Cooper Union
Cooper Union at a Glance
Reviewed by James A. Barham, PhD, Vice President and Academic Editor. Influence ranks come from our InfluenceRanking™ methodology; other figures come from federal data, with the year shown under each section. Report an error
Cooper Union Featured Rankings
About Cooper Union
Featured Alumna
Karen Bausman ranks among our Top Influential Engineers Today.
According to Wikipedia, The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art is a private college at Cooper Square in New York City. Peter Cooper founded the institution in 1859 after learning about the government-supported in France. The school was built on a radical new model of American higher education based on Cooper's belief that an education "equal to the best technology schools established" should be accessible to those who qualify, independent of their race, religion, sex, wealth or social status, and should be "open and free to all".
Cooper Union Admissions, Retention, and Graduation Information
| Annual Applications | Acceptance | Retention Rate | Graduation Rate | Median SAT Score | Median ACT Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1,790 | 21% | 92% | 82% | 1398 | 31 |
Source: U.S. Department of Education (College Scorecard and NCES); acceptance rate for fall 2024; test scores for fall 2024; applications and enrollment for fall 2023; retention for students who started in fall 2023; graduation rate within six years for students who started in 2019.
How Much Does Cooper Union Cost To Attend?
| Tuition and fees (in-state) |
|---|
| $46,820 |
| Income | Average Net Cost |
|---|---|
| 0 - 30K | $2,325 |
| 30K - 48K | $6,040 |
| 48K - 75K | $8,301 |
| 75K - 110K | $13,902 |
| 110K+ | $26,742 |
Source: U.S. Department of Education (College Scorecard and NCES); tuition and fees for 2025–26; net price for 2024–25, for first-time, full-time students receiving financial aid.
How Much Do Cooper Union Graduates Make?
Ten years after starting college, former Cooper Union students who received federal financial aid earn a median of $76,895 a year, and 87% of those not still in school are working.
Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard; students who started college in 2011–12 or 2012–13, measured in 2022 and 2023, in 2024 dollars.
Cooper Union's Demographics
Students enrolled at any time during the 2023–24 school year, including part-time and online students.
| Student Body | Under-Grads | Graduates |
|---|---|---|
| 998 | 916 | 82 |
Source: National Center for Education Statistics; 12-month enrollment for 2023–24.
Where is Cooper Union?
Cooper Union is located at 7 East 7th Street, New York, NY 10003-7120.
How Safe is Cooper Union?
Relative to its enrollment, Cooper Union has a violent crime rate of less than 0.01% and a property crime rate of less than 0.01%. New York has a violent crime rate of 0.69% and a property crime rate of 2.42%. Sources: campus: U.S. Department of Education Campus Safety and Security data, on-campus offenses in 2024 (violent: murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault; property: burglary, motor vehicle theft and arson, which excludes ordinary theft); city: FBI Crime Data Explorer, offenses reported to the city police in 2024.
What Is Cooper Union Known For?
Cooper Union is known for its academic work in the following disciplines:
Cooper Union's Top Areas of Influence With Degrees Offered
Each rank compares how much Cooper Union's faculty and alumni have shaped a field with other schools, using Wikipedia, Wikidata and scholarly citation databases such as Crossref and Semantic Scholar. World and U.S. ranks reflect modern influence; the historical rank counts influence across all time. How we rank influence
Cooper Union ranks #57 in the U.S. and #199 worldwide for influence in Engineering.
engineering DegreesWho Are Cooper Union's Most Influential Alumni?
Cooper Union's most influential alumni include professors and professionals in the fields of Engineering, Communications, and Business. Here are some of Cooper Union's most famous alumni:
- Daniel Libeskind
- A Polish-American architect.
- Milton Glaser
- An American graphic designer .
- Shigeru Ban
- A Japanese architect.
- Augustus Saint-Gaudens
- An American artist.
- Alex Katz
- An American painter and sculptor.
- Russell Alan Hulse
- An American astronomer.
- Adolph Gottlieb
- An American artist .
- Lee Krasner
- An American abstract expressionist painter .
- George Segal
- An American Pop Art painter and sculptor .
- Tom Wesselmann
- An American artist .
- Diana Agrest
- An American architect and urban designer.
- Victor Papanek
- An American designer and educator .
Who Are Cooper Union's Most Influential Faculty?
Cooper Union's most influential faculty include professors in the fields of Engineering, Communications, and Business. Here are some of Cooper Union's most famous faculty:
