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?
- 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.
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?

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?
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.
Can I Afford Cornell University?
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

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.

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

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

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.
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.
- College Factual
- National Center for Education Statistics
- Image Credit: By Notyourbroom under License
More about our data sources and methodologies.
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