The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, commonly referred to simply as Cooper Union, is a privately funded college in the East Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, United States, located at Cooper Square and Astor Place (Third Avenue and 6th–9th Streets). Founded in 1859, the school established a radical new model of American higher education: its mission reflects founder Peter Cooper's fundamental belief that education of the highest quality should be "free as air and water" and therefore available to all who qualify–independent of race, religion, sex, or social status. For 150 years, the College has admitted students based on merit alone and provided each with a full-tuition scholarship. Effective July 1, 2011, Dr. Jamshed Bharucha has succeeded George Campbell Jr. to become the college’s twelfth President.

The college, which is divided into three schools – the Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture, the School of Art and the Albert Nerken School of Engineering – offers internationally-accredited undergraduate and Master's degree programs exclusively in the fields of architecture, fine arts, and engineering as a member of the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) and the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design (AICAD). Cooper is considered to be one of the most prestigious colleges in the United States, with all three of its member schools consistently ranked among the highest in the country.

The Cooper Union is one of very few American institutions of higher learning to offer a full-tuition scholarship – valued at $140,000 as of 2010 – to every admitted student. As a result, The Cooper Union is one of the most selective colleges in the United States, with an acceptance rate generally below 10%, with both the art and architecture schools' acceptance rates often below 5%. Cooper Union experienced a 20% increase in applications for the 2008–2009 academic year, further lowering the acceptance ratio. The school also experienced a 70% increase in early decision applications for the 2009–2010 academic year. As a result of its record low acceptance ratio for the fall-2010 incoming class, Cooper was named by Newsweek Magazine as the "#1 Most Desirable Small School" and "#7 Most Desirable School" overall.