Columbia Business School offers full- and partial-tuition fellowships to a number of exceptionally gifted students based on a variety of criteria, including academic excellence, geographic and personal background, and professional experience. There is no separate application for merit-based fellowships; the School identifies those MBA applicants who demonstrate outstanding potential. For priority consideration of merit-based fellowships, prospective students should complete their applications for admission to the full-time Columbia MBA Program by the merit fellowship deadline. Only August-entry MBA students are considered for merit-based fellowships in the first year.