University of Chicago

TheUniversity of Chicago(UChicago,Chicago,U of C, orUChi)is aprivateresearch universityinChicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in theHyde Parkneighborhood on Chicago'sSouth Side, near the shore ofLake Michiganabout 7 miles (11 km) fromthe Loop.
The university is composed of theCollege of the University of Chicagoand four graduate research divisions: Biological Science, Humanities, Physical Science, and Social Science, which also include various organized departments and institutes. In addition, the university has eight professional schools, which also house academic research: theBooth School of Business;Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice;Divinity School;Graham School of Continuing Liberal and Professional Studies;Harris School of Public Policy;Law School;Pritzker School of Medicine; andPritzker School of Molecular Engineering. The university has additional campuses and centers in London, Paris, Beijing, Delhi, and Hong Kong, as well as in downtown Chicago.
University of Chicago scholars have played a major role in the development of many academic disciplines, including economics, law, literary criticism, mathematics, physics, religion, sociology, and political science, establishing theChicago schoolsof thought in various fields.Chicago'sMetallurgical Laboratoryproduced the world's first human-made, self-sustaining nuclear reaction inChicago Pile-1beneath the viewing stands of the university'sStagg Field.Advances in chemistry led to the "radiocarbon revolution" in thecarbon-14 datingof ancient life and objects.The university research efforts include administration ofFermi National Accelerator LaboratoryandArgonne National Laboratory, as well as theMarine Biological Laboratory. The university is also home to theUniversity of Chicago Press, the largestuniversity pressin the United States.
The university's students, faculty, and staff has included101 Nobel laureates.The university'sfaculty members and alumnialso include 10 Fields Medalists,4 Turing Award winners, 52MacArthur Fellows,26Marshall Scholars,54Rhodes Scholars,27Pulitzer Prizewinners,20National Humanities Medalists,29 living billionaire graduates,and8 Olympic medalists.
The first University of Chicago was founded by a small group ofBaptisteducators in 1856 through a land endowment from SenatorStephen A. Douglas. It closed in 1886 after years of financial struggle and a finalannus horribilisin which the campus was badly damaged by fire and the school was foreclosed on by its creditors.Several years later, its trustees elected to change the school's name to the "Old University of Chicago" so that a new school could go by the name of the city.
In 1890, theAmerican Baptist Education Societyincorporated a new University of Chicago as acoeducationalinstitution, using $400,000 donated to the ABES to supplement a $600,000 donation fromStandard Oilco-founderJohn D. Rockefeller,and land donated byMarshall Field.While the Rockefeller donation provided money for academic operations and long-term endowment, it was stipulated that such money could not be used for buildings. TheHyde Parkcampus was financed by donations from wealthy Chicagoans such asSilas B. Cobb, who provided the funds for the campus's first building,Cobb Lecture Hall, and matched Marshall Field's pledge of $100,000. Other early benefactors included businessmenCharles L. Hutchinson(trustee, treasurer and donor ofHutchinson Commons),Martin A. Ryerson(president of the board of trustees and donor of the Ryerson Physical Laboratory)Adolphus Clay Bartlettand Leon Mandel, who funded the construction of the gymnasium and assembly hall, and George C. Walker of the Walker Museum, a relative of Cobb who encouraged his inaugural donation for facilities.
The new university acknowledged its predecessor.The university's coat of arms has a phoenix rising from the ashes, a reference to the fire and foreclosure of the Old University of Chicago.A single stone from the rubble of the original Douglas Hall on 34th Place was set into the wall of the Classics Building. The dean of the college and University of Chicago and professor of history John Boyer has argued that the University of Chicago has "a plausible genealogy as a pre–Civil War institution".Alumni from the Old University of Chicago are recognized as alumni of the University of Chicago.
William Rainey Harperbecame the university's president on July 1, 1891, and the Hyde Park campus opened for classes on October 1, 1892.Harper worked on building up the faculty and in two years he had a faculty of 120, including eight former university or college presidents.Harper was an accomplished scholar (Semiticist) and a member of the Baptist clergy who believed that a great university should maintain the study of faith as a central focus.To fulfill this commitment, he brought theBaptistseminary that had begun as an independent school "alongside" the Old University of Chicago and separated from the old school decades earlier to Morgan Park. This became theDivinity Schoolin 1891, the first professional school at the University of Chicago.
