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Cornell's Iowa Promise Scholarship: $35,000 - $37,000 per year

Cornell College is committed to making an immersive, private college education affordable for Iowa students.

Many families think that the kind of education and personal attention available from a private college experience can be out of reach financially, so they don’t apply to a private college like Cornell. We want to make sure that it is within reach for you so you can have the best college experience possible.

For many students, a large state school may not offer the personal attention, small class sizes, and direct faculty mentorship that they would find at a private liberal arts college that gives you the foundation you need for success. As a first-year student, it can be easy to get lost in the crowd and feel isolated even though you’re surrounded by tens of thousands of other students on a large, extended campus. At Cornell, we’re dedicated to ensuring a first-year experience with a support team of faculty and peers. One Course At A Time breaks that down even further—you immediately get to know your classmates, which our students have termed “block friends,” because you’re in class with no more than 24 other students for three and half weeks. Your professor will know your name, and engage with you, by the end of day one of class. (This happens in every class you take here.) You’ll start meeting with your faculty advisor during new student orientation and plan your customized path to graduation. Your peer advisor and faculty advisor will help you find groups to explore and widen your circle of friends.

Who is eligible for Cornell’s Iowa Promise Scholarship?

Any Iowa resident who is admitted to Cornell and attending college as a full-time residential student.

That’s it. All first-year Iowa students who qualify get a minimum $35,000 scholarship and up to $37,000 for high achieving students for fall 2025. Cornell's Iowa Promise Scholarship is renewable for up to 4 years if you maintain satisfactory academic progress. Iowa residents who transfer to Cornell for  get a minimum $31,000 scholarship that is also renewable.

• Full-time status means that you attend at least three blocks (of four offered) every semester.
• Residential means that you will be required to live and dine on campus.
• First-year means that you are in your first year of college and not transferring from another college to Cornell. If you have taken college credit while in high school, you still qualify for the scholarship.
• Transfer means that you are bringing credits earned at another college or university post high school to apply to your bachelor's degree.

Let’s break down the numbers

Here’s how attending Cornell College compares to other institutions.

As a qualifying student you will be awarded Cornell’s Iowa Promise Scholarship upon admission, no other paperwork or testing is required. Your scholarship will be a minimum of $35,000. How do we get to our Cost of Attendance? Here's our cost of attendance breakdown.   Note: colleges and  universities have different schedules for setting their next year's costs, so we're using this year's costs in these calculations for parity.

Compare that to in-state tuition at Iowa's three regent's universities*: