College Azimuth

Research brief & institution hub

University of Chicago

ILMedium private nonprofit institution · Overall rank #38 nationally

Data snapshot Updated

A return on investment ranked #4 in the nation.

Who it’s a good fit for

University of Chicago is a private nonprofit university in Chicago whose degree mix is led by Social Sciences. Most graduates are estimated to go into jobs rather than on to further study.

Graduates out-earn what predicts for students like them, and the model attributes more of that to a remainder it does not explain than to the factors it measures. Return is among the highest we track.

At the bottom of the income scale, aid can exceed the published cost entirely. Pell students complete below the overall rate, and mobility is well above average.

The admission rate is below the median for comparable institutions. The largest programs are not the best-paid ones, so a student's field matters a great deal to the earnings picture.

UChicago at a glance

Admissions and outcomes

Admission rate[1]
4.5%
Six-year completion[2]
95.9%
Four-year earnings[3]
$127,757

Cost and family borrowing

Average annual net price · $48–75K family income[6]
$226
Median student debt[4]
$15,000
Median Parent PLUS debt[7]
$33,297

UChicago rankings: how Azimuth assesses value[5]

University of Chicago is a private nonprofit university in Chicago, Illinois, enrolling 7,569 undergraduates. The university's composite standing sits near the top of the Azimuth ranking among nonprofit four-year institutions (97th percentile).

It admits 4.5% of applicants, against a peer median of 71.2% for comparable institutions of the same type and size, the middle value for institutions like it. Of students who start full time, 99.3% return after the first year, well above the peer median of 83.4%.

95.9% complete within six years, compared to a peer median of 68.8%, so completion here runs far ahead of what comparable institutions record. An estimated 11.7% of entrants arrive as transfers or part-time students, which means the six-year graduation rate captures only the experience of those who began as first-time, full-time students.

The four are spread wide. Return is the strongest (99th percentile), while access is the weakest (81st percentile).

Mobility and affordability fall between them (86th and 83rd percentiles), so the profile shows strength concentrated in one dimension alongside more moderate marks in the other three.

Azimuth evaluates University of Chicago on four pillars among 1,467 nonprofit four-year institutions. Return is the strongest, at the 99th percentile.

Access is the weakest, at the 81st percentile. Affordability sits at the 83rd percentile and mobility at the 86th percentile. The three pillars below return are closer to each other than to the top.

15.3% of undergraduates at University of Chicago receive Pell Grants. Those Pell recipients complete at 90.5%, 5.4 percentage points below the overall six-year graduation rate (95.9%).

Azimuth ranks University of Chicago #280 for access among nonprofit four-year institutions. Azimuth ranks the university #208 for mobility. Graduates earn about $27,445 more than the model expects for similar students.

How value-added outcomes are assessed · How to interpret program rankings

UChicago rankings in context
GeographyRank
National#38
Illinois#3
Midwest#4

Azimuth overall value rankings within each geographic comparison group.

National pillar percentiles

Economic mobility
National percentile: 86
Access & reach
National percentile: 81
Affordability
National percentile: 83
Return on investment
National percentile: 99

Top-ranked majors

  1. Economics#1
  2. Mathematics#3
  3. Philosophy#4

This school’s three highest-ranked programs nationally. Each rank compares bachelor’s programs in the same field; field sizes differ.

Explore major rankings

01 / UChicago briefing

UChicago cost & financial aid[6][7]

University of Chicago publishes a cost of attendance of $90,360, an average across living arrangements. Tuition and fees are $70,662, and room and board is $20,109.

For the average aid recipient, the net price falls to $14,860, a reduction of $75,500 from the sticker total. Aid covers about 84% of the published cost for that group.

The runs below the peer median of $27,371 for comparable institutions (same type and size) by $12,511. Azimuth ranks the university #245 for affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Families earning under $30,000 see an average net price of -$1,264, a figure that reflects aid exceeding the published cost for qualifying households.

The published cost of attendance at University of Chicago is $90,360, an average across living arrangements. Tuition and fees are $70,662 and room and board are $20,109.

For families earning under $30,000, the average net price is -$1,264—aid exceeds the full cost for qualifying families. The average net price for families earning $48,001–$75,000 is $226, and for families earning over $110,000 it is $48,524.

The spread between the lowest and highest bands is $49,788. Azimuth ranks the university #245 for affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Financial aid offsets the sticker price by an average of $75,500, bringing the average net price across all aid recipients to $14,860. That figure is below the median net price of $27,371 at comparable institutions (same type and size), a gap of $12,511.