Harper recruited acclaimed Yale baseball and football playerAmos Alonzo Staggfrom theYoung Men's Christian Associationtraining school atSpringfieldto coach the school's football program.Stagg was given a position on the faculty, the first such athletic position in the United States.While coaching at the university, Stagg invented the numbered football jersey and the huddle.Stagg is the namesake of the university'sStagg Field.
Thebusiness schoolwas founded in 1898,and thelaw schoolwas founded in 1902.Harper died in 1906and was replaced by a succession of three presidents whose tenures lasted until 1929.During this period, theOriental Institutewas founded to support and interpretarcheologicalwork in what was then called the Near East.
In the 1890s, the university, fearful that its vast resources would injure smaller schools by drawing away good students, affiliated with several regional colleges and universities:Des Moines College,Kalamazoo College,Butler University, andStetson University. In 1896, the university affiliated withShimer Collegein Mount Carroll, Illinois. Under the terms of the affiliation, the schools were required to have courses of study comparable to those at the university, to notify the university early of any contemplated faculty appointments or dismissals, to make no faculty appointment without the university's approval, and to send copies of examinations for suggestions. The University of Chicago agreed to confer a degree on any graduating senior from an affiliated school who made a grade of A for all four years, and on any other graduate who took twelve weeks additional study at the University of Chicago. A student or faculty member of an affiliated school was entitled to free tuition at the University of Chicago, and Chicago students were eligible to attend an affiliated school on the same terms and receive credit for their work. The University of Chicago also agreed to provide affiliated schools with books and scientific apparatus and supplies at cost; special instructors and lecturers without cost except for travel expenses; and a copy of every book and journal published by theUniversity of Chicago Pressat no cost. The agreement provided that either party could terminate the affiliation on proper notice. Several University of Chicago professors disliked the program, as it involved uncompensated additional labor on their part, and they believed it cheapened the academic reputation of the university. The program was ended by 1910.
In 1929, the university's fifth president, 30-year-old legal philosophy scholarRobert Maynard Hutchins, took office. The university underwent many changes during his 24-year tenure. Hutchins reformed the undergraduate college's liberal-arts curriculum known as the Common Core,organized the university's graduate work into four divisions,and eliminated varsity football from the university in an attempt to emphasize academics over athletics.During his term, the University of Chicago Hospitals (now called theUniversity of Chicago Medical Center) finished construction and enrolled their first medical students.Also, the philosophy orientedCommittee on Social Thought, an institution distinctive of the university, was created.
Money that had been raised during the 1920s and financial backing from theRockefeller Foundationhelped the school to survive through theGreat Depression.Nonetheless, in 1933, Hutchins proposed an unsuccessful plan to merge the University of Chicago andNorthwestern University.During World War II, the university'sMetallurgical Laboratorymade ground-breaking contributions to theManhattan Project.The university was the site of the first isolation ofplutoniumand of the creation of the first artificial, self-sustained nuclear reaction byEnrico Fermiin 1942.
The university did not provide standard oversight ofBruno Bettelheimand his tenure as director of theOrthogenic School for Disturbed Childrenfrom 1944 to 1973.
In the early 1950s, student applications declined as a result of increasing crime and poverty in the Hyde Park neighborhood. In response, the university became a major sponsor of a controversialurban renewal project for Hyde Park, which profoundly affected both the neighborhood's architecture and street plan.During this period the university, like Shimer College and 10 others, adopted an early entrant program that allowed very young students to attend college; also, students enrolled at Shimer were enabled to transfer automatically to the University of Chicago after their second year, having taken comparable or identical examinations and courses.
The university experienced its share of student unrest during the 1960s, beginning in 1962 when then-freshmanBernie Sandershelped lead a15-day sit-in at the college's administration buildingin a protest over the university's segregationist off-campus rental policies. After continued turmoil, a university committee in 1967 issued what became known as the Kalven Report. The report, a two-page statement of the university's policy in "social and political action," declared that "To perform its mission in the society, a university must sustain an extraordinary environment of freedom of inquiry and maintain an independence from political fashions, passions, and pressures."The report has since been used to justify decisions such as the university's refusal to divest from South Africa in the 1980s and Darfur in the late 2000s.
