American Thinker

Jason Kissner recently questioned President Obama’s whereabouts in spring 1982, and also discussed in passing some of the courses Obama took while at Columbia. In response, I would like to try my hand at reconstructing the Columbia part of Obama’s college transcript based on the published record and my own knowledge of Columbia’s requirements as an ’84 graduate of the college. This reconstruction may be of interest to those who are curious about this part of Obama’s undergraduate education, and it may also shed light on where Obama must have been in spring 1982.

Columbia College is well known for its rigorous core curriculum. Students must not only study masterpieces of literature, philosophy, music, and art, but also take courses in science, a foreign language, and even physical education. These requirements add up to a total of 48 credit hours. Based on a typical student load of 16 credit hours per semester, a student would need to spend three semesters taking nothing but core courses in order to complete the requirement. (In practice, students typically take most of these courses in the first two years of study, perhaps getting to a few of them over the course of the next two years.) As will be seen below, as a transfer student with only two years to complete the core requirements, most of Obama’s coursework must have been devoted to taking courses in the core.

The original post continues with calculation of Obama’s likely credits..