Nussbaum then was accepted at Columbia College in New York. He was awarded scholarships by New York State and by Columbia which made it possible for him to attend Columbia. He joined the staff of the college daily newspaper, the Columbia Daily Spectator and, in his senior year, became its Editor-in-Chief. He was also elected to Phi Beta Kappa. During the summer months he worked as a waiter at hotels in the Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania and the Catskill Mountains in New York to help pay for his education.