Cooper Union

New York, NY · founded 1859 · 900 students · private research university

Known for: A highly selective, tuition-free private college of art, architecture, and engineering in New York City, founded on Peter Cooper's vision of providing equal opportunity through free education.

Rankings

Forbes: #83

Top programmes

Electrical Engineering
Mechanical Engineering
Chemical Engineering
Architecture
Fine Arts

Notable alumni

Thomas Edison — Inventor and businessman
Milton Glaser — Graphic designer, creator of the 'I ❤ NY' logo
Daniel Libeskind — Architect, master planner of the World Trade Center site
Russell Simmons — Entrepreneur, co-founder of Def Jam Recordings
Greta Gerwig — Academy Award-nominated filmmaker and actress
Felix Frankfurter — Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States
Augustus Saint-Gaudens — Renowned sculptor

Traditions

The Friday Night Salon
The Penny Sit-In
The President's Barbecue
The Pumpkin Drop

If Cooper Union were…

As a food: Molecular gastronomy tasting menu — Like Cooper Union's approach to education: technically precise, intellectually challenging, deconstructing fundamentals to create something revolutionary from basic components.
As an athlete: Tim Duncan — The fundamentally perfect technician who achieved greatness through relentless precision and quiet intensity, avoiding flashiness while dominating through pure competence.
As a person alive today: Elon Musk — The obsessive problem-solver who believes first principles thinking can overcome any challenge, merging engineering rigor with visionary ambition.
As a historical figure: Nikola Tesla — The brilliant eccentric who lived for his work in New York laboratories, pursuing revolutionary ideas through sheer technical mastery and uncompromising vision.
As a movie or TV show: The Martian — The story of brilliant problem-solving under extreme pressure, where intelligence and engineering creativity become the only things standing between survival and disaster.
As a US president: Thomas Jefferson — The Enlightenment inventor-president who believed in meritocratic education and practical innovation, designing systems and buildings with mathematical precision.
As a city: Tokyo — The hyper-efficient metropolis where cutting-edge technology coexists with intense density, every system optimized for maximum performance in minimal space.
As an element: Silicon — The semiconductor element that enables modern computation—fundamentally practical yet revolutionary, transforming raw materials into elegant solutions through precise engineering.
As a car: 1967 Porsche 911 — Tuition-free brilliance in engineering, art, and architecture—stripped-down, pure function, no unnecessary luxury, just raw talent and mechanical perfection. The scrappy genius that outperforms cars ten times its budget

Campus life

Intensely focused and collaborative, with students deeply engaged in their rigorous studio and lab work. The small student body in Manhattan's East Village creates a tight-knit community amidst the energy of New York City. Social life often revolves around academic projects and campus events rather than Greek life or large sports teams.