Cornell University

Ithaca, NY · Private nonprofit · 15,995 undergrads (large, city) · website ↗

Test-optional
$80 application fee

What you'll actually pay

Average net price per year — tuition, fees, room & board minus grant and scholarship aid — for in-state students by household income.

Household income	Avg net price / year
Under $30,000	$1,776
$30,000 – $48,000	$4,070
$48,000 – $75,000	$6,796
$75,000 – $110,000	$14,311
Over $110,000	$49,992
All incomes (average)	$28,690

Sticker tuition and fees: $69,314 in-state — before aid, from the same earlier College Scorecard release as the net prices above.

These are averages. For an estimate for your family, use Cornell University's own net price calculator — every college that takes federal student aid must publish one.

Net price calculator ↗

Other costs of attendance, 2025–26

The college's own estimate for a full-time undergraduate for the year, before aid, from the October 2026 College Scorecard. It is a newer year than the tuition and net prices above, so don't add the two together.

Housing and meals, on campus	$20,574
Housing and meals, off campus (not with family)	$20,574
Books and supplies	$1,216
Other expenses, on campus	$2,208
Other expenses, off campus	$2,208

Grants and loans for first-year students, 2022–23

What the college reported for its full-time, first-time students (3,491 of them) in 2022–23; 60% got some kind of aid, loans included. Each average is over the students who received that kind of aid, not over everyone. It is an older year than the 2025–26 costs above.

Type of aid	Students awarded	Average amount
Any grant or scholarshipFederal, state, local and the college's own	51%	$56,741
Federal Pell GrantNeed-based, from the federal government	19%	$5,708
The college's own grants and scholarshipsNeed- or merit-based, funded by the college	49%	$55,091
Federal student loansBorrowed by the student; repaid with interest. No Parent PLUS or private loans	27%	$4,122

IPEDS, U.S. Department of Education, Student Financial Aid 2022–23 (SFA2223, provisional release); full-time, first-time degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates; public domain.

Admissions & outcomes

Acceptance rate: 9%
Average SAT: 1535
Median ACT: 34
Students with Pell grants: 18%
Graduation rate (6yr): 95%
Freshman retention: 98%
Median earnings @ 10yr: $104,043
Median debt at graduation: $14,000
International undergrads: 1,642 (10.2%)

For comparison, the median across all 1,596 four-year colleges on this site: graduation rate 56%, earnings ten years after entering $54,869, debt at graduation $23,250.

Admission policy, test scores and teaching

SAT/ACT policy: Test-optional
Application fee: $80
Students per faculty member: 9 to 1
Faculty who are full-time: 93%
Open admission: No

Middle 50% of test scores, fall 2024

25th to 75th percentile of enrolled first-year students who submitted scores. A quarter scored below the first figure and a quarter above the second. Section ranges can't be added together into a total-score range.

SAT Reading and Writing: 730–770
SAT Math: 770–800
ACT composite: 33–35

What the college considers in admission decisions, fall 2023

How the college said it used each item when deciding on first-time, degree- or certificate-seeking applicants for fall 2023. For SAT and ACT scores, see the fall 2024 policy above.

High school GPA	Considered if submitted
High school class rank	Considered if submitted
High school record	Required
Completion of a college-preparatory program	Considered if submitted
Recommendations	Required
Formal demonstration of competencies (e.g. portfolio)	Considered if submitted
English proficiency test (for applicable students)	Required
Other test (Wonderlic, WISC-III, etc.)	Considered if submitted
Work experience	Considered if submitted
Personal statement or essay	Required
Legacy status	Considered if submitted

First-time applicants: 65,635
Admitted: 5,358
Enrolled: 3,537

Counts of first-time, degree- or certificate-seeking students, including early decision and early action. The acceptance rate higher up this page comes from a different College Scorecard release, so it may not match these counts.

IPEDS, U.S. Department of Education, Admissions 2023–24 (ADM2023, provisional release), fall 2023; open admission from IPEDS Institutional Characteristics 2023–24 (revised); public domain.

Most popular fields of study

Share of bachelor's degrees awarded.

