by our College Data Analytics TeamGet the facts about Cornell University. Learn how it ranks, what majors it offers, how diverse it is, and much more.
College Factual analyzes over 2,000 colleges and universities in its annual rankings and ranks them in a variety of ways, including most diverse, best overall quality, best for non-traditional students, and much more.
Cornell University was awarded 973 badges in the 2026 rankings.
College Factual ranked Cornell as #12 out of 3,449 colleges and universities in the country on its 2026 Best Colleges list. This puts it in the top 1% of all schools in the nation!
Cornell also holds the #1 spot on the Best Colleges in New York ranking.
Cornell University has a very low acceptance rate of 9%, making it one of the most selective out of all the colleges and universities in the nation. It’s probably a good idea to apply to other schools in addition to Cornell just in case you don’t make the cut.
About 40% 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 730 and 770. Math scores were between 770 and 800.
Cornell received ACT scores from 13% of accepted students. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, ACT Composite scores ranged between 33 and 35.
The student to faculty ratio at Cornell is an impressive 9 to 1. That’s quite good when you compare it to the national average of 15 to 1. This is a good sign that students at the school will have more opportunities for one-on-one interactions with their professors.
When estimating how much access students will have to their teachers, some people like to look at what percentage of faculty members are full time. This is because part-time teachers may not have as much time to spend on campus as their full-time counterparts.
The full-time faculty percentage at Cornell University is 92%. This is higher than the national average of 47%.
Cornell University has a freshmen retention rate of 98%. That’s a good sign that full-time students like the school and their professors enough to want to stick around for another year. It’s also a sign that the admissions team did a good job in choosing applicants who were a good fit for the school.
Students are considered to have graduated on time if they finish their studies within four years. At Cornell the on-time graduation rate of first-time, full-time students is 95%. That is great when compared to the national average of 33.3%.
Find out more about the retention and graduation rates at Cornell University.
The current enrollment includes 15,935 undergraduates at Cornell.
Get more detailed information on the diversity at Cornell University.
The average net price of Cornell is $16,772. The affordability of the school largely depends on your financial need since net price varies by income group. See the table below for the net price for different income groups.### Net Price by Income Group for Cornell
| $0-30 K | $30K-48K | $48-75 | $75-110K | $110K + |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $4,079 | $5,589 | $8,129 | $18,531 | $51,735 |
The net price is calculated by adding tuition, room, board and other costs and subtracting financial aid. Note that the net price is typically less than the published price for a school. For more information on the sticker price of Cornell, see our tuition and fees and room and board pages.
While almost two-thirds of students nationwide take out loans to pay for college, the percentage may be quite different for the school you plan on attending. At Cornell, approximately 18% of students took out student loans averaging $4,537 a year. That adds up to $18,148 over four years for those students. The student loan default rate is 1.2%. 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. Get more details about paying for Cornell University.
Although some majors pay more than others, students who graduate from Cornell University with a bachelor’s degree go on to jobs where they make an average salary of $104,043 in their early years. That’s great news for Cornell University students since it is 111% more than the average college graduate’s salary of $49,219 per year.
Cornell University is an private not-for-profit institution located in Ithaca, New York. Ithaca is a great location for students who prefer city over country life. Get more details about the location of Cornell University.
Get in touch with Cornell University are given below.
| Contact Details | |
|---|---|
| Address: | 300 Day Hall, Ithaca, NY 14853 |
| Phone: | 6072552000 |
| Website: | www.cornell.edu |
| Facebook: | www.facebook.com/Cornell |
| Twitter: | twitter.com/Cornell |
In the latest year of available data, students from 26 majors graduated from Cornell University. The following table lists the most popular undergraduate majors along with the average salary graduates from those majors make.
| Most Popular Majors | Completions | Average Salary of Graduates |
|---|---|---|
| Multi-Disciplinary Studies | 8,826 | NA |
| Computer Science | 874 | $135,007 |
| Business Administration & Management | 543 | $150,786 |
| Computer Information Systems | 440 | $89,218 |
| Management Sciences & Methods | 432 | NA |
| Human Resource Management | 374 | $65,696 |
| Hospitality Management | 366 | $64,573 |
| General Biology | 296 | $29,066 |
| Mechanical Engineering | 272 | $79,508 |
| Electrical Engineering | 255 | $99,909 |
Online learning is becoming popular at even the oldest colleges and universities in the United States. Not only are online classes great for returning adults with busy schedules, they are also frequented by a growing number of traditional students.
593 students took at least one online class at Cornell University.
Footnotes
*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.
References