In 1969, more than 400 students, angry about the dismissal of a popular professor,Marlene Dixon, occupied the Administration Building for two weeks. After the sit-in ended, when Dixon turned down a one-year reappointment, 42 students were expelled and 81 were suspended,the most severe response to student occupations of any American university during the student movement.
In 1978, history scholarHanna Holborn Gray, then the provost and acting president ofYale University, became president of the University of Chicago, a position she held for 15 years. She was the first woman in the United States to hold the presidency of a major university.
In 1999, then-PresidentHugo Sonnenscheinannounced plans to relax the university's famedcore curriculum, reducing the number of required courses from 21 to 15. WhenThe New York Times,The Economist, and other major news outlets picked up this story, the university became the focal point of a national debate on education. The changes were ultimately implemented, but the controversy played a role in Sonnenschein's decision to resign in 2000.
From the mid-2000s, the university began a number of multimillion-dollar expansion projects. In 2008, the University of Chicago announced plans to establish theMilton Friedman Institute, which attracted both support and controversy from faculty members andstudents.The institute would cost around $200 million and occupy the buildings of theChicago Theological Seminary. During the same year, investorDavid G. Boothdonated $300 million to the university'sBooth School of Business, which is the largest gift in the university's history and the largest gift ever to any business school.In 2009, planning or construction on several new buildings, half of which cost $100 million or more, was underway.Since 2011, major construction projects have included the Jules and Gwen Knapp Center for Biomedical Discovery, a ten-story medical research center, and further additions to the medical campus of theUniversity of Chicago Medical Center.In 2014 the university launched the public phase of a $4.5 billionfundraisingcampaign.In September 2015, the university received $100 million from The Pearson Family Foundation to establish The Pearson Institute for the Study and Resolution of Global Conflicts and The Pearson Global Forum at theHarris School of Public Policy.
In 2019, the university created its first school in three decades, thePritzker School of Molecular Engineering.
On April 29, 2024, students at the University of Chicago set upan encampment on the university's main quadas a part ofthe nationwide movementin support of Palestine at institutions of higher learning across the country. The encampment was cleared by the University of Chicago Police Department on May 7.
The main campus of the University of Chicago consists of 217 acres (87.8 ha) in the Chicago neighborhoods ofHyde ParkandWoodlawn, approximately eight miles (13 km) south ofdowntown Chicago. The northern and southern portions of campus are separated by theMidway Plaisance, a large, linear park created for the 1893World's Columbian Exposition. In 2011,Travel+Leisurelisted the university as one of the most beautiful college campuses in the United States.
The first buildings of the campus, which make up what is now known as the Main Quadrangles, were part of a master plan conceived by two University of Chicago trustees and plotted by Chicago architectHenry Ives Cobb.The Main Quadrangles consist of sixquadrangles, each surrounded by buildings, bordering one larger quadrangle.The buildings of the Main Quadrangles were designed by Cobb,Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge,Holabird & Roche, and other architectural firms in a mixture of theVictorian GothicandCollegiate Gothicstyles, patterned on the colleges of the University of Oxford.(Mitchell Tower, for example, is modeled after Oxford'sMagdalen Tower,and the university Commons,Hutchinson Hall, replicatesChrist ChurchHall.) In celebration of the 2018 Illinois Bicentennial, the University of Chicago Quadrangleswere selected as one of the Illinois 200 Great Places by theAmerican Institute of ArchitectsIllinois component (AIA Illinois).
After the 1940s, the campus's Gothic style began to give way to modern styles.In 1955,Eero Saarinenwas contracted to develop a second master plan, which led to the construction of buildings both north and south of the Midway, including the Laird Bell Law Quadrangle (a complex designed by Saarinen);a series of arts buildings;a building designed byLudwig Mies van der Rohefor the university's School of Social Service Administration,a building which is to become the home of theHarris School of Public PolicybyEdward Durrell Stone, and theRegenstein Library, the largest building on campus, abrutaliststructure designed byWalter Netschof the Chicago firmSkidmore, Owings & Merrill.Another master plan, designed in 1999 and updated in 2004,produced theGerald Ratner Athletics Center(2003),theMax Palevsky Residential Commons(2001),South Campus Residence Halland dining commons (2009), a new children's hospital,and other construction, expansions, and restorations.In 2011, the university completed the glass dome-shapedJoe and Rika Mansueto Library, which provides a grand reading room for the university library and prevents the need for an off-campus book depository.
