Admissions Costs for International Students
Below is a comprehensive list of admissions-related costs international students can expect to pay if they are admitted to Cornell for their graduate studies.
Application Fee
A non-refundable application fee of $105 is required at the time you submit your online application. This is the same fee paid by U.S. applicants and covers the cost of processing your application for admission. Financial hardship-based fee waivers are available to eligible applicants and may be requested directly through the application.
Required Tests
All applicants, regardless of citizenship, must meet our English language proficiency requirement and may be required to submit IELTS Academic or TOEFL iBT scores.
Verified Transcript Delivery
All U.S. and international students are required to provide an official, final transcript of their undergraduate degree, with the degree marked as conferred or awarded, to the Graduate School Admissions Office. Electronic delivery is required. If you earned your undergraduate degree at an institution outside of the U.S., you must provide the transcript, a certified copy of your diploma and/or degree certificate, and a certified translation of all documents if they are not already in English. We recommend using CollegeNET’s CertiFile service because it is integrated with our admission system and fully satisfies our transcript requirement. See below for more information. If you are having financial or logistical difficulties meeting the transcript requirement, please use our online request form to contact us regarding your options.
CertiFile is a credential verification and delivery service offered by ApplyWeb (CollegeNET) in partnership with Educational Perspectives and Digitary. The CertiFile service provides Cornell with verified official transcripts and other required documents and prevents the submission of fraudulent or unsuitable credentials. The documents are delivered directly to our office, you will be notified immediately when they arrive, and there is no expiration date for us to retrieve them. Additionally, your verified credentials will be stored in your Digitary wallet so you can access and share them with employers, recruiters, or other schools whenever you need to. Using CertiFile fully satisfies the Graduate School Admissions Office’s transcript requirements. You can find more information about CertiFile on our Transcript Requirements page.
Students with international credentials (or a combination of U.S. and international credentials) will pay $205 USD to have their credentials verified, evaluated, and delivered electronically to Cornell. Students with U.S. (domestic) credentials will pay $56 USD to have their credentials verified and delivered electronically to Cornell.
No, we offer many other electronic delivery options.
Apply for Your Visa
Request Visa Documents
After you accept your offer of admission, you will receive an email asking you to complete the online Admission Supplement for International Students. This supplemental ApplyWeb form collects the information we need to finalize your admission as an international student. If you plan to attend Cornell on a student visa, you must complete and submit this supplemental form before we can issue the Certificate of Eligibility (Form I-20 or DS-2019) for your visa application. You will be asked to pay a one-time, non-refundable Visa Document Processing Fee of $6.50 at the time you submit the form. (You will not be charged a fee if you do not need Cornell to issue F-1 or J-1 visa documents.)
Pay the SEVIS Fee
For information about who does or does not need to pay the fee, as well as the current fee amount, visit the U.S. government’s I-901 SEVIS Fee Frequently Asked Questions page.
Complete a Visa Application
The International Services office, within the Office of Global Learning, has a helpful webpage with information, links, and resources. Current visa application processing fees can be found on the U.S. Department of State’s website.
Immunizations and Travel Costs
Cornell Health has a page describing Health Requirements for New Students (both U.S. and international).