Cornell University announces tuition, financial-aid increases for next academic year

ITHACA, N.Y. — Cornell University’s 2022-2023 budget includes a tuition increase of nearly 4 percent for undergraduate students, but that rise will be offset to some extent by an increase in grant-based financial aid, according to a release on the Cornell Chronicle website.

At $62,456, tuition rates will increase 3.6 percent for unaided out-of-state students attending any of Cornell’s colleges and for unaided state residents attending the endowed colleges: the College of Architecture, Art and Planning, the College of Arts and Sciences, the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business, and the College of Engineering.

For unaided undergraduate state residents attending the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, the College of Human Ecology, and the School of Industrial Relations, tuition increases 3.9 percent to $41,958.

At the same time, Cornell is boosting grant-based financial aid by 8.4 percent to a record $322 million. Grant funding, which students do not need to repay, has more than tripled over the past 20 years, the university noted. About half of the undergraduate student body receives some amount of grant aid which can also be used to pay for room, board, and incidental expenses. The median grant amount in 2021 was $47,563, per Cornell.

“The increases in grant-based aid should cover any added costs of attendance — housing and dining as well as tuition and fees — for U.S. students whose financial circumstances are unchanged from last year,” Jonathan Burdick, vice provost for enrollment at Cornell, said.

The fee for housing increases 4.7 percent to $10,426 for the coming year, while dining fees rise 2.75 percent to $6,612. All first- and second-year students are required to live on campus and have meal plans.

Tuition for master’s degrees will rise from 0-9 percent, depending on the degree, with most rising 3.6 percent. Tuition for law, veterinary, and MBA degrees varies with a maximum increase of 3.6 percent. Doctoral degree tuition remains unchanged.

As part of its $5 billion “To Do the Greatest Good” campaign, the college hopes to increase the number of aid-eligible undergraduates by 1,000, reduce undergraduates’ average borrowing, and exempt those with limited financial resources from a summer-work earnings requirement.