Computer Science19%

Engineering15%

Business11%

Agriculture11%

Biology & Life Sciences10%

Social Sciences8%

Psychology4%

Architecture3%

Environmental Studies3%

Physics & Chemistry2%

Earnings and debt by field of study

Median annual earnings of graduates who received federal student aid and were working, not studying: one year after completing (graduates of 2020–21 and 2021–22) and four years after (2017–18 and 2018–19), measured in 2022 and 2023 and shown in 2024 dollars. Median debt is federal Direct and Grad PLUS loans borrowed at this college by 2022–23 and 2023–24 graduates; it leaves out Parent PLUS and private loans. “National” is the median for the same field and credential across all US colleges.

Bachelor's degrees (45)

Field of study	Degrees awarded 2023–24	Earnings, 1 yr after	Earnings, 4 yrs after	Median federal debt
Computer Science	527	$151,551	$223,309national $107,009	$12,500
Human Resources Management and Services	286	$74,192	$112,713national $68,069	$12,000
Biology, General	277	$42,665	$69,083national $57,214	$12,500
Hospitality Administration/Management	271	$92,126	$112,289national $56,726	$10,883
Computer and Information Sciences, General	270	$100,205	$144,389national $92,374	$12,449
Agricultural Business and Management	245	$101,659	$145,218national $66,647	$13,000
Economics	167	$90,181	$137,935national $82,686	$12,500
Mechanical Engineering	152	$93,525	$112,212national $92,135	$14,163
Political Science and Government	123	$62,009	$95,391national $63,293	$11,720
Mathematics	110	$114,798	$134,455national $69,562	$11,235
Natural Resources Conservation and Research	104	$43,280	$68,088national $55,012	$12,500
Human Biology	100	—	—national $64,732	$12,447
Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Other	83	$44,061	$85,883national $65,681	$8,567
Psychology, General	79	$43,156	$78,049national $50,706	$12,500
Communication and Media Studies	78	$63,499	$88,463national $56,359	$10,000
Electrical, Electronics, and Communications Engineering	77	$110,607	$147,241national $100,647	$12,750
Public Policy Analysis	74	$91,332	$126,767national $73,721	$12,696
Animal Sciences	68	$38,582	$52,967national $49,634	$11,146
Operations Research	68	$102,318	$151,709national $122,531	$13,500
Architectural Sciences and Technology	67	$69,892	$71,914national $70,074	$16,508
Agriculture, General	56	$55,055	$67,954national $53,676	$10,500
Biomedical/Medical Engineering	55	$81,507	—national $93,451	$16,962
Physics	45	—	$118,649national $76,786	$10,000
Chemistry	43	$47,020	$79,311national $65,120	$11,351
Sociology	43	$70,733	$73,200national $52,657	$10,250
English Language and Literature, General	36	$47,541	$65,089national $48,590	$14,394
Chemical Engineering	35	$90,501	$116,165national $98,158	$13,500
Civil Engineering	33	$78,367	$91,242national $86,517	—
Biomathematics, Bioinformatics, and Computational Biology	33	—	$124,242national $86,713	—
Fine and Studio Arts	33	$37,201	$41,784national $41,367	$12,000
History	33	$49,183	$82,031national $50,680	—
Statistics	31	$95,495	$111,090national $92,425	$15,572
Apparel and Textiles	28	$60,834	$94,967national $57,640	—
Public Health	28	—	—national $58,808	$13,520
Food Science and Technology	27	$66,519	$84,147national $70,873	—
City/Urban, Community, and Regional Planning	27	—	—national $66,874	$9,750
Area Studies	27	$45,914	$96,976national $56,625	—
Environmental/Environmental Health Engineering	26	$61,084	$103,016national $81,171	$8,000
Nutrition Sciences	22	—	$60,728national $60,053	$13,500
Plant Sciences	21	—	$58,960national $56,567	$8,604
Linguistic, Comparative, and Related Language Studies and Services	20	$25,278	—national $49,984	—
Romance Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics	17	$53,990	$89,275national $55,000	—
Engineering, General	3	—	$128,207national $89,359	—
Agricultural Engineering	0	$74,548	$99,600national $84,624	—
Human Development, Family Studies, and Related Services	0	$50,055	$73,066national $48,568	$10,291

