There are a handful of general questions frequently posed to the Institutional Effectiveness staff. We have attempted to provide answers to many of these questions here. The responses provided are for the most recent academic year (2020-21) unless otherwise specified and conform to terms as defined.

1. What is Cornell’s enrollment?
Enrollment can be defined in many ways, including total headcount and full-time equivalent students. For 2020-21,

  • Total Head-Count Enrollment = 1002
  • Total Degree-Seeking Student Enrollment (both part-time and full-time students) = 996
  • Total Full-Time Equivalent (total full-time students + 1/3 of total part-time students) = 993

2. What is the ratio of students to faculty?

For 2020-21, Cornell College had a student-to-faculty ratio of 12:1. This ratio represents the number of full-time equivalent students per full-time equivalent faculty member (see Common Data Set for calculation).

3. What is the College’s first-to-second year retention rate?

Of those first-time, full-time students who started Cornell College in 2019-20, 74% returned to the College in 2020-21.

4. What is the College’s 6-year graduation rate?

Of those first-time, full-time students who began their college careers at Cornell in 2014-15, 67% graduated within six years.

5. What percentage of Cornell College tenured or tenure-track faculty hold terminal degrees (e.g., Ph.D., Ed.D., MFA, etc.)?

Ninety-nine percent (100%) of Cornell’s tenured/tenure-track faculty hold terminal degrees in their fields (2020-21).

6. What are the five most popular majors?

The top five majors for 2020 graduates were: (1) Psychology Specialist, (2) Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, (3) Kinesiology-Exercise Science (4) Secondary Education (5) English Creative Writing.

7. What are the geographic origins of our students?

For the 2020-21 academic year, 27% of Cornell students hail from Iowa. 19%  come from Illinois, Colorado (9%), Minnesota (8%), and Wisconsin (4%) round out the top 5 states.  An additional 5% of students arrive at Cornell from homes outside the U.S.

8. What is the average GPA for the student body?

The College’s average GPA for 2019-20 was 3.18.

9. What percentage of Cornell students live in campus housing?

Cornell is a residential campus generally housing over 90% of it student population.  Due to COVID-19, 79% of the student body is living campus housing in the fall of 2020.