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🎓 College profile

University of Chicago

IL · Private nonprofit · Large city · 38,631 applicants 2023

R1 Research
5% admit rate SAT 1510–1570 $48,524/yr at $110k+ income

🧭 A parent's read

  • The major moves the money more than the admit letter. Computer Science grads from here earn about $178,068 four years out; biology grads about $59,794 — a 3.0× spread on the same diploma. Have the major conversation before you deposit, not after.
  • Grades and scores convert directly to dollars here. This college publishes an automatic merit grid — hit the GPA/score tiers and the discount is guaranteed, no negotiation. Check the scholarship table below before assuming the sticker.
  • Built for the AI economy. About 1 in 17 degrees here is already in AI, computer science, or data fields; its AI research output ranks #35 among US universities. This campus is leaning into the shift, not waiting for it.
  • Kids finish — on time. 96% graduate in four years. Nationally, barely half do — and a fifth year elsewhere quietly adds $30–70k to the real price. On-time completion is the most underrated ROI number in this decision.
  • Your price depends enormously on your income — and on qualifying at all. Above $110k income, aid-receiving families still average about $48,524/yr here — and many higher-income families receive no aid at all. Lower brackets pay far less (~$226 at $48–75k), which is why the college's own net-price calculator — not any bracket average — is your number.

Composed from this page's data — every claim is backed by a number in the sections below.

Get your child's odds at University of Chicago Free Family Decision Report — Reach / Match / Likely + your real net price. University of Chicago starts already on the list. Start →

🎯 Parent/student verdict

Reach

Highly selective reach for nearly every applicant. Heavy discounting — aid recipients average ~$14,860/yr net; strong students should also check the merit grid.

✅ Best for

  • Strong academic profiles — admitted students cluster in the top test and GPA tiers (bands above)
  • Strong test/GPA students chasing merit aid — Stamps Scholars or College Achievement Scholars on offer (see merit-scholarship tab below)
  • Students focused on Social Sciences (the school's signature program)
  • Research-oriented students (R1 — top tier of federal research funding)

🎯 The reality

  • Bottom-quartile academic profile if: SAT below 1510, or ACT below 34, or unweighted GPA below ~3.80 (admitted-class quartiles; GPA floor is a calibrated heuristic where CDS not yet on file)
  • With selective universities, build a balanced college list of Reaches, Targets, and Safeties ⓘ

Verdict is composed from this college's structured data (admit rate, SAT bands, net price by income, Carnegie classification, scholarship grids) using transparent rule thresholds — not a chat-bot's opinion.

🏛️ Institutional snapshot

What kind of college is this?

Carnegie classification
R1: Doctoral - Very High Research Activity
Total enrollment
7,569
10,000 - 19,999
TuitionThe published full price before any aid. Families who don't qualify for need-based aid — common above ~$110K income — pay this, minus any merit scholarships.
$70,662
flat rate (no in/out-of-state split)
Admit rateThe share of applicants a college accepts. Useful context, but your student's odds depend on their own grades and scores, not the average.
4.8%
Hyper-selective
SAT middle 50%The middle half of enrolled students scored in this range — a quarter scored BELOW the low end and still got in, and a quarter scored above the high end. Above the top number is a genuine strength; below the bottom isn't automatic rejection.
1510–1570
EBRW + Math composite
ACT middle 50%The middle half of enrolled students scored in this range — a quarter scored BELOW the low end and still got in, and a quarter scored above the high end. Above the top number is a genuine strength; below the bottom isn't automatic rejection.
34–35
composite
Test policyApplicants choose whether to send SAT/ACT scores. At many such colleges, students who submit strong scores are still admitted at higher rates.
Test-optional
2023
10-yr earningsMedian yearly pay of former students ten years after they STARTED here — not ten years after graduating — all majors combined. The broadest single outcome number a college reports.
$91,885
median, after entry

Source: federal IPEDS Admissions 2023 for scores + admit rate; federal College Scorecard (20260606 vintage) for earnings + outcomes. SAT/ACT bands are the 25th–75th percentile of enrolled submitters.

