Cornell University is a private Ivy League land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. The university was founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White. Since its founding, Cornell has been a co-educational and nonsectarian institution. As of fall 2023, the student body included over 16,000 undergraduate and 10,000 graduate students from all 50 U.S. states and 130 countries.[6]
The university is organized into seven undergraduate colleges and seven graduate divisions on its main Ithaca campus.[11] Each college and academic division has near autonomy in defining its respective admission standards and academic curriculum. In addition to its primary campus in Ithaca, the university administers three satellite campuses, including two in New York City and one in the Education City region of Qatar.[11]
Cornell is one of the few private land-grant universities in the United States.[a] Among the university's seven undergraduate colleges, three are state-supported statutory or contract colleges through the State University of New York system, including its College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, its College of Human Ecology, and its Industrial Labor Relations School. Among Cornell's graduate schools, only its Veterinary Medicine College is supported by New York state. The main campus of Cornell University in Ithaca spans 745 acres (301 ha).
As of October 2023, 62 Nobel laureates, 4 Turing Award winners, and 1 Fields Medalist have been affiliated with Cornell. Cornell counts more than 250,000 living alumni, which include 34 Marshall Scholars,[12] 33 Rhodes Scholars, 29 Truman Scholars, 63 Olympic Medalists, 10 current Fortune 500 CEOs, and 35 billionaires.[13][14][15][16][17]
Cornell University was founded on April 27, 1865, by Ezra Cornell, an entrepreneur and New York State Senator, and Andrew Dickson White, an educator and also a New York State Senator, after the New York State legislature authorized the university as the state's land grant institution.[18] Ezra Cornell offered his farm in Ithaca, New York as a preliminary site for the university, and granted $500,000 of his personal fortune as an initial endowment (equivalent to $12,373,000 in 2023) to the university. White agreed to be Cornell University's first president.
During Cornell University's first three years, White oversaw the construction of the first two buildings and traveled to recruit promising students and faculty.[19] The university was inaugurated on October 7, 1868, and 412 male students were enrolled the following day.[20]
Cornell developed as a technologically innovative institution, applying its academic research to its own campus and to outreach efforts. In 1883, it was one of the first university campuses to use electricity from a water-powered dynamo to light the campus grounds.[21] Since 1894, Cornell has included colleges that are state-funded and fulfill state statutory requirements;[22] it has also administered research and extension activities that have been jointly funded by New York state with U.S. federal government matching funds.[23]
Beginning with its first classes, Cornell University has had active and engaged alumni. In 1872, the university became one of the first universities in the nation to include alumni-elected representatives on its board of trustees.[b]
Cornell University is home to Cornell University Press, founded in 1869, the country's oldest publishing enterprise. Cornell was first home to the Cornell Era, a weekly campus publication founded in 1868. In 1880, The Cornell Daily Sun, an independent student-run newspaper, was founded at the university. The Cornell Daily Sun is one of the nation's longest continuously published student publications.
Cornell is a large, primarily residential research university with a majority of enrollments in undergraduate programs.[122] The university has been accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education or its predecessor since 1921.[123] Cornell operates on a 4–1–4 academic calendar with the fall term beginning in late August and ending in early December, a three-week winter session in January, and the spring term beginning in late January and ending in early May.[124]
Cornell, along with Oregon State University, Pennsylvania State University, University of Georgia, and University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, are the only institutions to be land-grant universities that are also members of the other three "grant" programs: sea grant, space grant, and sun grant. Cornell is the only such private university.
Admission to Cornell University is highly competitive. In spring of 2022 (Class of 2026), Cornell's undergraduate programs received 71,164 applications and admitted only 5,168 for a 7.2% acceptance rate.[126] For Fall 2019 enrolling freshmen, the middle 50% range of SAT scores were 680–760 for evidence-based reading and writing and 720–800 for mathematics.[127] The middle 50% range of the ACT composite score was 32–35.[127]
The university continues to attract a diverse and inclusive student body. The proportion of admitted students who self-identify as underrepresented minorities increased to 34.2% from 33.7% in 2021, and 59.3% self-identify as students of color. That number has increased steadily over the past five years, enrollment officials said, from 52.5% in 2017 and 57.2% in 2020.
Of those admitted, 1,163 will be first-generation college students, another increase over 2020's 844.[128] The university is need-blind for domestic applicants.[129]
Cornell University, under Section 9 of its original charter, ensures equal access to education by admitting students without distinction based on rank, class, occupation, or locality.[130] The charter also mandates free instruction for one student from each Assembly district in the state.[130]
From the 1950s to the 1980s, Cornell collaborated with other Ivy League institutions to establish a uniform financial aid system.[131] Although a 1989 consent decree ended this collaboration due to an antitrust investigation, all Ivy League schools still offer need-based financial aid without athletic scholarships.[132] In December 2010, Cornell pledged to match any grant component of financial aid offers from other Ivy League schools, MIT, or Stanford for accepted applicants considering these institutions.[133]
In 2008, Cornell introduced a financial aid initiative, gradually replacing need-based loans with scholarships for undergraduate students from lower-income families.[134] Despite a 27% drop in the university's endowment in 2008, the then-president allocated additional funds to continue the initiative, seeking to raise $125 million in donations for its support.[135] By 2010, Cornell successfully met the full financial aid needs of 40% of full-time freshmen with financial need, and the average undergraduate student debt upon graduation was $21,549.[136]
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