The site ofChicago Pile-1is aNational Historic Landmarkand is marked by theHenry MooresculptureNuclear Energy.Robie House, aFrank Lloyd Wrightbuilding acquired by the university in 1963, is a UNESCO World Heritage Siteas well as a National Historic Landmark,as is room 405 of theGeorge Herbert Jones Laboratory, whereGlenn T. Seaborgand his team were the first to isolate plutonium.Hitchcock Hall, an undergraduate dormitory, is on theNational Register of Historic Places.
The campus is soon to be the home of theObama Presidential Center, the Presidential Library for the 44th president of the United Stateswith expected completion in 2026. The Obamas settled in the university's Hyde Park neighborhood where they raised their children and whereBarack Obamabegan his political career.Michelle Obamaserved as an administrator at the university and founded the university's Community Service Center.
In November 2021, a university graduate was robbed and fatally shot on a sidewalk in a residential area in Hyde Park near campus;a total of three University of Chicago students were killed by gunfire incidents in 2021.These incidents prompted student protests and an open letter to university leadership signed by more than 300 faculty members.
The university also maintains facilities apart from its main campus. The university'sBooth School of Businessmaintains campuses inHong Kong,London, and the downtownStreetervilleneighborhood of Chicago. The Center in Paris, a campus located on theleft bankof theSeinein Paris, hosts various undergraduate and graduate study programs.In fall 2010, the university opened a center in Beijing, nearRenmin University's campus inHaidian District. The most recent additions are a center inNew Delhi, India, which opened in 2014,and a center in Hong Kong which opened in 2018.In 2024, the university opened the John W. Boyer Center in Paris, designed by architectural firm Studio Gang and nearly tripling the size of the Center in Paris which had opened in 2003.
The university is governed by a board of trustees. The board of trustees oversees the long-term development and plans of the university and manages fundraising efforts, and is composed of 55 members including the university president.Directly beneath the president are the provost, fourteen vice presidents (including the chief financial officer,chief investment officer, and vice president for campus life and student services), the directors ofArgonne National LaboratoryandFermilab, the secretary of the university, and the studentombudsperson.As of May 2022, the current chairman of the board of trustees isDavid Rubenstein.The current provost isKatherine Baickersince March 2023.The current president of the University of Chicago is chemistPaul Alivisatos, who assumed the role on September 1, 2021.Robert Zimmer, the previous president, transitioned into the new role of chancellor of the university.
The university's endowment was the 12th largest among American educational institutions and state university systems in 2013and as of 2020was valued at $10 billion.Since 2016, the university's board of trustees has resisted pressure from students and faculty to divest its investments from fossil fuel companies.Part of former university President Zimmer's financial plan for the university was an increase in accumulation of debt to finance large building projects.This drew both support and criticism from many in the university community.In 2023 the university agreed to pay $13.5 million to settle a lawsuit that it and other universities conspired to limit financial aid to students.
The academic bodies of the University of Chicago consist of theCollege, four divisions of graduate research, seven professional schools, and theGraham School of Continuing Liberal and Professional Studies.The university also contains a library system, theUniversity of Chicago Press, and theUniversity of Chicago Medical Center, and oversees several laboratories, includingFermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab),Argonne National Laboratory, and theMarine Biological Laboratory. The university is accredited byThe Higher Learning Commission.
The university runs on aquarter systemin which the academic year is divided into four terms: Summer (June–August), Autumn (September–December), Winter (January–March), and Spring (April–June).Full-time undergraduate students take three to four courses every quarterfor approximately nine weeks before their quarterly academic breaks. The school year typically begins in late September and ends in late May.
After its foundation in the late 19th century, the University of Chicago quickly became established as one of the wealthiest and, according to Henry S. Webber, one of the most prestigious universities in America.To elevate higher education standards and practices, the university was a founder of theAssociation of American Universitiesin 1900.According toJonathan R. Cole, universities such as Chicago leveraged endowments to fund research, attracting accomplished faculty and producing academic advancements, leading to sustained growth and maintenance of their institutional profile such that Chicago has been among the most distinguished research universities in the US for more than a century.The university is described by theEncyclopedia Britannicaas "one of the United States' most outstanding universities".
