Quad

Key differences on Students & campus

  1. 1

    U. Southern California has 9 pts more first-gen students than Cornell (25% vs. 15%)

    First-generation students
  2. 2

    U. Southern California has 4 pts more Pell recipients than Cornell (22% vs. 18%)

    Pell Grant recipients
  3. 3

    U. Southern California is a bit larger (20,443 vs. 15,979)

    Undergrads

Students

Students & campus

Who's on each campus, how many get Pell Grants or are the first in their family, and campus life.

Who's on campus

Undergrads
U. Southern California20.4K
Cornell16K
Pell Grant share
U. Southern California22%
Cornell18%
First-gen share
U. Southern California25%
Cornell15%
Diversity index
U. Southern California0.81
Cornell0.79

Who they are

Men
U. Southern California48%
Cornell46%
Part-time students
U. Southern California2%
Cornell0%
Students 25 and older
U. Southern California61%
Cornell0%

Race & ethnicity

U. Southern California
Cornell
  • White
  • Asian
  • Hispanic/Latino
  • Black
  • Two or more
  • International
  • Other/unknown

Where they're from

First-years from in state
U. Southern California42%
Cornell32%
First-years from other states
U. Southern California39%
Cornell55%
First-years from abroad
U. Southern California18%
Cornell10%
New transfer students this fall
U. Southern California1,339
Cornell503
Transfers, share of new undergraduates
U. Southern California28%
Cornell12%

Campus

U. Southern California
Large cityNCAA D-I FBS · Big Ten ConferenceROTCStudy abroadUndergrad research
Cornell
Small cityNCAA D-I FCS · Ivy GroupROTCStudy abroadUndergrad research

LGBTQ+ policies

Each item is dated: either the college's own page, checked on that date, or a national list's claim, read on that date — never a plain “yes” or “no.” A key missing for a college isn't shown as “no”: nothing was found for it.

All student numbers in the table

Sources:College Scorecard, Fall 2024;College Scorecard, most recent release;College Scorecard, Fall 2023;IPEDS Fall Enrollment survey (part C, residence of first-time students), Fall 2024;IPEDS Fall Enrollment survey (part A, enrollment by level), Fall 2024;IPEDS directory (Institutional Characteristics: HD), 2025–26;IPEDS Institutional Characteristics survey, 2023–24;IPEDS Institutional Characteristics survey (athletics, programs, services, religious affiliation), 2025–26;Cornell University Common Data Set 2025–26, Fall 2025About the data(retrieved 2026-10-12)

Figures are the newest each college has published; years can differ between colleges. Each value's ⓘ shows its source and year. Why