The university's tuition and fees are $70,662. The published cost of attendance is $90,360, an average across living arrangements.

Median federal student debt at completion is $15,000. That median is below the peer median of $24,199 at comparable institutions, a gap of $9,199.

About 49.6% of federal aid recipients borrow federal loans. Median Parent PLUS borrowing is $33,297.

The median federal student debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $170 a month if repaid over ten years.

Your family income

Choose a household income range to see estimated net price.

Reported average annual net price · $48–75K$226

After grants and scholarships. Your aid offer may differ.

Averages within each income band; individual aid packages vary.

Net price can be negative: when grants and scholarships exceed the listed cost of attendance, students can receive the difference as a refund for other expenses.

Borrowing and repayment at UChicago

At University of Chicago, completers who took federal loans owed a median of $15,000. Measured against the $24,199 median at comparable institutions (same type and size), that figure is below by $9,199.

Federal loans reach 49.6% of federal aid recipients. Parent borrowers, tracked separately, show a median Parent PLUS balance of $33,297.

In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, the university reported that 11% of graduates in the cohort borrowed from any source, averaging $35,364 per graduate who borrowed. That figure included 10% with federal loans averaging $13,460 and 3% with private loans averaging $83,089.

Four years after completing a degree at University of Chicago, graduates earn a median of $127,757, a figure in the 99th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. Graduates earn about $27,445 more than the model expects for similar students, an outcome that falls in the 99th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Earnings scenarios derived from the university's program mix point to a typical earnings level of $127,757, a downside scenario of $57,031, and an upside scenario of $167,145. The median federal debt at completion is $15,000, which is below the $24,199 median for comparable institutions (same type and size). If repaid over ten years, the estimated monthly payment is $170.

Median Parent PLUS borrowing, a separate parent-borrower population, is $33,297. The estimated monthly student payment if repaid over ten years is $170.

How Financial GPS measures payment burden · The four risk-and-reward zones

Financial GPS

What does repayment look like?

Institution median student debt
$15,000
Institution Parent PLUS debt
$33,297

Federal loans only; private or institutional loans aren’t included.

Estimated student payment · monthly
$170/mo
Estimated Parent PLUS payment · monthly
$423/mo

Payments use school-wide median balances, not a specific major’s.

Payment assumptions

Payments are 10-year standard payments on the median balance, before loan fees, used as a yardstick. Rates for newly issued loans may differ, and loans made after July 1, 2026 can repay over a longer term; existing loans keep their original fixed rates.

Explore your own numbers in Financial GPS
Read the full cost & aid brief

02 / UChicago briefing

UChicago career outcomes & earnings[3][8][9]

Four years after completing a degree, federally aided graduates who are working and not enrolled earn a median of $127,757. That is $59,507 above the $68,250 median for comparable institutions (same type and size).

Graduates earn about $27,445 more than the model expects for similar students, placing that gap at the 99th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. The part the model attributes to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market) adds $9,057.

The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain adds $18,388. Within the measured factors, the STEM component adds $4,043.

Azimuth ranks the university #4 for return among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Four years after completion, the median earnings of University of Chicago graduates stand at $127,757, drawn from a cohort of 1,338 federally aided completers who are working and not enrolled. That figure is above the $68,250 median at comparable institutions (same type and size) by $59,507 and places the university in the 99th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Graduates earn about $27,445 more than the model expects for similar students, a result that ranks in the 99th percentile nationally. Program-mix earnings scenarios model a typical return of $127,757, a lower-bound outcome of $57,031, and an upper-bound outcome of $167,145.

An estimated 42.2% of programs' graduates continue to graduate study, a share derived from program mix rather than observed enrollment.

Four years after completion, the median earnings of University of Chicago graduates reach $127,757, placing the university in the 99th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. That figure runs above the median of $68,250 for comparable institutions (same type and size) by $59,507.

Graduates earn about $27,445 more than the model expects for similar students, a result that sits in the 99th percentile. The part the model attributes to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market) adds $9,057.

The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain adds $18,388. Within the measured factors, the STEM component adds $4,043.

Azimuth ranks University of Chicago #4 for return on investment among nonprofit four-year institutions. Earnings scenarios grounded in the program mix show a downside of $57,031 and an upside of $167,145.

The largest program, Economics, awarded 634 bachelor's degrees and shows median earnings of $159,578 four years after completion. Mathematics follows with 169 degrees awarded and a median of $172,826, which is 2.48x the national median for the field.

