A private research institution in New York City, Columbia University is also referred to as Columbia and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York. Columbia University is the oldest higher education school in New York and the fifth-oldest in the nation. It was founded in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhattan. It belongs to the Ivy League and is one of nine colonial colleges that were established before the Declaration of Independence. One of the best universities in the world is Columbia.