Cornell University reviews

4.3

80% would recommend to a friend

(3,704 total reviews)

Martha E. Pollack

71% approve of CEO

67% positive business outlook

Cornell University has an employee rating of 4.3 out of 5 stars, based on 3,704 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have an excellent working experience there. The Cornell University employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Education industry (3.7 stars).

Reviews by job title

4K reviews
5.0
Apr 3, 2026

Good Job

Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Lighter teaching load than state school. Great facilities. I like all of the people in my department. Pension in CALS. Well resourced for research.

Cons

Extremely privileged students. I do not teach but have heard from other profs that while some students are great, others are uncommonly entitled compared to other places they have worked (high ranking state flagships).

3.0
Mar 24, 2026

Great benefits. RUN from finance positions

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Varies widely depending on department and college, but you will probably be working with interesting and passionate people. Solid benefits. Pretty secure place to work as a LGBTQ+ gender-nonconforming person.

Cons

Some critical pieces of the university run on the oldest software you can imagine, and now they're trying to replace it all with Workday, which is notoriously user-unfriendly. My experience in finance was that it was a high-stress position where you were responsible for a lot but had no actual power to change things. Leadership often tone-deaf when it comes to staff. For 2026 benefits, they nearly doubled health insurance premiums for employees with almost no warning - an actually historic increase, even compared to the Great Recession years. You will pay to park on campus and it will cost more every year, while Cornell haggles with TCAT over how much to fund public transit. If your manager is a control freak, you will not be allowed to work from home.

Viewing 46 - 48 of 3,704 Reviews

Glassdoor has 4,089 Cornell University reviews submitted anonymously by Cornell University employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Cornell University is right for you.