Cornell was ranked the 14th best university in the 2027 U.S. News Best National University Rankings published Tuesday morning, the second consecutive decline in Cornell’s ranking.
Previously, Cornell was ranked No. 12 in 2026 and No. 11 in 2025. Cornell now shares the No. 14 spot with Carnegie Mellon University.
That puts the University behind its only other Ivy League colleague in New York state, Columbia University, which jumped to the 12th spot from 15th in 2026. Cornell was the second-worst ranked Ivy League university overall, beating Brown University, which dropped to 16th.
The 2027 version of U.S. News’ annual ranking included one change from its 2026 methodology: post-graduation earnings by major, which comprised 5% of the school’s final scores.
Columbia slightly edged Cornell in that metric — the median Columbia student receiving financial aid made $115,519, while the median Cornell student receiving aid made $113,372.
U.S. News’ methodology involves 17 categories ranging from research output to graduation outcomes and resources available to students.
Cornell ranked No. 28 in best value schools, another decline from its peak at No. 10 in 2014 and No. 23 spot in 2026. It dropped to No. 2 in best schools for veterans from its place at the top spot in last year’s rankings.
The good news for Cornell’s rankings came in its undergraduate business program ranking, which climbed to No. 6 from No. 8 in the 2026 rankings to tie with Carnegie Mellon and Indiana University Bloomington. Cornell’s engineering program remained at No. 10.
Atticus Johnson is a member of the Class of 2028 in the College of Arts and Sciences. He is a news editor for the 144th Editorial Board and can be reached at ajohnson@cornellsun.com.