The highest-earning program is Computer Science, with 126 degrees awarded and a median of $178,068, or 1.66x the national median. Biology rounds out the largest programs with 136 degrees awarded and median earnings of $59,794.

Earnings vary considerably by program at University of Chicago. The downside scenario, reflecting lower-earning program clusters, sits at $57,031, while the upside scenario reaches $167,145.

Computer Science completers earn a median of $178,068 four years after completion, and Mathematics completers earn $172,826. Economics graduates earn $159,578.

The typical earnings scenario, anchored on the university's program mix, is $127,757.

Graduates of University of Chicago earn a median of $127,757 four years after completing a degree, and they earn about $27,445 more than the model expects for similar students. The earnings picture is strong, but the cost of attendance is $90,360 (an average), so the value question turns on how much of that sticker price a family actually pays.

After grants and scholarships, the average net price for aid recipients is $14,860. That average is $12,511 below the $27,371 median for comparable institutions (same type and size).

Aid covers about 84% of the published cost for the average aid recipient, but this is an average rather than a personal quote. Borrowers who finish carry a median of $15,000 in federal student loans, which is $9,199 below the peer median.

That debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $170 a month if repaid over ten years. Parents who borrow hold a separate median of $33,297.

What explains value-added earnings?
Program & institutional factors The part attributed to observed institutional characteristics.
+$9,057
Unexplained remainder What remains after the model’s observed factors.
+$18,388
Total modeled value added The modeled difference from expected earnings.
+$27,445

These are statistical model components, not proven causal effects; the remainder is not a direct measure of teaching quality.

Read the full outcomes brief

03 / UChicago briefing

UChicago acceptance rate & admissions[1][10][11]

The University of Chicago admitted 4.5% of applicants in the most recent cycle, well below the median of 71.2% for comparable institutions (same type and size). In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, the university reported 45,533 applicants, 2,039 admitted, and 1,786 enrolled.

SAT: reported composite scores
Admission rate
4.5%
25th percentile
1500
Median
1540
75th percentile
1560

CDS 2025-26 · enrolled first-year score submitters. This range is not an admission cutoff.

Read the full admissions brief

04 / UChicago briefing

What are the largest majors at UChicago?[12]

Economics awards the most bachelor's degrees at University of Chicago, with 634 degrees a year and median earnings of $159,578 four years after completion. Azimuth ranks it #1 nationally among nonprofit four-year institutions in its field.

The highest earnings come from a smaller program. Computer Science graduates earn $178,068, from 126 degrees awarded.

Mathematics follows at $172,826, with 169 degrees awarded and a national rank of #3. Further down the earnings scale, Biology graduates earn $59,794 from 136 degrees awarded.

Azimuth places it #114 nationally among nonprofit four-year institutions in its field.

University of Chicago has 8 nationally ranked bachelor's programs, and the earnings spread between them is wide. Economics is the largest, awarding 634 degrees a year and ranked #1 in its field by Azimuth.

Its completers earn a median of $159,578 four years after graduating. Mathematics ranks #3 nationally, awards 169 degrees, and its completers earn a median of $172,826 four years after completion.

Biology ranks #114 nationally, awards 136 degrees, and its completers earn a median of $59,794 four years after completion. The largest family is Social Sciences, at 36.3% of degrees awarded, with Mathematics & Statistics second at 10.1%.

The highest-earning program, Computer Science, awards 126 degrees and its completers earn a median of $178,068 four years after completion.

Social Sciences accounts for 36.3% of bachelor's degrees awarded, with Mathematics & Statistics next at 10.1% and Biological Sciences at 8.7%. University of Chicago has 8 programs with an Azimuth national rank and 13 with published four-year earnings data.

The largest single program is Economics, at 634 degrees awarded a year, followed by Mathematics at 169 and Biology at 136. Economics, the largest program, reports median earnings of $159,578 four years after completion and ranks #1 in Illinois within its field.

Mathematics reports median earnings of $172,826 and ranks #1 in Illinois within its field. Public Policy Analysis ranks #4 nationally and #1 in Illinois within its field, with 114 degrees awarded and median earnings of $94,237.

Computer Science reports the highest four-year earnings, at $178,068, from 126 degrees awarded a year. Mathematics carries a benchmark ratio of 2.48x against the national median for its field.

The strongest programs are concentrated in quantitative fields, with the largest and highest-earning programs overlapping heavily. 34.4% of degrees awarded are in STEM.