🎓 High-school GPA

4.97 avg weighted GPA, enrolled first-years

Enrolled first-years 4.97 weighted

Enrolled first-years by GPA band: 4.00 58.46% · 3.75-3.99 30.07% · 3.50-3.74 6.85% · 3.25-3.49 1.76% · 3.00-3.24 2.78% · 2.50-2.99 0.09%

weighted (school-reported, can exceed 4.0). University of Chicago Common Data Set 2024-2025, Section C12 (average HS GPA) and C11 (GPA distribution) ↗

As published by the college in its Common Data Set / admissions data (2024-25) (source linked above). GPA basis (weighted vs. unweighted vs. 4.0-scale) varies by college and is labeled above.

📊 Outcomes & cost

What graduates actually earn, finish, and owe.

Federal College Scorecard data. Earnings are median annual income measured years after entering. Debt is for federal-aid borrowers only (cash-pay students aren't counted).

Earnings, 6 yrs after entry
$80,870
Earnings, 10 yrs after entryMedian yearly pay of former students ten years after they STARTED here — not ten years after graduating — all majors combined. The broadest single outcome number a college reports.
$91,885
4-year completionThe share of students who finish a bachelor's in four years. Nationally barely half do — and a fifth year quietly adds a full extra year of cost to the real price.
96%
Median debt (completers)The federal-loan balance of the typical graduating borrower. Families who pay cash aren't counted, so read it as "among those who borrowed."
$15,000

💰 The real cost

What families at your income actually pay

Above $110K income — where most Reach families sit — aid-receiving families average $48,524/yr at University of Chicago; families who don't qualify for aid pay the full ~$90,360/yr. Lower brackets pay less — the full ladder is below. One caveat, once: every bracket figure here averages only the families in that bracket who received aid — it says nothing about whether your family will qualify.

🔎 Earning over $110K? You're above the top federal bracket — the median family headed by a 45-to-54-year-old (the prime college-parent years) earned about $134K in 2024, and the federal data lumps everyone from $110K to $1M+ into one row.

Whether you'll get need aidGrant money based on your family's finances (via FAFSA and the college's own forms), not your student's stats. at this income is entirely college-specific: a few heavily-endowed schools meet full need well past $150K, while many others give little above the brackets shown — there, merit scholarships, where offered, become the realistic lever.

Start your Family Decision Report →

Your odds + estimated net price across your whole college list — then confirm the exact figure with University of Chicago's own Net Price Calculator ↗ (10–15 min; have your tax return handy).

Family income $110k+ most Reach families
$48,524/yr
Family income $75-110k
$12,602/yr
Family income $48-75k
$226/yr
Family income $30-48k
$914/yr
Family income $0-30k
data suppressed

📈 The payoffTen years of typical earnings divided by four years of cost. A 3× means a decade of median pay covers the cost three times over — check both the full-price and with-aid versions to see which applies to you., both ways

2.5× at full price 15.5× with aid
Full price, no aidThe all-in yearly price — tuition, housing, food, books, fees — before any aid. This is the real "full price," not just the tuition line. (4 yrs)
$361,440
~$90,360/yr all-in
Aid recipients pay (4 yrs)
$59,440
$14,860/yr average
10-yr earnings total
$918,850
$91,885/yr median, 10 yrs out
Years to recoup the cost
3.9 yrs
at full price (0.6 with aid), at the median earnings rate

Source: College Scorecard (NPT41–NPT45; Title IV first-time, full-time undergraduates; suppressed brackets = small cohorts; the $110K+ ceiling is a federal data limitation — the brackets haven't been refreshed since the early 2010s). Payoff multiple = (10-yr median earnings × 10) ÷ (4-yr cost); full price is the published cost of attendance; earnings are 10 years after enrollment, all majors combined.

📚 What students study here

Most popular majors at University of Chicago

Top 5 fields of study by bachelor's degrees awarded (most recent IPEDS Completions). Use this to see what University of Chicago actually graduates — not just what it markets.

1. Social Sciences
684 degrees · 54.2%
Economics + poli sci sub-disciplines pay much more than sociology + anthropology.
2. Biological & Biomedical Sciences
174 degrees · 13.8%
Many bio majors → med school / grad school. Direct-employment bio roles are lower-paid than that pipeline.
3. Mathematics & Statistics
156 degrees · 12.4%
Quant-heavy paths — actuarial, data, finance, research. High starting wages.
4. Computer & Information Sciences
128 degrees · 10.2%
High-paying tech roles dominate. Median software roles cluster in the $90k-$130k range.
5. Physical Sciences
119 degrees · 9.4%
Chemistry, physics, geology — strong wages especially in industry roles.

