Back to Colleges

University of Chicago

Basic Information

Type Private
Geographical Reach National
Location Chicago, IL
Population 7,500,000
Map of the United States

Demographics

Total Undergraduates 7,540
Men / Women 54% / 46%
White 28%
International 18%
Hispanic 16%
Asian 14%
Black 5%
Mixed 4%
Native American 0%
From State 9%
From Region 3%

Academics

Undergraduate Degrees
Humanities & Social Sciences 30%
Business & Economics 28%
Life & Natural Sciences 14%
Physical Sciences & Math 14%
Computer Science 11%
Arts 2%

Financial

Tuition & Fees $71,325
Est. Cost of Attendance $90,360
10-Year ROI $320,000
ROI Percentile 99th

Retention & Graduation

Full-Time Retention 99%
4-Year Graduation Rate 87%
6-Year Graduation Rate 96%
Transfer-Out Rate 0%

Weather

Comfortable Days 105 (50%)
Sunshine Hours 2,508 (33%)
Days Without Precipitation 241 (38%)

Admissions

Uses Common App Yes
Acceptance Rate 5%
Yield (Unbound) 73%
Early Decision 0 Oct 15
Early Decision 1 Nov 1
Early Action Nov 1
Regular Decision Jan 3
Early Decision 2 Jan 3

Research

Research Level R1
Expenditure
Humanities & Social Sciences $53M #26
Life & Natural Sciences $525M #41
Engineering, Computing & Math $90M #70
Graduate Degrees
Humanities & Social Sciences 400 #41
Engineering, Computing & Math 73 #76
Life & Natural Sciences 266 #100

Honors College

Standardized Tests

Test Scores

Test Policy optional
Submitted Test Scores 76%
SAT Range 1520 – 1560
SAT Math Range 770 – 800
SAT RW Range 740 – 780
ACT Range 34 – 35

Earnings by Major Category

Each major category's degree-weighted estimated median 5-year earnings at this college, expressed as a z-score against the national degree-weighted distribution for that category. 0 is the national average. The shaded band between +1.28 and −1.28 marks the central 80% of the national distribution (10th–90th percentile).

Schools & Majors

Trends Degrees Male/Female Intl Earnings ROI Employment
The College 1,926 53% / 47% 16% $119,475 94%
Computer Science 178 +32 76% / 24% 17% $227,147 100 92%
Data Science 29 +18 52% / 48% 28% $160,099 100
Astronomy and Astrophysics 24 +2 46% / 54% 21% $102,282 93
Chemistry 25 +24 40% / 60% 4% $80,460 72
Geophysical Sciences 6 +2 67% / 33% 0% $65,867 38
Mathematics 134 +54 78% / 22% 20% $146,679 100 93%
Physics 54 +13 72% / 28% 24% $91,650 85 87%
Statistics 27 +30 52% / 48% 44% $147,558 100 91%
Biological Chemistry 26 +5 42% / 58% 4% $76,141 64
Biological Sciences 126 +13 38% / 62% 10% $68,610 46 98%
Molecular Engineering 52 +7 62% / 38% 12% $77,521 67
Neuroscience 63 +9 38% / 62% 6% $54,007 9 95%
History, Philosophy, and Social Studies of Science and Medicine 6 +1 33% / 67% 0% $64,082 32 83%
Economics 548 +130 63% / 37% 24% $157,181 100 96%
African and African-American Studies 4 +9 25% / 75% 0% $68,367 45 94%
Anthropology 26 +5 31% / 69% 15% $55,099 11 95%
Cinema and Media Studies 10 +9 50% / 50% 0% $72,341 56
Classical Studies 8 +7 50% / 50% 0% $74,161 60
Cognitive Science 7 +6 43% / 57% 14% $74,719 61
Comparative Literature 1 +1 0% / 100% 100% $63,336 30
Creative Writing 19 +19 32% / 68% 11% $60,479 22
Critical Race and Ethnic Studies 3 +16 0% / 100% 0% $62,963 29
East Asian Languages 3 +9 67% / 33% 33% $66,171 38
English Language and Literature 41 +13 29% / 71% 5% $54,643 10 87%
Environmental and Urban Studies 35 +21 46% / 54% 3% $67,857 43
Fundamentals - Issues and Texts 29 +42 59% / 41% 28% $72,246 56 86%
Geographical Studies 1 100% / 0% 0% $69,585 48
German +3 $65,751 37
Global Studies 5 +7 0% / 100% 40% $99,986 91 94%
Global Studies 23 +14 17% / 83% 9% $98,430 90 96%
History 46 +31 54% / 46% 2% $64,082 32 83%
Human Development 12 +11 0% / 100% 0% $58,700 18 96%
Latin American Studies +7 $67,651 43
Law, Letters, and Society 27 +14 22% / 78% 15% $67,934 44
Liberal Arts 16 +6 38% / 62% 0% $94,580 88 98%
Linguistics 12 +8 50% / 50% 8% $65,721 37
Medieval Studies 2 +1 100% / 0% 0% $80,710 73
Near Eastern Languages 6 +2 50% / 50% 0% $66,429 39
Political Science 75 +27 45% / 55% 9% $88,531 83 96%
Psychology 62 +41 27% / 73% 10% $84,957 79 95%
Public Policy Studies 66 +37 24% / 76% 5% $99,986 91 94%
Race, Diaspora, and Indigeneity 3 +1 67% / 33% 0% $64,307 33
Religious Studies 7 +7 43% / 57% 0% $68,039 44 94%
Romance Languages 7 +17 29% / 71% 0% $66,291 39
Russian and East European Studies 1 +8 0% / 100% 0% $65,994 38
Sociology 24 +24 25% / 75% 21% $67,021 41
Art History 20 +11 25% / 75% 20% $56,542 13
Media Arts and Design 16 +12 38% / 62% 6% $59,904 21
Music 1 +9 100% / 0% 100% $50,330 5
Theater and Performance Studies 4 +1 0% / 100% 0% $44,467 3
Visual Arts 6 +9 17% / 83% 0% $56,487 13