ARWUhas consistently placed the University of Chicago among the top 10 universities in the world,and the 2021QS World University Rankingsplaced the university in 9th place worldwide.THE World University Rankingshas ranked it among the global top 10 for eleven consecutive years (from 2012 to 2022).
The university'slawandbusinessschools rank among the top three professional schools in the United States.The business school is currently ranked first in the US byUS News & World Reportand first in the world byThe Economist,while the law school is ranked third byUS News & World Reportand first byAbove the Law.
The university has an extensive record of producing successful business leaders and billionaires.
The College of the University of Chicago grants Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science degrees in 51academic majorsand 33 minors.The college's academics are divided into five divisions: the Biological Sciences Collegiate Division, the Physical Sciences Collegiate Division, the Social Sciences Collegiate Division, the Humanities Collegiate Division, and the New Collegiate Division.The first four are sections within their corresponding graduate divisions, while the New Collegiate Division administers interdisciplinary majors and studies which do not fit in one of the other four divisions.
Undergraduate students are required to take a distribution of courses to satisfy the university's general education requirements, commonly known as the Core Curriculum.In 2012–2013, the Core classes at Chicago were limited to 17 courses, and are generally led by a full-time professor (as opposed to ateaching assistant).As of the 2013–2014 school year, 15 courses and demonstrated proficiency in a foreign language are required under the Core.Undergraduate courses at the University of Chicago are known for their demanding standards, heavy workload and academic difficulty; according toUni in the USA, "Among the academic cream of American universities – Harvard, Yale, Princeton, MIT, and the University of Chicago – it is UChicago that can most convincingly claim to provide the most rigorous, intense learning experience."
The university graduate schools and committees are divided into four divisions: Biological Sciences, Humanities, Physical Sciences, and Social Sciences, and eight professional schools.In the autumn quarter of 2022, the university enrolled 10,546 graduate students on degree-seeking courses: 569 in the Biological Sciences Division, 612 in the Humanities Division, 2,103 in the Physical Sciences Division, 972 in the Social Sciences Division, and 6,290 in the professional schools (including the Graham School).
The university is home to several committees for interdisciplinary scholarship, including theJohn U. Nef Committee on Social Thought.
The university contains eight professional schools: theUniversity of Chicago Law School, thePritzker School of Medicine, theBooth School of Business, theUniversity of Chicago Divinity School, theUniversity of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy, theUniversity of Chicago School of Social Service Administration, theGraham School of Continuing Liberal and Professional Studies(which offers non-degree courses and certificates as well as degree programs) and thePritzker School of Molecular Engineering.
The Law School is accredited by theAmerican Bar Association, the Divinity School is accredited by the Commission on Accrediting of theAssociation of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada, and Pritzker is accredited by theLiaison Committee on Medical Education.
The university runs a number of academic institutions and programs apart from its undergraduate and postgraduate schools. It operates theUniversity of Chicago Laboratory Schools(a privateday schoolforK-12students andday care),and a publiccharter schoolwith four campuses on theSouth Sideof Chicago administered by the university's Urban Education Institute.In addition, the Hyde Park Day School, a school for students with learning disabilities,and theSonia Shankman Orthogenic School, a residential treatment program for those with behavioral and emotional problems,maintains a location on the University of Chicago campus. Since 1983, the University of Chicago has maintained theUniversity of Chicago School Mathematics Project, a mathematics program used in urban primary and secondary schools.The university runs a program called the Council on Advanced Studies in the Humanities and Social Sciences, which administers interdisciplinary workshops to provide a forum for graduate students, faculty, and visiting scholars to present scholarly work in progress.The university also operates theUniversity of Chicago Press, the largestuniversity pressin the United States.
TheUniversity of Chicago Librarysystem encompasses six libraries that contain a total of 11 million volumes, the 9th most among library systems in the United States.The university's main library is theRegenstein Library, which contains one of the largest collections of print volumes in the United States. TheJoe and Rika Mansueto Library, built in 2011, houses a large study space and an automated book storage and retrieval system. TheJohn Crerar Librarycontains more than 1.4 million volumes in the biological, medical and physical sciences and collections in general science and the philosophy and history of science, medicine, and technology.The university also operates a number of special libraries, including the D'Angelo Law Library, the Social Service Administration Library, and the Eckhart Library for mathematics and computer science.Harper Memorial Library is now a reading and study room.
