10-YEAR PAYOFF CURVECumulative economic payoff after graduation
+$295,810at year 10Net gainInvestment not yet recovered
NET GAIN$0UNRECOVERED
Private nonprofit · COLLEGE PAYOFF
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY · 68 field-and-degree records
Earnings reported for 62 · Federal debt reported for 43
Based onObserved earnings + college priceEstimate10-year payoff
Estimated 10-year payoff
Strong payoff
+$295,810 over 10 years
Modeled from observed year-5 institution earnings and the institution-wide average net price over four years.
5.0 yrsTime to earn back the modeled cost
+100%Estimated return after 10 years
$104,057Observed earnings · year 5
$102,643Highest annual price before payoff reaches $0
The price benchmark is $73,953 per year below this threshold.
Start with your question
What do you want to understand?
ECONOMIC INVESTMENT → PAYBACK
Estimated payoff over ten years.
The scenario counts direct price and earnings forgone upfront, then applies the reported annual earnings premium.
FEDERAL COST DATA
Four ways to read college price.
Annual college-wide figures from the current College Scorecard release. Average net price covers full-time, first-time undergraduates receiving federal aid; public-college figures use in-state students. Program tuition and individual aid offers may differ.
PUBLISHED STUDENT BUDGET · 2024–25
What makes up the annual price?
Sticker-price components reported to IPEDS. Grants and scholarships are not subtracted here.
Living off campus: $19,428 housing and food allowance plus $2,182 in other expenses.
Do not confuse this with net price. Net price subtracts average grants and scholarships. DegreeVerdict continues to use the separately labeled average net price in its standard college ROI scenario.
PRICE SENSITIVITY
The price can change the verdict.
Hold observed earnings constant and see how the modeled ten-year payoff changes as annual price rises.
← Negative payoff$0Positive payoff →
$0Annual price+$410,570
$20,000Annual price+$330,570
$29,000Current college-wide context+$294,570
$40,000Annual price+$250,570
$60,000Annual price+$170,570
$80,000Annual price+$90,570
$100,000Annual price+$10,570
HOW STUDENTS ATTEND · 2023-24
Most students study without distance-education courses.
IPEDS enrollment counts show course delivery across the whole institution. They do not indicate whether a specific degree can be completed online.
Institution-level attendance context from IPEDS. Program delivery is reported separately on degree pages and in the program directory. These figures do not enter ROI.
College identity and local contextAccreditation, institution type, dual enrollment and state prices
COLLEGE AT A GLANCE
Institution details
Current federal characteristics describing the college, not the outcomes of a specific program.
- Accreditor
- Middle States Commission on Higher Education
- Main award level
- Bachelor’s degrees
- Campus setting
- City
- Admissions
- Selective admission
- Delivery
- Campus or mixed delivery
- Federal designation
- Land-grant institution
STATE PRICE CONTEXT · 2024
Prices in New York run 8% above the U.S. level.
BEA Regional Price Parities compare price levels across states. A value of 100 equals the national average.
What it costs and what graduates earn
$28,690Average net price / year
$88,140Cost of attendance
$14,000Median federal student debt · completer borrowers
$148/moPublished 10-year payment estimate
$104,057Median earnings · year 5 after completion
95.4%Completion rate
8.8%Admission rate
1,535Average SAT score
34ACT midpoint
15,995Student size
Debt covers federal student-loan borrowers who completed. It does not include Parent PLUS or private loans. We show admissions scores only when a valid federal value is available.
What the numbers say about Cornell University
What does Cornell University cost?
Cornell University reports an average annual net price of $28,690 after grants and scholarships. This is an institution-wide average, not an individual aid offer.
What do Cornell University graduates earn?
The observed median earnings figure is $104,057 5 years after completion. It describes a federal cohort, not a guaranteed starting salary.
How much federal debt do Cornell University graduates have?
Completer borrowers report median cumulative federal student debt of $14,000. Parent PLUS and private loans are not included.
Is every degree at Cornell University worth the same?
No. The current release contains 68 field-and-degree records for Cornell University; 62 report year-4 earnings and 43 report federal debt. Outcomes can differ substantially by field and degree level.
DEBT AFTER COLLEGE
Are borrowers making progress?
