by our College Data Analytics TeamCornell University is a private not-for-profit institution in Ithaca, New York enrolling 15,995 undergraduates. It accepts 9% of applicants and has an on-time graduation rate of 95%, above the national average of 33%. College Factual ranks it #14 of 5,159 colleges nationwide in its 2027 Best Colleges ranking (top 1%), and its Value for Your Money analysis rates it a Fair Price.
Source: IPEDS 2025; College Scorecard July 2026; College Factual rankings 2027. Data as of: July 2026.
Cornell University ranks #14 of 5,159 colleges nationwide in College Factual’s 2027 Best Colleges ranking, placing it in the top 1%.
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 1160 badges in the 2027 rankings.
Cornell is ranked #14 out of 5,159 schools in the nation for overall quality on College Factual’s 2027 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.
See all of the rankings for Cornell University.
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.
Learn more about Cornell University admissions.
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 93%. 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 15,995 undergraduates at Cornell.
Get more detailed information on the diversity at Cornell University.
The average net price of Cornell is $17,140. 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.
| $0-30 K | $30K-48K | $48-75 | $75-110K | $110K + |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $1,776 | $4,070 | $6,796 | $14,311 | $49,992 |
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.
See which majors at Cornell University make the most money.
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 |
| Wikipedia: | en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornell_University |
| 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 | 9,580 | NA |
| Computer Science | 970 | $135,126 |
| Computer Information Systems | 599 | $88,899 |
| Management Sciences & Methods | 502 | NA |
| Business Administration & Management | 501 | $150,786 |
| Human Resource Management | 342 | $65,696 |
| General Biology | 318 | $29,066 |
| Hospitality Management | 303 | $64,523 |
| Electrical Engineering | 296 | $99,682 |
| Economics | 287 | $69,416 |
593 students took at least one online class at Cornell University.
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.
Learn more about online learning at Cornell University.
Want to see how other colleges compare to Cornell? Match them up using College Combat, a free interactive tool for comparing colleges on the features you care about.
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