Which Cornell University major has the lowest debt?

Sociology graduates leave with a median of $11,900 in federal loans, the lowest among 40 Cornell University bachelor's programs that report debt.

How much does Cornell University cost?

Tuition and fees are $69,314 a year for all students. After grants and scholarships, the average net price is $28,690 a year.

How many Cornell University programs report graduate pay?

42 bachelor's programs at Cornell University report first-year pay, and 40 of them also report federal debt.

Cornell University Programs, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

Private nonprofit university
Ithaca, NY
15,995 undergraduates

College Scorecard June 2026 release

The short answer

42 Cornell University bachelor's programs report what graduates earn. Computer Science pays the most in the first year ($152,656), and Chemistry the least ($28,372). The median program pays $53,950.

Tuition and fees$69,314Per year, for all students

Average net price after aid$28,690Per year

Graduation rate95%Within 6 years

Admission rate9%Of applicants

All 42 bachelor's programs, ranked

Each figure is the median for the program's graduates. "Rank in New York" compares first-year pay with the same field's bachelor's programs across New York. Programs that don't report a figure are listed last when you sort by it.

#	Program	Year 1 pay	Year 5 pay	Debt	Rank in New York
1	Computer ScienceAbout 507 graduates a year	$152,656	$219,827	$14,698	1st of 20
2	Computer and Information ScienceAbout 206 graduates a year	$103,650	$140,860	$15,500	2nd of 30
3	Electrical EngineeringAbout 100 graduates a year	$100,516	$131,283	$14,750	1st of 18
4	Operations ResearchAbout 73 graduates a year	$96,377	$151,071	$15,000	2nd of 2
5	Agricultural BusinessAbout 254 graduates a year	$92,163	$130,690	$13,258	1st of 2
6	MathematicsAbout 103 graduates a year	$87,251	$162,763	$14,146	1st of 22
7	Chemical EngineeringAbout 41 graduates a year	$85,578	$118,510	$14,361	1st of 12
8	Mechanical EngineeringAbout 132 graduates a year	$85,440	$113,983	$15,500	1st of 21
9	EconomicsAbout 157 graduates a year	$84,967	$129,667	$15,500	2nd of 36
10	StatisticsAbout 35 graduates a year	$82,531	Not reported	Not reported	1st of 1
11	Civil EngineeringAbout 36 graduates a year	$80,261	$100,258	$12,750	1st of 10
12	Bioinformatics and Computational BiologyAbout 31 graduates a year	$78,358	$152,425	$16,099	1st of 2
13	Public PolicyAbout 44 graduates a year	$77,906	$107,508	$15,750	1st of 3
14	Hospitality ManagementAbout 290 graduates a year	$77,803	$98,785	$13,987	1st of 13
15	Human ResourcesAbout 273 graduates a year	$73,436	$120,368	$15,000	1st of 5
16	Environmental EngineeringAbout 33 graduates a year	$69,558	$87,212	$13,102	1st of 5
17	Food ScienceAbout 31 graduates a year	$64,062	$84,555	$15,750	1st of 1
18	CommunicationsAbout 64 graduates a year	$62,182	$89,715	$14,418	1st of 48
19	Biomedical EngineeringAbout 44 graduates a year	$61,397	Not reported	$15,500	7th of 11
20	Political ScienceAbout 116 graduates a year	$60,292	$87,361	$14,400	2nd of 47
21	Agricultural EngineeringAbout 27 graduates a year	$54,435	$102,051	$15,502	1st of 1
22	AgricultureAbout 57 graduates a year	$53,465	$56,857	$15,599	1st of 1
23	PhysicsAbout 48 graduates a year	$50,933	Not reported	$15,961	2nd of 6
24	Architectural TechnologyAbout 72 graduates a year	$50,428	Not reported	$17,315	3rd of 5
25	Liberal Arts and General StudiesAbout 21 graduates a year	$46,072	Not reported	Not reported	4th of 22
26	HistoryAbout 24 graduates a year	$44,706	$88,845	$16,884	3rd of 35
27	Public HealthAbout 33 graduates a year	$44,516	Not reported	$12,133	3rd of 13
28	Area StudiesAbout 37 graduates a year	$43,831	$81,545	$17,625	1st of 8
29	Environmental Science and ConservationAbout 79 graduates a year	$41,621	$61,505	$16,500	4th of 17
30	Other Biological SciencesAbout 176 graduates a year	$38,841	$85,225	$13,465	1st of 2
31	Human Development and Family StudiesAbout 90 graduates a year	$38,401	$74,602	$15,500	1st of 6
32	Urban and Regional PlanningAbout 28 graduates a year	$37,131	$70,676	$14,275	1st of 1
33	SociologyAbout 47 graduates a year	$36,709	$65,655	$11,900	13th of 38
34	PsychologyAbout 70 graduates a year	$36,630	$77,682	$14,157	11th of 65
35	Animal ScienceAbout 81 graduates a year	$36,204	$51,670	$14,100	2nd of 2
36	BiologyAbout 254 graduates a year	$34,500	$69,997	$16,000	18th of 65
37	Romance LanguagesAbout 18 graduates a year	$33,419	$81,245	$15,500	12th of 19
38	EnglishAbout 44 graduates a year	$33,270	$70,443	$16,275	9th of 41
39	Plant ScienceAbout 19 graduates a year	$32,236	$50,679	$15,990	1st of 1
40	Fine and Studio ArtsAbout 36 graduates a year	$31,073	$73,168	$17,153	7th of 35
41	Nutrition ScienceAbout 29 graduates a year	$30,508	$66,100	$13,750	1st of 2
42	ChemistryAbout 45 graduates a year	$28,372	$60,338	$15,121	10th of 10

Program names link to the program's own page, and New York ranks link to the full ranking for the field. A program gets its own page when it reports both pay and debt and at least five New York programs in the field do too.

3 more bachelor's programs report debt but not pay, so they aren't listed.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Computer Science$152,656
Computer and Information Science$103,650
Electrical Engineering$100,516
Operations Research$96,377
Agricultural Business$92,163

Lowest median debt

Sociology$11,900
Public Health$12,133
Civil Engineering$12,750
Environmental Engineering$13,102
Agricultural Business$13,258

Largest programs

Computer ScienceAbout 507 graduates a year
Hospitality ManagementAbout 290 graduates a year
Human ResourcesAbout 273 graduates a year
Agricultural BusinessAbout 254 graduates a year
BiologyAbout 254 graduates a year

Common questions

Computer Science graduates earn a median of $152,656 in their first year, the most of 42 Cornell University bachelor's programs that report pay.

About this data

Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid, and earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school.
Debt only includes federal loans. Private loans and credit cards are not counted.
Tuition, net price, graduation rate, and admission rate are for the whole school, not one program.
Some schools with several campuses report one combined figure for all of them. We count each of those schools once, and leave them out of New York rankings when their main campus is in another state.
Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago.

Sources

U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field of study and institution files, June 2026 release
NCES, IPEDS tuition and fees, 2023-24, for in-district tuition labels