Repayment progress, default and debt at exit describe different federal borrower cohorts. They are shown separately and do not change the ROI estimate.
Source: College Scorecard. Repayment progress is the share of borrowers who reduced principal by at least $1 at the stated measurement point. Debt covers federal student loans; Parent PLUS and private loans are excluded. Cohorts and reporting periods differ across measures.
Who studied here during the year
28,618Students enrolled at any point
16,662Undergraduate students
11,956Graduate students
Unduplicated students enrolled at any point from July 1, 2024 through June 30, 2025. This full-year measure is different from a fall headcount and does not enter ROI.
More student and earnings detailPrice by family income, retention, equity and common industries
WHO PAYS, WHO FINISHES, WHO EARNS
Outcomes are not the same for every family.
These federal cohorts add context that a single college average can hide. Missing figures remain unreported rather than estimated.
Complete within 150% of the expected time
94% received a Pell Grant within eight yearsMedian Parent PLUS debt
544 parent borrowers in the reported cohortMedian federal student debt
81% making progress in repayment after three yearsStudent family incomeMedian earnings after 10 yearsObserved federal cohorts
Lower income$94,995Earnings are not a guarantee
Middle income$95,304Earnings are not a guarantee
Higher income$108,924Earnings are not a guarantee
Three-year repayment progress
Lower income78%
Middle income87%
Higher income91%
Undergraduate student composition
White31%
Black7%
Hispanic13%
Asian27%
Source: College Scorecard, June 2026 release. Parent PLUS debt belongs to parents; student-debt measures exclude Parent PLUS and private loans. Cohort definitions differ by measure.
NATIONAL CONTEXT
How this college compares
Percentiles compare this institution with currently operating colleges that report the same federal measure.
WHAT STANDS OUT
A faster read on this college
These summaries use every reportable field-and-credential record at this institution. They do not fill privacy-suppressed outcomes.
EARNINGS OVER TIME
What graduates earned in later years
$70,710Year 1
$113,372Year 4
$104,057Year 5
Each year can represent a different federal cohort, so the points do not track the same people over time.
Your choice of degree can change the payoff.
Graduate earnings differ by field and credential, even within the same college.
1Law · Doctoral Degree$259,8512Computer Science · Master's Degree$235,7623Business Administration, Management and Operations · Master's Degree$226,6324Computer Science · Bachelor's Degree$223,3095Operations Research · Master's Degree$203,3406Computer and Information Sciences, General · Master's Degree$196,8827Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions · Master's Degree$163,5868Electrical, Electronics, and Communications Engineering · Master's Degree$156,103Observed year-4 earnings · compare the same field and credential across colleges
Programs that stand out against the same-degree benchmark
This view rewards performance relative to the same field and credential, not simply majors that pay more everywhere.
1LawDoctoral Degree · $259,851 reported+146%vs same-degree national medianNot availablefederal debt2Business Administration, Management and OperationsMaster's Degree · $226,632 reported+119%vs same-degree national medianNot availablefederal debt3Agricultural Business and ManagementBachelor's Degree · $145,218 reported+118%vs same-degree national median$13,258federal debt4Computer ScienceBachelor's Degree · $223,309 reported+109%vs same-degree national median$14,698federal debt5Hospitality Administration/ManagementBachelor's Degree · $112,289 reported+98%vs same-degree national median$13,987federal debt6MathematicsBachelor's Degree · $134,455 reported+93%vs same-degree national median$14,146federal debt
Comparable colleges in NY
Currently operating private nonprofit institutions with the closest combination of annual net price and observed year-5 earnings. Similarity is descriptive, not a quality ranking.
