The School of Nursing is the graduate school of nursing at Columbia University in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. Founded in 1892, it stands as one of the oldest nursing schools in the United States. The School of Nursing was the first nursing school to award a master's degree in a clinical specialty. The school was the first to be elected a World Health Organization Collaborating Center for International Nursing Development in Advanced Practice. History After Presbyterian Hospital was established in 1872, administrators had trouble finding competent staff and recognized a need for qualified nurses. In 1892, the School of Nursing was founded as the Presbyterian Hospital Training School for Nurses, with Anna C. Maxwell serving as its first dean. The early curriculum at the school, taught mostly by physicians, included such varied subjects as hygiene of the sickroom, bacteriology, anatomy, bandaging, symptomatology, surgical diseases, obstetrics and gynecology, contagious diseases, nervous cases, Swedish massage, and cooking for the homebound. On May 15, 1894, 21 students, all females, became members of the first graduating class. Maxwell Hall opened within the new Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center in 1928. In 1937, the nursing school formally became affiliated with Columbia University. The first Bachelor of Science degrees were awarded to students in 1940. In 1956, the School of Nursing became the first in the country to award a master's degree in a clinical nursing specialty. The emphasis on clinical scholarship is considered appropriate due to collaboration of the School of Nursing with other professional schools at Columbia. In 1984, the school's new home became the Georgian Building. In 2017, the nursing school moved into a new 68,000-square-foot building designed by the architectural firms of FXFOWLE in New York and CO Architects in Los Angeles. The School of Nursing shares the Columbia University Medical Center campus with the School of Public Health, the School of Dental and Oral Surgery, and the College of Physicians and Surgeons. The school has built a tradition of clinical excellence by having clinical partnerships at over 200 clinical practice sites throughout New York City. The School of Nursing also has affiliations with three major medical centers: New York-Presbyterian, Mount Sinai Hospital, and Mount Sinai Morningside. Academics The School of Nursing offers a number of degree programs for the training of Registered Nurses, Nurse Practitioners, Certified Nurse Midwives, Nurse Anesthetists, Clinical Nurse Leaders, and Nurse-Scientists. It offers a