Frequently Asked Questions About Admissions
Q: What's the real difference between the privately endowed and state-assisted undergraduate colleges?
A: Cornell is unique in American higher education: Although it's an Ivy League university, chartered as a private institution, it includes three undergraduate colleges --- Agriculture and Life Sciences; Human Ecology; and Industrial and Labor Relations --- that receive a substantial state subsidy. (You may have seen them called state contract colleges.) The state subsidy results in lower tuition for students who have New York State residency and are enrolled in those colleges.
Our other undergraduate colleges --- Architecture, Art, and Planning; Arts and Sciences; Engineering; and Hotel Administration --- rely on private support. (They're sometimes called endowed colleges.) Despite the differences in funding for our colleges, all Cornell undergraduates enjoy the same quality of academic and campus life and are free to choose elective courses in the other colleges.
Students applying to Cornell should select the program that most interests them or that best meets their academic needs, whether it's privately-endowed or state-assisted.
