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Cornell University

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Cornell University Overview

Cornell University is a private not-for-profit institution situated in Ithaca, New York. Ithaca is a great location for students who prefer city over country life.

What Is Cornell University Known For?

4,277 Undergraduate Awards
$57,504 Avg Cost After Aid
11% Acceptance Rate
  • Students at Cornell may have an easier time interacting with their teachers since the student to faculty ratio at the school is 9 to 1.
  • The 1% student loan default rate at Cornell is better than the national rate of 10.1%. That's a good sign that you may be able to pay off student loans easier than your peers at other schools can.
  • Although it may not be available for every major, the doctor's degree is the highest award a student can attain at Cornell.
  • For the 2017-2018 academic year, 91% of the faculty were full-time.
  • Students who graduate from Cornell with a bachelor's degree make about $77,200 a year. That's 89% more than those who graduate from other schools.
  • It takes the average Cornell student 4.1 years to graduate. This is pretty good when compared to the national rate of 4.4 years.

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Cornell University Rankings

Cornell landed the #20 spot in our 2022 ranking of best colleges. We analyzed 2,587 colleges and universities across the nation to determine this ranking. This puts it in the top 1% of all schools in the nation! It is also ranked #1 out of 160 schools in New York.

These rankings may look different from those published by other outlets, because we use an outcomes-based approach rather than a subjective one. We get our data from a number of places, including the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) and the College Scorecard. For more information, check out our rankings and methodology page.

Cornell has also been awarded the following overall awards by our latest rankings.

Rank Ranking Name Share
#17 Best Bachelor’s Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It
#17 Best Master’s Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It
#21 Best Doctor’s Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It

Program Level Awards

These are highlights of some of the most noteworthy awards granted to specific programs at Cornell.

Rank Ranking Name Share
#1 Best Psychology Master’s Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It
#1 Best Agriculture Master’s Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It
#1 Best Public & Social Service Bachelor’s Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It
#3 Best Architecture/Urban Planning Bachelor’s Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It
#4 Best Communication & Journalism Bachelor’s Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It
#5 Best Business, Management & Marketing Bachelor’s Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It
#7 Best Visual & Performing Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It
#11 Best Mathematics & Statistics Bachelor’s Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It
#12 Best Computer & Information Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It
#14 Best Social Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It

Awards From Around the Web

The following table lists some notable awards Cornell has earned from around the web.

Rank Ranking Name Source
#1 Best Agriculture & Agriculture Operations Schools College Factual
#4 Best Visual & Performing Arts Schools College Factual
#5 Best Psychology Schools College Factual
#6 Best Communication & Journalism Schools College Factual
#8 Best Business, Management & Marketing Schools College Factual
#10 Best Business Schools Business Degree Central

Where Is Cornell University?

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Contact details for Cornell are given below.

Contact Details
Address: 300 Day Hall, Ithaca, NY 14853
Phone: 607-255-2000
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Cornell
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Cornell

How Do I Get Into Cornell?

You can apply to Cornell online at: https://www.commonapp.org/

Admission Requirements for Cornell

Submission Required?
High School GPA considered but not required
High School Rank considered but not required
High School Transcript required
College Prep Program considered but not required
Recommendations required
SAT or ACT Scores considered but not required
TOEFL required

How Hard Is It To Get Into Cornell?

11% Acceptance Rate
55% Of Accepted Are Women
73% Submit SAT Scores
If you plan to apply to Cornell, make sure you don't wait until the last minute to fill out your application. The school is one of the most selective in the United States and has a low acceptance rate of 11%. If you are admitted, that's something to brag about!

Approximately 45% of accepted students are men and 55% are women. The acceptance rate for men is 9%, and the acceptance rate for women is 12%.

Average Test Scores

About 73% of students accepted to Cornell submitted their SAT scores. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing scores ranged between 680 and 750. Math scores were between 720 and 790.