Master's degrees (29)

Field of study	Degrees awarded 2023–24	Earnings, 1 yr after	Earnings, 4 yrs after	Median federal debt
Business Administration, Management and Operations	537	$196,713	$226,632national $103,485	$143,214
Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods	432	$96,697	—national $124,807	$57,815
Computer Science	312	$175,401	$235,762national $145,571	$36,706
Legal Research and Advanced Professional Studies	205	—	—national $101,000	$46,509
Computer and Information Sciences, General	155	$117,684	$196,882national $124,201	$41,000
Electrical, Electronics, and Communications Engineering	153	$136,971	$156,103national $133,654	$62,500
Operations Research	149	$130,294	$203,340national $161,561	$41,000
Public Administration	129	$81,852	$100,325national $81,408	$69,125
Systems Engineering	124	$127,771	$142,846national $144,565	—
Biomedical/Medical Engineering	107	$86,865	$120,467national $106,375	$44,556
Hospitality Administration/Management	95	$90,501	$105,553national $74,856	$71,071
Mechanical Engineering	94	$112,830	$128,130national $115,974	$20,500
Computer/Information Technology Administration and Management	86	$161,226	—national $121,855	$93,791
Human Resources Management and Services	83	$112,732	$155,909national $83,558	$36,783
Engineering-Related Fields	80	$105,720	—national $125,651	$45,159
Health and Medical Administrative Services	70	$117,795	$141,532national $89,981	$66,000
Architectural Sciences and Technology	69	$65,346	$76,785national $77,466	$120,769
Economics	65	$71,347	—national $100,743	—
Public Health	55	$71,140	—national $82,751	$74,275
Sustainability Studies	53	—	—national $76,897	$41,000
Civil Engineering	39	$88,428	$90,197national $98,323	—
Aerospace, Aeronautical, and Astronautical/Space Engineering	28	$100,632	$132,449national $122,434	—
Agriculture, General	26	$69,721	—national $61,941	$30,680
Landscape Architecture	22	$68,242	$74,689national $70,306	—
Real Estate	21	$144,319	—national $135,104	—
Architecture	0	—	$83,284national $74,139	—
City/Urban, Community, and Regional Planning	0	$82,512	$86,756national $79,665	—
Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions	—	—	$163,586national $127,347	$175,386
Health Professions and Related Clinical Sciences, Other	—	—	—national $81,651	$115,374

First professional degrees (1)

Field of study	Degrees awarded 2023–24	Earnings, 1 yr after	Earnings, 4 yrs after	Median federal debt
Medicine	—	—	$103,352national $112,460	$84,080

Doctoral degrees (3)

Field of study	Degrees awarded 2023–24	Earnings, 1 yr after	Earnings, 4 yrs after	Median federal debt
Chemistry	36	$100,215	—national $115,386	—
Veterinary Medicine	—	$107,057	$143,425national $139,914	$157,950
Law	—	$221,831	$259,851national $105,518	$163,440

A dash means the Department of Education suppressed the figure because too few graduates were measured — not zero. 192 more programmes at this college have every figure suppressed and are not listed. These figures are calculated for all 2 campuses that share this college's federal student-aid ID, so a branch campus shows its institution's figures.

Contact and accreditation

Address: 300 Day Hall, Ithaca, NY 14853
Phone: (607) 255-2000
Institutional accreditor: Middle States Commission on Higher Education

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Sources: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard (most recent cohorts) and IPEDS Fall Enrolment for international student counts. College Scorecard, October 2026 release: net price calculator link, mission flags and religious affiliation (2025–26), enrolment shares, test policy, SAT/ACT ranges and student-to-faculty ratio (fall 2024), cost-of-attendance components (2025–26), and earnings and debt by field of study. IPEDS Institutional Characteristics 2023–24 for the application fee and the IPEDS 2024 directory for the phone number. IPEDS Admissions 2023–24 (ADM2023, provisional release) for admission requirements and first-time applicants, admits and enrolments (fall 2023). IPEDS Student Financial Aid 2022–23 (SFA2223, provisional release) for grants and loans to full-time, first-time students. All are U.S. Department of Education data in the public domain. Verify current costs and requirements with the school.

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