Originally the Iowa Conference Seminary, the school was founded in 1853 by George Bryant Bowman.

Cornell students study one course at a time (commonly referred to as "the block plan" or "OCAAT").

[6] The chapel is the site of the annual convocation at the commencement of the school year as well as the baccalaureate service in the spring for graduating students.

College Hall (also sometimes called "Old Main"), the oldest building on campus, houses classrooms and offices of several social science and humanities departments.

South Hall, originally a male dormitory, houses the Politics and Creative Writing Departments.

The Merle West Science Center houses the Physics, Biology, and Chemistry Departments.

In addition, the Small Sports Center and the Lytle House contain classrooms of the Kinesiology Department.

Likewise, Dows, once an all-female residence hall, joins Pfeiffer and Tarr in providing co-ed housing.

Tarr and Dows are both primarily freshmen dorms, while Pfeiffer houses upperclassmen as well as first-years.

New and Russell Hall (the latter commonly known as Clock Tower) were opened in 2005 and 2007, respectively, and offer suite-style living.

Cornell College fields 19 intercollegiate athletic teams, all of which compete in NCAA Division III sports.

Sixty-Two Cornell wrestlers have been named NCAA All-Americans, and seven have been elected to the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.

In 2011, the women's volleyball team captured the IIAC title and went on to take part in the national tournament for the first time in school history.