"The Columbia University public security service has announced the threat of an explosion in the university buildings," according to the university's Twitter account.
It is noted that law enforcement agencies in New York are conducting an investigation.
"Police have received a message that bombs are being planted," Cornell University said in a statement.
Students are encouraged to stay away from the central campus, where law enforcement officers continue to work.
In June, it was reported that in the south of the Czech Republic, more than a thousand people were evacuated in connection with the discovery in one of the residential areas of a bomb from the Second World War.