Cornell is a private institution, receiving most of its funding through tuition, research grants, and alumni contributions. Three of its undergraduate colleges as well as the graduate veterinary school, called contract or statutory colleges, also receive partial funding from the state of New York to support their research and service mission in niche fields. Residents of New York enrolled in the statutory colleges enjoy reduced tuition.

Cornell is highly decentralized; its colleges and schools have wide autonomy. Each defines its own academic programs, organizes its own admissions and advising programs, and confers its own degrees; the only university-wide requirements for a baccalaureate degree are to pass a swimming test and take two physical education courses. Periodically, the university attempts to resolve naturally arising redundancies by creating special interschool units (see #Other_units below). While students may take courses offered by the division, their enrollment remains with their individual college or school.

Seven schools offer undergraduate programs. Students pursuing graduate degrees in departments of these schools are enrolled in the Cornell University Graduate School. In addition, there are six units offering graduate and professional programs.

Undergraduate colleges and schools

• College of Art, Architecture and Planning
• College of Arts and Sciences
• College of Engineering
• School of Hotel Administration

• New York State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
• New York State College of Human Ecology
• New York State School of Industrial and Labor Relations

Graduate/Professional colleges and schools

All of Cornell's graduate and professional schools are endowed, except for the statutory veterinary school.

• Cornell Law School
• S.C. Johnson Graduate School of Management
• Weill Cornell Medical College (New York City)
• Weill Cornell Medical College (Qatar)
• Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences (New York City)
• New York State College of Veterinary Medicine

Cornell University Library

The Cornell University Library consists of twenty units. It is one of the largest academic research libraries in the United States, with over 7 million volumes, 7 million microforms, 5,000 computer files, and some 76,000 sound recordings in its collections in addition to extensive digital resources and the University Archives. It was the first among all U.S. colleges and universities to allow undergraduates to borrow books from its libraries.

Cornell University Press

Cornell University Press, established in 1869, was the first university publishing enterprise in the United States and is one of the country's largest university presses. It produces approximately 150 titles each year in various disciplines including anthropology, classics, cultural studies, history, literary criticism and theory, medieval studies, philosophy, politics and international relations, psychology and psychiatry, and women's studies.

Other units

• Cornell Cooperative Extension
• Division of Nutritional Sciences
• Faculty of Computing and Information Science
• Office of Undergraduate Biology
• School of Continuing Education and Summer Sessions.