Chicago’s Top Six Universities
University of Chicago
5801 S. Ellis Avenue
Chicago, IL 60637
Founded in 1892, University of Chicago is a private institution with an undergraduate enrollment of just over 5,000 students. Situated on a 203-acre campus in Chicago’s Hyde Park neighborhood, annual tuition and fees are $41,091. The school’s athletic programs are very competitive within the NCAA Division III and more than 400 student organizations offer plenty of extracurricular opportunities. Notable graduates include civil rights activist Jesse Jackson, former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft, former U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics recipient Milton Friedman, and author Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
Northwestern University
633 Clark Street
Evanston, IL 60208
Another private school, Northwestern was founded in 1851 and hosts an undergraduate total of around 8,500. The Evanston campus spans some 231 acres with tuition and fees topping out at $40,000. The Division I school is part of the Big Ten athletic conference. Their women’s lacrosse team has been particularly outstanding, winning multiple NCAA national championships. An estimated 250 campus organizations provide social and extracurricular outlets. While freshmen get guaranteed on-campus housing, Northwestern’s 11 residential colleges offer themed living arrangements to enhance and complement the social and academic experience. Esteemed alumni include U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, President Obama’s former Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, comedian Stephen Colbert, actor/writer/director Zach Braff, and Tony Award-winning actress Heather Headley.
Illinois Institute of Technology
3300 S. Federal Street
Chicago, IL 60616-3793
With just over 2,500 students, IIT is a private institution founded in 1890 on a 120 acres just three miles from downtown Chicago’s business district. Moves are under way to make the IIT campus the most sustainavle urban university in the U.S. Tuition and fees run just over $31,000. A member of the NAIA athletic conference, IIT is competitive in both men’s and women’s baseball, volleyball, swimming, cross country, and soccer. More than 100 student organizations and a number of research centers, including the Pritzker Institute of Biomedical Science and Engineering and the Wanger Institute for Sustainable Energy Research, round out the school’s offerings.
Loyola University Chicago
1032 W. Sheridan Road
Chicago, IL 60660
Founded in 1870, Loyola Chicago is a private, Jesuit Catholic university with just over 10,000 undergraduates roaming its 105-acre campus in Chicago’s Magnificent Mile area. Tuition and fees total around $32,000 annually. A large part of the school’s Core Curriculum focuses on “lifelong skills for success and a strong commitment to develop the whole person — intellectually, socially, physically, and spiritually.” Loyola students are also given the opportunity to study abroad at Loyola’s John Felice Rome Center in Italy, the Beijing Center for Chinese Studies, or one of the 70 other Loyola sprograms in 32 countries.
DePaul University
1 E. Jackson Boulevard
Chicago, IL 60604-2287
Founded in 1898, the nation’s largest Catholic university packs over 16,000 undergraduates onto a campus size that is only 36 acres. With tuition and fees costing just under $29,000, DePaul utilizes an innovative academic programs that combines applied, interactive learning with current theories and small class sizes. The Steans Center, one of the nation’s only endowed service-learning programs, coordinates course work that allows students to learn through their service to some 250 organizations throughout the Chicago area.
University of Illinois — Chicago
601 S. Morgan M/C 102
Chicago, IL 60607
As a public university founded in 1965, UIC maintains an undergraduate enrollment of around 16,000 on its campus of 240 acres. Tuition and fees for in-state applicants is right around $13,000; out-of-staters pay just over $25,000. UIC’s stated mission is “to create knowledge that transforms our views of the world, and through sharing and application, transforms the world.” UIC is also a pledge to the Great Cities Commitment working “to address the challenges and opportunities facing not only Chicago, but all Great Cities of the 21st century.” The university is the primary educator of health service professionals in Illinois as well as a principal health care provider to Chicago’s various under-served communities.