SAT Reading and Writing Scores for Cornell University  ( 680 to 750 )
200
800

SAT Math Scores for Cornell University  ( 720 to 790 )
200
800
Cornell received ACT scores from 36% of accepted students. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, ACT English scores ranged between 34 and 35. Math scores were between 30 and 35. Composite scores were between 32 and 35.

ACT English Scores for Cornell University  ( 34 to 35 )
1
36
ACT Math Scores for Cornell University  ( 30 to 35 )
1
36
ACT Composite Scores for Cornell University  ( 32 to 35 )
1
36

Can I Afford Cornell University?

$57,504 Net Price
38% Take Out Loans
1.1% Loan Default Rate
The overall average net price of Cornell is $57,504. The affordability of the school largely depends on your financial need since net price varies by income group.

The net price is calculated by adding tuition, room, board and other costs and subtracting financial aid.

Student Loan Debt

Almost 66% of college students who graduated with the class of 2018 took out student loans, but that percentage varies from school to school. At Cornell, approximately 38% of students took out student loans averaging $7,639 a year. That adds up to $30,556 over four years for those students.

The student loan default rate at Cornell is 1.1%. This is significantly lower than the national default rate of 10.1%, which is a good sign that you'll be able to pay back your student loans.

Cornell University Undergraduate Student Diversity

14,693 Full-Time Undergraduates
54% Women
48% Racial-Ethnic Minorities*
There are 14,743 undergraduate students at Cornell, with 14,693 being full-time and 50 being part-time.

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There are also 8,877 graduate students at the school.

Gender Diversity

Of the 14,693 full-time undergraduates at Cornell, 46% are male and 54% are female.

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Racial-Ethnic Diversity

The racial-ethnic breakdown of Cornell University students is as follows.

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Race/Ethnicity Number of Grads
Asian 3,065
Black or African American 1,052
Hispanic or Latino 2,151
White 5,096
International Students 1,431
Other Races/Ethnicities 1,898

Geographic Diversity

New York students aren't the only ones who study at Cornell University. At this time, 49 states are represented by the student population at the school.

Over 120 countries are represented at Cornell. The most popular countries sending students to the school are China, India, and Canada.

Online Learning at Cornell University

6,167 Took All Classes Online
22,293 Took At Least One Class Online
1,316.1% Avg Growth Over 4 Years
In 2019-2020, 22,293 students took at least one online class at the school.

The following chart shows how the online learning population at Cornell has changed over the last few years.

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This school is the 78th most popular in New York for online learning according to the online graduations recorded by the Department of Education for the academic year 2019-2020.

Online Affordability Rankings of Cornell

The following table shows how Cornell is ranked for affordability for both in-state and out-of-state students among colleges and universities that are not mostly online.

Major Tuition for In-State Students Tuition for Out-of-State Students
Systems Engineering #49 #49

Online Growth Rankings of Cornell

The average growth rate over the last four years of online students at Cornell University was 1,316.1%. This is the #82 largest growth rate of all schools that are only partially online. This refers to all students at Cornell regardless of major.

When we speak of partially online, we are referring to schools whose online population is less than 50% of its total student body. Mostly online refers to those with online populations greater than or equal to 50%.

Cornell University Undergraduate Concentrations

The table below shows the number of awards for each concentration.

