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 (2019-20) 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 2019-20,

  • Total Head-Count Enrollment = 1020
  • Total Degree-Seeking Student Enrollment (both part-time and full-time students) = 1017
  • Total Full-Time Equivalent (total full-time students + 1/3 of total part-time students) = 1015

2. What is the ratio of students to faculty?

For 2019-20, 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, 76% returned to the College in 2019-20.

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 2013-14, 69% 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 (99%) of Cornell’s tenured/tenure-track faculty hold terminal degrees in their fields (2019-20).

6. What are the five most popular majors?

The top five majors for 2019 graduates were: (1) Kinesiology-Exercise Science, (2) Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, (3) History (4) Computer Science, and (5) English Creative Writing.

7. What are the geographic origins of our students?

For the 2019-20 academic year, 24% of Cornell students hail from Iowa. 20%  come from Illinois, Colorado (10%), Minnesota (7%), and Wisconsin (5%) round out the top 5 states.  An additional 7% 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 2018-19 was 3.14.

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

Cornell is a residential campus. As such, 93% of the student body lives in campus housing (2019-20).