According to theNational Science Foundation, University of Chicago spent $423.9 million on research and development in 2018, ranking it 60th in the nation.It isclassifiedamong "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity"and is a founding member of theAssociation of American Universitiesand was a member of the Committee on Institutional Cooperation from 1946 through June 29, 2016, when the group's name was changed to theBig Ten Academic Alliance. The University of Chicago is not a member of the rebranded consortium, but will continue to be a collaborator.
The university operates more than 140 research centers and institutes on campus.Among these are theInstitute for the Study of Ancient Cultures, West Asia & North Africa—a museum and research center forNear Easternstudies owned and operated by the university—and a number ofNational Resource Centers, including theCenter for Middle Eastern Studies. Chicago also operates or is affiliated with several research institutions apart from the university proper. The university managesArgonne National Laboratory, part of theUnited States Department of Energy's national laboratory system, and co-managesFermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab), a nearby particle physics laboratory, as well as a stake in theApache Point ObservatoryinSunspot, New Mexico. Faculty and students at the adjacentToyota Technological Institute at Chicagocollaborate with the university.In 2013, the university formed an affiliation with the formerly independentMarine Biological Laboratoryin Woods Hole, Mass.TheNational Opinion Research Centermaintains an office at the Hyde Park campus and is affiliated with multiple academic centers and institutes.
The University of Chicago has been the site of some important experiments and academic movements. In economics, the university has played an important role in shaping ideas about thefree marketand is the namesake of theChicago school of economics, the school of economic thought supported byMilton Friedmanand other economists. The university'ssociologydepartment was the first independent sociology department in the United States and gave birth to theChicago school of sociology.In physics, the university was the site of theChicago Pile-1(the first controlled, self-sustaining human-made nuclear chain reaction, part of theManhattan Project), ofRobert Millikan'soil-drop experimentthat calculated the charge of the electron,and of the development ofradiocarbon datingbyWillard F. Libbyin 1947. The chemical experiment that tested how life originated on early Earth, theMiller–Urey experiment, was conducted at the university.REM sleepwas discovered at the university in 1953 byNathaniel KleitmanandEugene Aserinsky.
The University of Chicago (Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics) operated theYerkes ObservatoryinWilliams Bay, Wisconsinfrom 1897 until 2018,where the largest operatingrefracting telescopein the world and other telescopes are located.
The UChicago Arts program joins academic departments and programs in the Division of the Humanities and the college, as well as professional organizations including theCourt Theatre, theInstitute for the Study of Ancient Cultures, West Asia & North Africa, theSmart Museum of Art, theRenaissance Society, University of Chicago Presents, and student arts organizations. The university has an artist-in-residence program and scholars in performance studies, contemporary art criticism, and film history. It has offered a doctorate in music composition since 1933 and cinema and media studies since 2000, a master of fine arts in visual arts (early 1970s), and a Master of Arts in the humanities with a creative writing track (2000). It has bachelor's degree programs in visual arts, music, and art history, and, more recently, cinema and media studies (1996) and theater and performance studies (2002). The college's general education core includes a "dramatic, musical, and visual arts" requirement, inviting students to study the history of the arts, stage design, or begin working with sculpture. Several thousand major and non-major undergraduates enroll annually in creative and performing arts classes.UChicago is often considered the birthplace ofimprovisational comedyas theCompass Playersstudent comedy troupe evolved intoThe Second Cityimprovisation theater troupe in 1959. The Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts opened in October 2012, five years after a $35 million gift from alumnus David Logan and his wife Reva. The center includes spaces for exhibitions, performances, classes, and media production. The Logan Center was designed byTod Williams and Billie Tsien.
In Fall 2021, the university enrolled 7,559 undergraduate students, 10,893 graduate students, and 449 non-degree students.The college class of 2025 is composed of 53% male students and 47% female students. Twenty-seven percent of the class identify as Asian, 19% as Hispanic, and 10% as Black. Eighteen percent of the class is international.The university isneed-blindfor domestic applicants.
Admissions to the University of Chicago has become highly selective over the past two decades, reflecting changes in the application process, school popularity, and marketing strategy.Between 1996 and 2023, the acceptance rate of the college fell from 71% to 4.7%.For the Class of 2027, the acceptance rate was 4.7%.
