Cornell University

What the IPEDS & College Scorecard Data Shows for Cornell University

Cornell University operates as a private nonprofit institution located in Ithaca, New York (city: small), with a total reported enrollment of 15,995 students of which 16,282 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 University is categorized as “15” 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 8.8%, drawn from the most recent IPEDS Fall enrollment survey, with an average SAT of 1,535 and an ACT midpoint of 34. The average net price after grants and scholarships is $28,690, with published in-state tuition of $69,314 and a Pell grant recipient share of 18.4%. Median federal student debt at graduation is $14,000, drawn from the U.S. Treasury-matched College Scorecard file.

Outcomes reveal whether the investment pays back. The 4-year completion rate is 95.3%, and the first-year retention rate is 98.4%. Graduates earn a median of $104,043 ten years after enrolling, compared with $87,830 six years post-enrollment. Within three years of entering repayment, 313700.0% of borrowers are making progress on their federal loans, and 85.1% 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.