Major Bachelor’s Master’s Doctor’s TOTAL
Business Administration & Management 0 689 11 700
Computer Science 396 279 19 694
Human Resource Management 270 113 5 388
Computer Information Systems 179 131 8 318
General Biology 294 0 10 304
Agricultural Economics & Business 194 85 6 285
Electrical Engineering 100 146 23 269
Operations Research 89 160 11 260
Hospitality Management 238 8 2 248
Mechanical Engineering 156 70 20 246
Economics 169 27 20 216
Law 0 0 198 198
Biological & Biomedical Sciences (Other) 172 0 0 172
Political Science & Government 153 10 3 166
Biomedical Engineering 48 82 14 144
Chemical Engineering 61 61 21 143
Legal Research 0 132 2 134
Systems Engineering 0 126 1 127
Architectural Sciences & Technology 77 40 0 117
Animal Science 100 6 8 114
Chemistry 54 36 24 114
Statistics 41 61 7 109
Physics 52 30 25 107
Mathematics 93 4 4 101
Communication & Media Studies 90 4 5 99
Natural Resources Conservation 89 4 5 98
Materials Engineering 21 60 10 91
Information Technology 0 83 0 83
Civil Engineering 37 41 4 82
Sociology 67 5 8 80
General Psychology 78 0 0 78
General Agriculture 77 0 0 77
Management Sciences & Quantitative Methods 0 77 0 77
Public Administration 0 76 0 76
Human Development & Family Studies 69 4 2 75
Area Studies 54 14 4 72
Food Science Technology 35 26 10 71
Urban & Regional Planning 35 30 5 70
General English Literature 45 16 7 68
Nutrition Science 45 8 13 66
History 51 5 8 64
Agricultural Engineering 32 21 10 63
Public Policy 58 0 0 58
Public Health 40 15 0 55
Engineering Physics 26 16 12 54
Plant Sciences 28 8 16 52
Engineering-Related Fields 0 50 0 50
Romance Languages 36 1 9 46
Biomathematics & Bioinformatics 37 0 5 42
Landscape Architecture 13 28 0 41
Fine & Studio Arts 32 8 1 41
Linguistics & Comparative Literature 26 10 2 38
Philosophy 22 7 5 34
Child Development & Psychology 0 25 9 34
Health & Medical Administrative Services 0 33 0 33
International Agriculture 20 10 0 30
Real Estate 0 27 0 27
Astronomy & Astrophysics 8 13 5 26
Environmental Engineering 25 0 0 25
Geological & Earth Sciences 13 6 6 25
Aerospace & Aeronautical Engineering 0 20 4 24
Zoology 10 7 6 23
Textile & Apparel Studies 22 0 0 22
Music 10 5 5 20
Anthropology 13 3 3 19
Biochemistry, Biophysics & Molecular Biology 0 2 15 17
Classical Languages & Literature 12 4 1 17
Applied Mathematics 0 10 5 15
Archeology 8 7 0 15
Ecology, Evolution & Systematics Biology 0 3 11 14
Liberal Arts General Studies 14 0 0 14
Microbiological Sciences & Immunology 0 5 8 13
Science, Technology & Society 6 4 3 13
Other Visual Art 12 0 0 12
Botany/Plant Biology 0 2 9 11
Genetics 0 0 11 11
General Engineering 10 0 0 10
Ethnic Studies 7 1 2 10
Housing 0 10 0 10
Horticulture 0 9 0 9
Atmospheric Sciences & Meteorology 5 2 2 9
Neurobiology & Neurosciences 0 2 6 8
Writing Studies 0 8 0 8
Industrial Production Technology 0 3 3 6
Other Social Sciences 0 5 1 6
Community Organization & Advocacy 0 3 3 6
Historic Preservation 0 5 0 5
Design & Applied Arts 0 3 2 5
East Asian Languages 0 0 4 4
Medieval Studies 0 2 1 3
Religious Studies 3 0 0 3
Drama & Theater Arts 0 2 1 3
Architectural History 0 0 2 2
Environmental Design 0 2 0 2
General Education 0 0 1 1
Engineering Mechanics 0 0 1 1
General Architecture 0 0 0 0
Architecture (Other) 0 0 0 0
Pharmacology & Toxicology 0 0 0 0
Nuclear Engineering 0 0 0 0
Food, Nutrition & Related Services 0 0 0 0
Germanic Languages 0 0 0 0
Slavic, Baltic & Albanian Languages 0 0 0 0
Other Health Professions 0 0 0 0
Other Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies 0 0 0 0
Natural Resource Management 0 0 0 0
Culinary Arts 0 0 0 0
Dance 0 0 0 0
Film, Video & Photographic Arts 0 0 0 0
TOTAL 4,277 3,156 713 8,146

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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