Cornell University's College of Arts and Sciences has been part of the university since its founding, although its name has changed over time. Originally, the university's faculty was undifferentiated, but with the founding of Cornell's law school in 1886 and the concomitant self-segregation of the school's lawyers, different departments and colleges began to form.

Initially, the division that would become the College of Arts and Sciences was known as the Academic Department, but it was formally renamed in 1903.

Notably, Arts & Sciences Professors Edward L. Nichols , Ernest G Merrit , and Frederick Bedell founded Physical Review, the first American journal of physics. Also, the College of Arts and Sciences endowed the first professorships in American history, musicology, and American literature.

Currently, the College teaches 4,300 undergraduates by way of 1,800 courses, 500 professors, and 150 lecturers.