Cornell has had spectacular success in obtaining federal funding. Of Cornell’s total $5.95 billion budget for 2023-24, 2.6% ($154 million) was state and federal appropriations. For the 2023-24 fiscal year, Cornell received $825,572,000 in federal research contracts and grants. Cornell Cooperative Extension was funded at $6.12 million each from the New York Executive Budget matched by the US Department of Agriculture.
From the student perspective, most significant are the federally-funded financial aid programs including Pell Grants, Federally Guaranteed Student Loans and work-study funds. In addition, the Biden Administration has offered alumni–including Cornellians–expanded relief from existing student loan debt.
From an economic development perspective, Cornell is currently constructing two federally-funded projects that create both short-term construction jobs as well as long term staff employment. On the Cornell campus in Ithaca, Wilson lab is expanding with a $32.6 million grant for new experimental halls and x-ray beamlines. In addition, Cornell is building a new $20 million precision X-ray beamline for research on biological and environmental systems.
On the Geneva campus, Cornell has broken ground on a new $70 million lab that is expected to propel innovation, foster collaboration and revolutionize grape production nationwide. The US Department of Agriculture will co-locate its grape research staff on Cornell’s Geneva campus instead of on the main USDA Research campus in Beltsville, MD or other possible sites.
It takes decades to build the political and institutional connections to make such funding possible. This includes direct contacts by Cornell faculty and administrators as well lobbying of Congress by paid professionals who must register and report their lobbying income. Cornell’s total lobbying expenses in calendar year 2023 were $600,000 covering 5 people. Expenses so far for 2024 are $550,000. Here is a graph from the Open Secrets website showing Cornell’s historic lobbying expenditures:
Note that Cornell lobbying declined during the Obama Administration but picked up in 2017 when Trump first served as President and Martha Pollack became Cornell’s President. This also corresponded to years where Congress discouraged “earmarks” to fund specific projects.
At its founding, Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White served in the New York State Senate and were directly responsible for lobbying to bring the Morrill Land Grant funds to Ithaca to found the new Cornell University. Since then, other Cornell Presidents, such as Jacob Gould Schurman, lobbied the legislature directly to establish direct funding of the statutory colleges and cooperative extension. Today, Cornell not only orchestrates joint appearances of its administrators with politicians, but also works to prevent being subpoenaed to appear at Congressional hearing panels on topics such as anti-semetism.
Cornell’s lobbying is coordinated by VP for University Relations Joel Malina, who is the subject of a BSU campaign to fire him.
Cornell must describe its lobbying activities on its IRS Form 990 Schedule C annual filing. It reported a total of $557,066 of lobbying expenses for the year ending June 30, 2023. The form states that Cornell has six paid lobbyists to cover both Albany and Washington. Lobbying topics included, “FUNDING FOR CONTRACT COLLEGES AND PROGRAMS, EXTENSION PROGRAMS, AGRICULTURE TESTING AND RESEARCH PROGRAMS, LABOR AND WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT, ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION PROGRAMS, ALTERNATIVE ENERGY PRODUCTION AND SERVICES, HIGHER EDUCATION INSTRUCTION/ADMINISTRATION, LEGACY AND EARLY DECISION PRACTICES, STATE AND FEDERAL FUNDING FOR STUDENT FINANCIAL AID AND RESEARCH FUNDING FOR OPERATIONS AND FACILITIES, STUDENT FINANCIAL AID PROGRAMS, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS, HEALTH CARE, HEALTH PROFESSIONS, STEM CELL RESEARCH, INTERSTATE MEDICAL LICENSURE COMPACT, COVID-19 REGULATIONS INCLUDING THE IMPACT OF ENDING THE PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCY, COVID-19 TESTING LABORATORY FUNDING, CRYPTOCURRENCY INDUSTRY REGULATIONS, STUDENT LOAN AND LOAN FORGIVENESS PROGRAMS, TITLE IX AND SEXUAL HARASSMENT POLICIES, FEDERAL FARM BILL, BUDGET RECONCILIATION, IMMIGRATION, INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION, RESEARCH SECURITY AND INTEGRITY, GRADUATE MEDICAL EDUCATION, CAMPUS SAFETY INITIATIVES, PATENT REFORM, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY INITIATIVES, AND AGENCY RE-AUTHORIZATIONS.”
President-elect Trump calls the current lobbyist-filled Washington DC culture “the swamp,” and he has vowed to drain it. Trump has also proposed to tax the endowments of elite colleges to finance a free on-line university. Congressional Republicans have claimed that elite universities are spreading anti-semetism. Trump has opposed Biden’s efforts at student loan relief. What lasting changes the Trump Administration will make remain to be seen, but Cornell’s lobbyists will be working overtime during the transition to try to preserve the much needed existing stream of federal funding.
