPA is investing in its priorities, yet it seems its own students haven’t made the cut.