Cornell University ( ) is in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions. Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White co-founded it in 1865 by sponsoring a bill in the New York State Legislature to designate it as New York's land grant college. The university was intended to teach and make contributions in all fields of knowledge–from the classics to the sciences and from the theoretical to the applied. This goal was uncommon in 1865. The goal is stated in Cornell's motto, an 1865 Ezra Cornell quotation: "I would found an institution where any person can find instruction in any study." Since its founding, Cornell has also been a co-educational, secular institution where admission is offered irrespective of gender, religion or race.
The university has seven undergraduate colleges and seven graduate divisions at its main Ithaca campus, with each college and division defining its own admission standards and academic programs in near autonomy. The university also administers two satellite medical campuses, one in New York City and one in Education City, Qatar. Cornell is one of two private land grant universities, and its seven undergraduate colleges include three state-supported statutory or contract colleges. As a land grant college, it also operates a cooperative extension outreach program in every county of New York.
Cornell counts more than 255,000 living alumni, 31 Marshall Scholars, 28 Rhodes Scholars and 41 Nobel laureates as affiliated with the university. It has 13,000 undergraduate and 6,000 graduate students from all 50 states and 122 countries.
Cornell's athletics teams are called the Big Red, and they have 36 varsity teams. They play against other teams in the Ivy League.
Colleges
Cornell is divided into colleges. Each operates independently and has its own faculty and admission process: The "statutory" or "contract" colleges (which receive direct funding from the New York state government) have "New York State" in their name. Residents of New York who are enrolled in these colleges pay less tuition than other students at the university. Cornell calls its other colleges "endowed colleges".
Undergraduate
New York State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, founded in 1874
College of Architecture, Art, and Planning, founded in 1871
College of Arts and Sciences, founded in 1865
College of Engineering, founded in 1870
School of Hotel Administration, founded in 1922, became an independent college in 1950 New York State College of Human Ecology, became an independent college in 1925 New York State School of Industrial and Labor Relations, founded in 1945
Graduate
Graduate School, founded in 1909
Cornell Law School, founded in 1887
S.C. Johnson Graduate School of Management, founded in 1946
Weill Cornell Medical College, founded in 1898
Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences, founded in 1952
New York State College of Veterinary Medicine
The four statutory colleges are also units of the State University of New York.
Cornell also had two other colleges that closed. The New York State College of Forrestry closed in 1903. The Nursing School closed in 1979.
Research
Cornell, a research university, produces the fourth largest number of graduates in the world who go on to pursue PhDs in engineering or the natural sciences at American institutions. It is also fifth in the world in producing graduates who pursue PhDs at American institutions in any field. Research is a central element of Cornell's mission. In 2009 Cornell spent $671 million on science and engineering research and development. This makes it the 16th highest in the United States.