Troy, NY
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
- Annual net price
- $36,228
- Observed earnings · year 5
- $102,764
- Modeled 10-year ROI
- +78%
Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences
- Annual net price
- $29,882
- Observed earnings · year 5
- $115,118
- Modeled 10-year ROI
- +134%
Columbia University in the City of New York
- Annual net price
- $21,590
- Observed earnings · year 5
- $112,647
- Modeled 10-year ROI
- +154%
Clarkson University
- Annual net price
- $30,305
- Observed earnings · year 5
- $89,882
- Modeled 10-year ROI
- +49%
Compare fields and degree levels
Showing the 40 highest-earning records from 68 field-and-degree records. Use the program directory to search the complete set.
| Major or field | Degree level | Earnings, year 4 | Federal debt | 2024–25 graduates |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Law | Doctoral Degree | $259,851 | Not available | 197 |
| Computer Science | Master's Degree | $235,762 | Not available | Not reported |
| Business Administration, Management and Operations | Master's Degree | $226,632 | Not available | Not reported |
| Computer Science | Bachelor's Degree | $223,309 | $14,698 | Not reported |
| Operations Research | Master's Degree | $203,340 | Not available | Not reported |
| Computer and Information Sciences, General | Master's Degree | $196,882 | Not available | Not reported |
| Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions | Master's Degree | $163,586 | Not available | Not reported |
| Electrical, Electronics, and Communications Engineering | Master's Degree | $156,103 | Not available | Not reported |
| Human Resources Management and Services | Master's Degree | $155,909 | Not available | Not reported |
| Operations Research | Bachelor's Degree | $151,709 | $15,000 | Not reported |
| Electrical, Electronics, and Communications Engineering | Bachelor's Degree | $147,241 | $14,750 | Not reported |
| Agricultural Business and Management | Bachelor's Degree | $145,218 | $13,258 | Not reported |
| Computer and Information Sciences, General | Bachelor's Degree | $144,389 | $15,500 | Not reported |
| Veterinary Medicine | Doctoral Degree | $143,425 | Not available | 121 |
| Systems Engineering | Master's Degree | $142,846 | Not available | Not reported |
| Health and Medical Administrative Services | Master's Degree | $141,532 | Not available | Not reported |
| Economics | Bachelor's Degree | $137,935 | $15,500 | Not reported |
| Mathematics | Bachelor's Degree | $134,455 | $14,146 | Not reported |
| Aerospace, Aeronautical, and Astronautical/Space Engineering | Master's Degree | $132,449 | Not available | Not reported |
| Engineering, General | Bachelor's Degree | $128,207 | Not available | Not reported |
| Mechanical Engineering | Master's Degree | $128,130 | Not available | Not reported |
| Public Policy Analysis | Bachelor's Degree | $126,767 | $15,750 | Not reported |
| Biomathematics, Bioinformatics, and Computational Biology | Bachelor's Degree | $124,242 | $16,099 | Not reported |
| Biomedical/Medical Engineering | Master's Degree | $120,467 | Not available | Not reported |
| Physics | Bachelor's Degree | $118,649 | $15,961 | Not reported |
| Chemical Engineering | Bachelor's Degree | $116,165 | $14,361 | Not reported |
| Human Resources Management and Services | Bachelor's Degree | $112,713 | $15,000 | Not reported |
| Hospitality Administration/Management | Bachelor's Degree | $112,289 | $13,987 | Not reported |
| Mechanical Engineering | Bachelor's Degree | $112,212 | $15,500 | Not reported |
| Statistics | Bachelor's Degree | $111,090 | Not available | Not reported |
| Hospitality Administration/Management | Master's Degree | $105,553 | Not available | Not reported |
| Medicine | First Professional Degree | $103,352 | Not available | Not reported |
| Environmental/Environmental Health Engineering | Bachelor's Degree | $103,016 | $13,102 | Not reported |
| Public Administration | Master's Degree | $100,325 | Not available | Not reported |
| Agricultural Engineering | Bachelor's Degree | $99,600 | $15,502 | Not reported |
| Area Studies | Bachelor's Degree | $96,976 | $17,625 | Not reported |
| Political Science and Government | Bachelor's Degree | $95,391 | $14,400 | Not reported |
| Apparel and Textiles | Bachelor's Degree | $94,967 | Not available | Not reported |
| Civil Engineering | Bachelor's Degree | $91,242 | $12,750 | Not reported |
| Civil Engineering | Master's Degree | $90,197 | Not available | Not reported |
Graduate counts come from IPEDS and group related majors into the same federal field. Missing earnings or debt values remain labeled as unavailable.
Search every Cornell University program record →Earnings, price, completion and enrollment are observed federal measures. ROI, payoff and break-even are modeled scenarios built from those measures and fixed assumptions. College payoff is not the payoff of every degree at this school; use the program table for a more precise comparison.