Cornell College
Private College in Mount Vernon, IA. Six-year graduation rate 62%. Median 10-year earnings $53,460.
Ten years after entry, the median Cornell College student earns $53,460 — a solidly middle-of-the-pack result for an undergraduate institution. The six-year graduation rate is 62%, meaning about two in five students who start do not finish. Graduates leave owing a median of $27,000 — a substantial load to service on these earnings.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
- ! Mobility score 0.9 — limited economic uplift documented
Admissions
80% of applicants get in, so the odds favor most reasonably prepared students. 2,522 students applied in the most recent cycle — a mid-sized pool drawn mostly from the surrounding region. A 14% yield rate is low: the admitted pool is much larger than the entering class. 8% of enrolled first-years submitted an SAT score. The bands below describe the middle half of that group, not of the class.
Test score bands (middle 50% of submitters)
These bands describe the enrolled first-years who submitted a score, not the entering class. Where most students apply test-optional the submitters are a self-selected, higher-scoring group.
| Test | 25th–75th percentile | Submitted |
|---|---|---|
| SAT Evidence-Based Reading | 575–655 | 23 (8%) |
| SAT Math | 545–630 | |
| ACT Composite | 23–30 | 48 (17%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Cornell College →Academics
62% graduate within six years — average, but that average still hides a large group who do not. Retention is strong at 80%, and first-year attrition is where most degrees are lost. Retention and completion are close, which places the gap between entering and finishing almost entirely in year one. A 25% transfer-out rate accounts for part of that gap: those students left for another institution rather than dropping out, and the graduation rate above counts them as non-completers here. A 14:1 ratio points to small classes and accessible faculty.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 1,074 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price after grant aid is $25,220 a year — mid-range for a four-year institution. The income table below is the number that matters — $16,409 at $0–30k versus $29,298 at $110k+. 100% of students get grant aid averaging $39,564, so the published price is a poor guide to what most pay. Borrowing is widespread: 66% take federal loans.
Entering first-year students
A different, smaller group than the rates above: full-time students in their first year of college anywhere. The grant series here also excludes the "other sources" counted in the all-undergraduate figure, so the two are not comparable.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · 298 students
Net price by family income
The same students as the headline above, limited to those who received Title IV federal aid — a narrower group, with a lower overall average. IPEDS publishes no combined figure across these bands, so they should not be averaged into one.
| Family income band | Average net price |
|---|---|
| $0–30k | $16,409 |
| $30–48k | $18,513 |
| $48–75k | $20,177 |
| $75–110k | $22,944 |
| $110k+ | $29,298 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 707 of these 1,074 students, totalling $4,850,856 — an average of $6,861 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Linn County) — budget these against any cost-of-attendance housing estimate.
HUD Fair Market Rents (40th-percentile gross rent incl. utilities) · FY2026
Veterans & GI Bill
VA GI Bill Comparison Tool (Veterans Affairs GIDS)