I'll be starting at the Cooper Union this fall and their student services page recommends budgeting around $17k for the '10-'11 school year (9mo). That includes room and board (around $12k), food, and some personal expenses. Depending on how modestly you're willing to live you could flex this budget a couple hundred (maybe thousand) dollars either way. A quick look at the craigslist no-fee section around Morningside Heights shows plenty of results just over a $1k but more conservatively say $1.5k/mo to live "comfortably" in the student fashion, i.e. close to campus and from a fairly reliable owner or broker.

Or, if you can find housing at Columbia, are you just interested in budgeting for food and travel? I think it's $78/mo for the metro pass which is just under $1k for the year. That was included in the Cooper budget.

$20,000 extra - $1,000 for a shoe box apartment, $4,000 for one years worth of food (which avg. about $80 a week) and $4,000 for misc. things. (transportation, clothes, pampering, etc.)

This helps quite a bit! A friend informed me that just under 2K/ mo should be ample provided I spend no more than $20 for food, $900 for rent, and become a teetotaler. I hope he's right.

1500-2000 is solid. 1250 is pushing it but is still be do-able.