Cornell is located in Ithaca, New York, a vibrant college town in the Finger Lakes region of New York State. Choose from six regional airports a short driving distance from campus.

Tompkins Consolidated Area Transit (TCAT) serves Ithaca and the surrounding area. Cornell students receive free, unlimited rides on all TCAT buses after 6 p.m. on weekdays, and anytime Saturday and Sunday. New Cornell students enrolled in an undergraduate degree program receive a free bus pass for their first academic year. Many Cornellians find that public transit is a convenient, economical, and sustainable way to get around.

One of the best ways to learn about Cornell University is to explore our Virtual Visit page. Watch information sessions, meet our incredible students, learn more about Cornell’s unique undergraduate colleges and schools, and see the scenic beauty of our campus and the Finger Lakes.

Cornell’s 2,300 hundred acre campus is located in Ithaca, New York, a vibrant college town in the Finger Lakes region of central New York State. Ithaca is home to a wide array of bookstores, shops, restaurants, and cultural activities (including professional opera and ballet companies). On campus, you'll find academic buildings and residence halls, libraries and eateries, and state-of-the-art research labs and facilities. The buildings reflect our storied past and progressive future.

Ithaca, New York has a four-season climate. The fall is spectacular, with the leaves changing color and the annual Apple Harvest Festival taking place in Downtown Ithaca. Winter arrives in late November and usually exits sometime in March. Spring is lovely, with open-air farmers markets and flowers in bloom. Summer is beautiful. Temperatures in the low 80s encourage students who stay on campus to enjoy the surrounding gorges, waterfalls, and lakes.

Cornell University and the Cornell Police are dedicated to providing a safe and secure environment for students, faculty, and staff. For more information, please see the Annual Security Report and Annual Fire Safety Report webpages.

Accreditation in higher education is a process of external quality review to scrutinize colleges, universities, and educational programs for quality assurance and quality improvement. In the United States, accreditation is carried out through private, nonprofit organizations designed for this specific purpose. Cornell is accredited through the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, the accrediting agency for educational institutions in the mid-Atlantic region recognized by the federal government.

Ezra Cornell, one of the founders of Cornell University, once said, “I would found an institution where any person can find instruction in any study.” In keeping with this dynamic vision, Cornell students immerse themselves in both the liberal and the practical/applied arts and sciences. This rich complement of studies is at the heart of the Cornell academic experience. From business to electrical engineering, from American history to hotel management, at Cornell students have the freedom to explore and study what interests them most.

Cornell University was founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White and opened its doors in 1868. Cornell is the federal land-grant institution of New York State, a private endowed university, a member of the Ivy League/Ancient Eight, and a partner of the State University of New York (SUNY). Cornell has been described as the first truly American university because of its founders' revolutionarily egalitarian and practical vision of higher education, and is dedicated to its land-grant mission of outreach and public service.

Officially, Cornell does not have a mascot. However, generations of Cornellians have come to know and love the Big Red Bear as Cornell’s unofficial mascot. Early in the school’s athletic history, a bear took over as its most recognizable symbol. Named “Touchdown,” the first live Cornell bear appeared in 1915 during Cornell's undefeated and national championship football season. Enthusiastic Big Red Bear-loving undergraduates don the fuzzy uniform and perform at various official Cornell celebrations and varsity athletic events, including at all football games.