Four-year earnings for fields where graduate study is common may understate later trajectories.

Four-year earnings · six largest reported fields
Economics 634 degrees awarded
$159,578
Mathematics 169 degrees awarded
$172,826
Biology, General 136 degrees awarded
$59,794
Computer Science 126 degrees awarded
$178,068
Public Policy Analysis 114 degrees awarded
$94,237
Political Science and Government 109 degrees awarded
$87,869

Fields selected by reported completions. Counts describe credentials awarded, not unique students or the earnings sample. Bars show median four-year earnings.

Read the full majors brief

05 / UChicago briefing

How does UChicago serve students from different backgrounds?

The mobility pillar at University of Chicago sits in the 86th percentile nationally. The six-year graduation rate for the first-time full-time cohort is 95.9%, while Pell recipients complete at 90.5% — a figure that sits below the overall rate by 5.4 percentage points.

Graduates earn about $27,445 more than the model expects for similar students, a result that lands in the 99th percentile.

Azimuth places the access pillar of University of Chicago in the 81st percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. The university admits 4.5% of applicants, far below the peer median of 71.2%.

Pell Grant recipients make up 15.3% of the 7,569 undergraduates, and an estimated 11.7% enter as transfers or part-time students.

06 / UChicago briefing

What colleges are similar to UChicago?[15]

Azimuth groups alternatives by admissions, location, cost and earnings, then orders candidates within each group. Peer earnings use the matched four-year cohort. How matching works.

A shortlist for different decisions

Choose a row to compare the figures with UChicago.

Admissions peerNorthwestern University7.7% admitted
Comparison with UChicago
MeasureUChicagoNorthwestern University
Peer earnings · 4 years$127,757$109,275-$18,482 vs UChicago
Average annual net price$14,860$29,167+$14,307 vs UChicago · higher cost
Admission rate4.5%7.7%
Explore Northwestern University →
Higher-admission alternativeUniversity of Health Sciences and Pharmacy in St. Louis89.8% admitted
Comparison with UChicago
MeasureUChicagoUniversity of Health Sciences and Pharmacy in St. Louis
Peer earnings · 4 years$127,757$131,813+$4,056 vs UChicago
Average annual net price$14,860$31,817+$16,957 vs UChicago · higher cost
Admission rate4.5%89.8%
Explore University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy in St. Louis →
Nearby alternativeNorthwestern UniversityNearby option · IL
Comparison with UChicago
MeasureUChicagoNorthwestern University
Peer earnings · 4 years$127,757$109,275-$18,482 vs UChicago
Average annual net price$14,860$29,167+$14,307 vs UChicago · higher cost
Admission rate4.5%7.7%
Explore Northwestern University →
Higher-earnings alternativeCalifornia Institute of Technology$152,843 earnings
Comparison with UChicago
MeasureUChicagoCalifornia Institute of Technology
Peer earnings · 4 years$127,757$152,843+$25,086 vs UChicago
Average annual net price$14,860$16,075+$1,215 vs UChicago · higher cost
Admission rate4.5%2.6%
Explore California Institute of Technology →
Lower-cost alternativeGeorgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus$12,116 average net price
Comparison with UChicago
MeasureUChicagoGeorgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus
Peer earnings · 4 years$127,757$119,180-$8,577 vs UChicago
Average annual net price$14,860$12,116-$2,744 vs UChicago · lower cost
Admission rate4.5%14.1%
Explore Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus →
Similar profileNorthwestern UniversityMatched across several measures
Comparison with UChicago
MeasureUChicagoNorthwestern University
Peer earnings · 4 years$127,757$109,275-$18,482 vs UChicago
Average annual net price$14,860$29,167+$14,307 vs UChicago · higher cost
Admission rate4.5%7.7%
Explore Northwestern University →

Each school is the first-ranked match in its category, not a recommendation across every measure. The same college may lead more than one category. Figures use the matching snapshot; earnings reflect the matched four-year cohort. — means unavailable.

Read the full similar schools brief

Data scope & methodology

Structured payloads generated Governed hub narrative Governed spoke corpus

Four-year earnings describe cohorts of completers. Figures for other horizons describe different cohorts and are not joined into a career-growth projection.

Azimuth's overall rank and pillar percentiles come from the school profile. Absolute pillar ranks, city, enrollment and official-site links are shown only when structured data supplies them.

Detailed earnings, cost, admissions and program values come from the endpoint responsible for each measure. Missing values are not replaced with zero. Value-added estimates are model associations, not causal effects.