The middle 50% band ofSATscores for the undergraduate class of 2025 was 1510–1570 (98th–99th percentiles),the averageMCATscore for students entering the Pritzker School of Medicine class of 2024 was 519 (97th percentile),the medianGMATscore for students entering the full-time Booth MBA program class of 2023 was 740 (97th percentile),and the medianLSATscore for students entering the Law School class of 2021 was 172 (99th percentile).
In 2018, the University of Chicago attracted national headlines by becoming the first major research university to no longer require SAT/ACT scores from college applicants.
The University of Chicago hosts 19 varsity sports teams: 10 men's teams and 9 women's teams,all called theMaroons, with 502 students participating in the 2012–2013 school year.
The Maroons compete in theNCAA'sDivision IIIas members of theUniversity Athletic Association(UAA). The university was a founding member of theBig Ten Conferenceand participated in the NCAA Division I men's basketball and football and was a regular participant in the men's basketball tournament. In 1935, the University of Chicago reached the Sweet Sixteen.In 1935,Chicago Maroons footballplayerJay Berwangerbecame the first winner of theHeisman Trophy. However, the university chose to withdraw from the Big Ten Conference in 1946 after University presidentRobert Maynard Hutchinsde-emphasized varsity athletics in 1939 and dropped football.In 1969, Chicago reinstated football as a Division III team, resuming playing its home games at the newStagg Field. UChicago is also the home of theultimate frisbeeteam UChicago Fission.
The University of Chicago is also home to the University of Chicago Rugby Football Club (UCRFC).Established in 1933, the University of Chicago Men's Rugby Club is one of the oldest collegiaterugbyclubs in theUnited States.Since 2022, Men's Rugby competes in the Division II Great Midwest Conference, underNational Collegiate Rugby,having previously competed underUSA Rugby. It was most recently ranked 15th in the country at the end of the 2024 Fall 15s season, falling to Montana State 19-48 in the Sweet Sixteen NCR DII playoff round. It competes in aRugby 7scircuit in the spring. It shares its conference with Loyola University Chicago, the University of Illinois Chicago, Northwestern University (for which it competes in a yearly cup, the Hutchins-Scott Cup), DePaul University, and Benedictine University. A women's club also exists at the university.
Students at the University of Chicago operate more than 400 clubs and organizations known as Recognized Student Organizations (RSOs).These include cultural and religious groups, academic clubs and teams, and common-interest organizations.Notable extracurricular groups include the University of Chicago College Bowl Team, which has won 118 tournaments and 15 national championships, leading both categories internationally. The university's competitive Model United Nations team was the top-ranked team in North America in 2013–2014, 2014–2015, 2015–2016, and again for the 2017–2018 season. The university's Model UN team is also the first to be in the top 5 for almost a decade, according to Best Delegate. Among notable student organizations are the nation's longest continuously running student film societyDoc Films; the organizing committee for theUniversity of Chicago Scavenger Hunt; the weekly student newspaperThe Chicago Maroon; the satiricalChicago Shady Dealer;an improvisational theater and sketch comedy groupOff-Off Campus;The Blue Chips, an investing club managing $150k in assets;UT, performing up to 12 shows a year across campus; andUCJAS, organizers of UChi-Con, a yearlyanime convention
The University of Chicago is home to eight student-run a cappella groups, several of which compete regularly at the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella (ICCA). The school's two most prominent co-ed a cappella groups areVoices in Your Head, which competed at the ICCA finals in 2012, 2015, 2017, 2018, and 2022, as well as the Ransom Notes, which competed at the ICCA finals in 2021. Other successful a cappella groups on campus include the soprano-alto group Cadenza (formerly "Unaccompanied Women"), which is also the school's oldest established group, as well as the tenor-bass group Run For Cover, which performs in prolific events across the Midwest every year.
All recognized student organizations, from theUniversity of Chicago Scavenger Huntto Model UN, in addition to academic teams, sports clubs, arts groups, and more are funded byThe University of Chicago Student Government. Student Government consists of graduate and undergraduate students elected to represent members from their respective academic units. It is led by an executive committee, chaired by a president with the assistance of two vice presidents, one for administration and the other for student life, elected together as a slate by the student body each spring. Its annual budget is greater than $2 million.