💼 What those majors earn here

Median earnings 4 years after entry, by major — University of Chicago's own graduates, not national averages.

Major (CIP) Credential Cohort 1-yr earnings 4-yr earnings
Computer Science. Bachelor's Degree 126 $117,578 $178,068
Mathematics. Bachelor's Degree 169 $100,421 $172,826
Economics. Bachelor's Degree 634 $92,075 $159,578
Statistics. Bachelor's Degree 75 $82,681 $130,189
Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities. Bachelor's Degree 20 — $96,510
Public Policy Analysis. Bachelor's Degree 114 $60,057 $94,237
Political Science and Government. Bachelor's Degree 109 $56,022 $87,869
English Language and Literature, General. Bachelor's Degree 54 $44,397 $78,169
Research and Experimental Psychology. Bachelor's Degree 105 $31,986 $73,483
Philosophy. Bachelor's Degree 77 — $71,709

Sources: IPEDS Completions (C2023_a; bachelor's-level first majors, 2-digit CIP family — share is of the top 5 only) · College Scorecard program-level outcomes (PP-FOS). Full college-vs-major comparison: /college-outcomes →

⭐ Merit aidScholarship money awarded for grades or test scores, not financial need — at many colleges it's automatic at certain GPA/score levels.

What your test score unlocks at University of Chicago

Score-or-merit-based scholarships published by the institution. Stackable in most cases — confirm with the financial aid office.

Award Annual award Score gate GPA gate Renewable
Stamps Scholars
Stamps · any
 $89,000/yr 1500+ SAT — Yes
College Achievement Scholars
College Achievement · any
 $5,000/yr — 3.5+ Yes

See all merit scholarships across colleges + 13 national awards on /merit-scholarships →

See which merit tiers your child already clears — free Family Decision Report Start →

📈 Student body & economic mobility

Who attends here — and what the campus adds.

Opportunity Insights data. Why it matters even if you're full-pay: a high mobility rate means the campus itself confers earnings power — the outcomes aren't just selection effects.

Top-1% access
9.1%
from top-1% households
Mobility rateThe share of ALL students who arrived from the bottom 20% of family incomes AND reached the top 20% themselves by their early 30s — access and lift in one number, and a sign the campus itself adds earnings power.
1.9%
bottom 20% → top 20% by age 32
Upward rate
45.1%
of lower-income students who reach the top 20%
Pell recipientsStudents receiving federal Pell grants, which go to lower- and middle-income families — the standard shorthand for a college's economic mix.
15%
on federal need grants — context for these numbers

Full leaderboards: /college-mobility →

Alternatives to University of Chicago

Matched not just by selectivity, but by strategic goal — what a family actually decides on.

🏆 Better merit-aid options
These similar-selectivity schools publish merit scholarships your family can plan around — your kid’s stats could unlock real scholarship dollars.
Ohio State University-Main Campus
OH · Public
1 stats-based merit scholarship
University of Southern California
CA · Private nonprofit
5 competitive merit scholarships
Vanderbilt University
TN · Private nonprofit
4 competitive merit scholarships
💰 Lower full price
Similar selectivity, but a meaningfully lower full sticker price — the comparison that matters most for families who won't qualify for much need-based aid.
University of Florida
FL · Public
$22,523/yr full price (in-state) · $67,837 less before aid
Brigham Young University
UT · Private nonprofit
$22,690/yr full price · $67,670 less before aid
University of Missouri-Kansas City
MO · Public
$25,320/yr full price (in-state) · $65,040 less before aid
🛡️ Safer in-state options
Same state and similar selectivity, but with a more forgiving admit rate — useful safety / match anchors.
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
IL · Public
44% admit rate (vs 5% here)
🚀 Stronger campus value-add
Per Opportunity Insights, these campuses add more earnings power to the students they enroll than University of Chicago does — a quality signal, not a cost play.
Stony Brook University
NY · Public
8.4% mobility rate (vs 1.9% here)
Binghamton University
NY · Public
5.1% mobility rate (vs 1.9% here)
Stevens Institute of Technology
NJ · Private nonprofit
4.3% mobility rate (vs 1.9% here)

⚖️ Or compare any college side-by-side

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