Figures are refreshed with each data release, at most a quarter apart. The underlying source dates can be earlier than the release.

Explanatory text is AI-assisted drafting checked against those figures; it is not an additional data source.

Analysis and methodology by Daniel Rogers, founder of College Azimuth.

Read the ranking methodology, data definitions and limitations · About College Azimuth

Read the analysis behind value-added earnings and the change to four-year graduate earnings. These articles are published on collegeazimuth.com.

Data notes & source fields

Scorecard field codes identify the underlying measure; Azimuth-derived values are labeled separately. Snapshot dates are not measurement years. Source populations and reporting periods differ across measures. Field definitions are in the U.S. Department of Education · College Scorecard documentation; notes with a different source link it below.

  1. Admission rate. Reported applicants admitted; not a transfer-specific or individual admission probability.

    Source fields: ADM_RATE

  2. Six-year completion. First-time, full-time students completing at the institution within 150% of normal time, typically six years for a bachelor’s degree.

    Source fields: C150_4

  3. Four-year institutional earnings. Median earnings of graduates in the reported cohort who are working and not enrolled, four years after completion.

    Source fields: MD_EARN_WNE_4YR

  4. Median federal student debt. Federal student-loan debt among completers in the reported borrowing cohort. Excludes Parent PLUS and is not total debt across all students.

    Source fields: GRAD_DEBT_MDN

  5. National, regional and state ranks; pillar percentiles; major ranks. Derived scores within the stated eligible comparison set, not raw Scorecard fields. Major ranks compare institutions within a field; their denominators differ.

    Source fields: Azimuth rankings

    College Azimuth · Ranking methodology

  6. Annual net price by family income. Average annual cost after grants and scholarships for the eligible first-time, full-time aid-recipient cohort. Public-school figures reflect in-state tuition. Includes living costs; these are averages, not medians or individual offers.

    Source fields: NPT4_PUB/PRIV; NPT41_PUB/PRIV through NPT45_PUB/PRIV

  7. Parent PLUS debt, payments and GPS illustration. Stored payments use Financial GPS loan and repayment assumptions. The adjustable spectrum applies the published framework to annual student payments divided by earnings minus an expense allowance; its initial allowance uses the frozen 2024 framework baseline. It is an illustration rather than a school rating. Parent PLUS uses the completer median where available, otherwise the all-borrower median; these describe different borrowing populations.

    Source fields: PLUS_DEBT_ALL_COMP_MD; fallback PLUS_DEBT_ALL_MD; Azimuth Financial GPS calculations

    College Azimuth · Financial GPS methodology

  8. Downside and upside earnings; yellow band. The band spans the modeled lower and higher scenarios. It is not the P25–P75 interval for individual graduates. The median marker is the separately reported institutional median.

    Source fields: Azimuth modeled program-mix scenarios

    College Azimuth · Earnings scenario methodology

  9. Value added and its components. Observed-factor attribution plus the unexplained remainder equals total modeled value added. These are associations, not proven causal effects; the remainder is not a direct measure of teaching quality.

    Source fields: Azimuth statistical model

    College Azimuth · Value-added methodology

  10. SAT score range and reported midpoint. Reported scores of enrolled score-submitters, not admission cutoffs. The midpoint field is not necessarily the middle of the displayed range.

    Source fields: SATVR25 + SATMT25; SATVR75 + SATMT75; SAT_AVG

  11. First-year retention. Retention of the reported full-time cohort at four-year institutions.

    Source fields: RET_FT4

  12. Program earnings, completion counts and major-mix dots. Included bachelor’s programs have at least five reported completions. Counts are aggregated credentials, not unique people or an earnings sample. Major-mix dots group those counts by field of study; excluded programs are not zero activity.

    Source fields: EARN_MDN_4YR; IPEDSCOUNT1; CIPCODE

    College Scorecard · Field-of-study technical documentation

  13. Pell recipients. Share of undergraduates receiving a Pell Grant in the reported academic year.

    Source fields: PCTPELL

  14. Entering students outside the first-time, full-time group. This is not an observed transfer-in rate. It includes part-time entrants and other entering-student attendance patterns.

    Source fields: 1 − PFTFTUG1_EF

  15. Peer earnings and signed differences. Differences are peer minus this school, from the same matching snapshot. A positive earnings difference does not mean the peer is better on every measure.

    Source fields: Azimuth peer model using MD_EARN_WNE_4YR

    College Azimuth · Comparison methodology

How to interpret program rankings