Rankings

Academics

Future Patagonia Vest Owners Top Investment Banking Feeders
Goldman, JP, or Bust
Crying in the Library at 3 AM Toughest Schools
All-Nighter Hall of Fame
Future Ambulance Chasers Top Law School Feeders
Future SCOTUS Clerks
Future Adjunct Professors Top PhD Feeders
TA Before You Can Say "Publish or Perish"

College Costs

We Marked It Up Just to Put It on Sale Highest List Price
Sticker Shock

Prestige

Grandma Eyebrow Raisers Easy Brags for the Prestigious-Conscious
Is Everyone an Ivy+ Now?

My Tribe

Call Your Mother! Most Jewish
Significant Community

Computer Science

Explaining That HTML is Not a Programming Language Computer Science (A&S)
Chalkboard Masochists

Physical Sciences & Math

Quants, Proofs & p < 0.05 Applied Mathematics & Statistics
The Bayesian Quant Overlords
Breaking Bad Chemistry
Quantum Masochists & Chalkboard Wizards
Rocks and Whales Earth & Atmospheric Sciences
Sedimentary Scholars
The "I Understand Interstellar" Elite Physics & Astronomy
We Cited Ourselves in the Standard Model
No Words Allowed Pure Mathematics
Proof is in the Pudding

Life & Natural Sciences

Pre-Med Reject Waiting Room Biology
Lab Gods
Doomsday Prepping with Data Environmental Science
Carbon Neutral
Memorizing 206 Bones Human Biology
Bone Collectors
Lord of the Petri Dish Microbiology & Immunology
Antibody Avengers
Staring at a Gel Electrophoresis Until Our Eyes Bleed Molecular Biology & Genomics
Helix Heavyweights
Action Potentials Neuroscience
Pre-Meds in Disguise

Business & Economics

PowerPoint Presentation Power Rankings Business Administration
We Don't Actually Offer Undergrad Business
Pivot Tables & Missing Pallets Business Analytics
Dashboard Dictators
It's Basic Supply and Demand, Bro Economics
The "Chicago Boys" Free Market Fan Club
Move Fast, Break Tuition Entrepreneurship & Innovation
Startup Scene
Wolf of Wall Street Prep Finance
Wait, I Majored in Econ?
Tik-Tok Generation Marketing
Getting There

Humanities & Social Sciences

I Think, Therefore I Major Cognitive Science
The Academic Anarchists
Much Ado About Nothing English, Literature & Writing
The Great American Novelists
Smashing the Patriarchy 101 Gender Studies
The Theorists
Model UN Generation Government & Politics
Future Senators
Hindsight is 20/20 (And So is My Salary) History & Archaeology
The Archivists
Passport Stamp Collectors International Relations
UN Delegates
Future Lawyers (and Their Future Anxiety) Law
Mock Trial Champs
I'll Figure Out the Career Later Liberal Arts & Interdisciplinary
Major Mashup
Professional Yapping Media & Communication Studies
Too Prestigious to Call It a Comm Degree
The "Why Are We Here?" Support Group Philosophy & Ethics
The Thinkers
Feelings, But With Error Bars Research & Experimental Psychology
The Power-Analysis Cartel
I Want To Understand Myself Psychology
Uncommitted Generalists
Decolonizing the Curriculum Regional & Ethnic Studies
Diaspora Scholars
Arguing with God for a Grade Religion
The Faithful Scholars
Everything is a Construct Sociology & Anthropology
Social Theorists
Grammar Police Academy World Languages & Linguistics
Polyglot Powerhouses

Education

Surviving PTA Karens General Education
Lesson Planners

Arts

Sleep Deprivation by Design Architecture
Building Blocks
Explaining Splatters to Rich People Art History & Management
Theoretical Heavyweights
Lights, Camera, Tuition Film
Indie Darlings
Theatre Kid Generation Performing Arts
Encore Worthy