Cornell College

What the IPEDS & College Scorecard Data Shows for Cornell College

Cornell College operates as a private nonprofit institution located in Mount Vernon, Iowa (town: fringe), with a total reported enrollment of 1,086 students of which 1,140 are undergraduates. Institution-level records in the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) classify each school by Carnegie category, ownership sector, and urban/rural locale, which is how this profile’s peer group and cost cohort are determined. Cornell College is categorized as “21” under the Carnegie classification system, a meaningful signal when comparing like-to-like institutions.

Selectivity and financial signals give context to what applicants can expect. The reported admission rate is 79.9%, drawn from the most recent IPEDS Fall enrollment survey, with an average SAT of 1,234 and an ACT midpoint of 27. The average net price after grants and scholarships is $23,634, with published in-state tuition of $52,660 and a Pell grant recipient share of 32.1%. Median federal student debt at graduation is $27,000, drawn from the U.S. Treasury-matched College Scorecard file.

Outcomes reveal whether the investment pays back. The 4-year completion rate is 66.8%, and the first-year retention rate is 79.5%. Graduates earn a median of $53,460 ten years after enrolling, compared with $39,299 six years post-enrollment. Within three years of entering repayment, 51400.0% of borrowers are making progress on their federal loans, and 63.2% of graduates earn above the high-school threshold. Treating these numbers as a single snapshot alongside the cost cohort is the standard approach for evaluating ROI under the College Scorecard methodology.