There are 13fraternitiesat the university. In 2017, approximately 20 to 25 percent of students were members of fraternities or sororities.Numbers published in 2007 by the student activities office stated that one in ten undergraduates participated in Greek life.
On-campus undergraduate students at the University of Chicago participate in ahouse systemin which each student is assigned to one of the university's sevenresidence hallbuildings and to a smaller community within their residence hall called a "house". There are 39 houses, with an average of 70 students in each house.The houses are named after former professors and other historical figures in the university community, such asEugene Fama.
Traditionally only first years were required to live in housing, but starting with the Class of 2023, students are required to live in housing for the first 2 years of enrollment.About 60% of undergraduate students live on campus.
For graduate students, the university owns and operates 28 apartment buildings near campus.
Every May since 1987, the University of Chicago has held theUniversity of Chicago Scavenger Hunt, in which large teams of students compete to obtain notoriously esoteric items from a list.Every January, the university holds a week-long winter festival, Kuviasungnerk/Kangeiko (Kuvia), which includes early morning exercise routines and fitness workshops. The university also annually holds a summer carnival and concert called Summer Breeze that hosts outside musicians and is home toDoc Films, a student film society founded in 1932 that screens films nightly at the university. Since 1946, the university has organized theLatke-Hamantash Debate, which involves humorous discussions about the relative merits and meanings oflatkesandhamantashen.
As of October 2024, there have been101 Nobel laureatesaffiliated with the University of Chicago,21 of whom were pursuing research or on faculty at the university at the time of the award announcement.Notable alumni and faculty affiliated with the university include33 Nobel laureates in Economics.
In addition, many Chicago alumni and scholars have won theFulbright awardsand 53 have matriculated asRhodes Scholars.
In 2019, the University of Chicago claimed 188,000 alumni.While the university's first president,William Rainey Harperstressed the importance of perennial theory over practicality in his institution's curriculum, this has not stopped the alumni of Chicago from being among the wealthiest in the world.
In business, notable alumni includeMicrosoftCEOSatya Nadella,Oracle Corporationfounder and the sixth-richest man in AmericaLarry Ellison(who attended for one term but chose to leave before final exams),Goldman SachsandMF GlobalCEO as well as formergovernor of New JerseyJon Corzine,McKinsey & Companyfounder and author of the firstmanagement accountingtextbookJames O. McKinsey, co-founder of theBlackstone GroupPeter G. Peterson, co-founder ofAQR Capital ManagementCliff Asness, founder ofDimensional Fund AdvisorsDavid Booth, founder ofthe Carlyle GroupDavid Rubenstein, former COO of Goldman SachsAndrew Alper, billionaire investor and founder ofOaktree Capital ManagementHoward Marks (investor),Bloomberg L.P.CEODaniel Doctoroff,Credit SuisseCEOBrady Dougan,Morningstar, Inc.founder and CEOJoe Mansueto,Chicago Cubsowner and chairmanThomas S. Ricketts, andNBAcommissionerAdam Silver.
Notable alumni in the field of law, government and politics includeSupreme CourtjusticeJohn Paul Stevens; thelord chief justice of England and WalesLord Thomas of Cwmgiedd; President of theSupreme Court of IsraelShimon Agranat;Attorney Generaland federal judgeRobert Bork;attorneys generalRamsey Clark,John AshcroftandEdward Levi;Prime Minister of CanadaWilliam Lyon Mackenzie King;33rd prime minister of New ZealandGeoffrey Palmer;11th prime minister of PolandMarek Belka; formerTaiwan Vice PresidentLien Chan; Governor of the Bank of JapanMasaaki Shirakawa;David Axelrod, advisor topresidentsBarack ObamaandBill Clinton; the founder of moderncommunity organizingSaul Alinsky;ProhibitionagentEliot Ness; former Chicago mayorLori Lightfoot; the first femaleAfrican-American senatorCarol Moseley Braun;United States senatorfromVermontand Democratic presidential candidate in2016and2020Bernie Sanders; formerWorld BankpresidentPaul Wolfowitz; Chinese juristMei Ju-aoandAmien Rais, professor and former chairman of thePeople's Consultative Assemblyof the Republic of Indonesia.
Notable alumni who are leaders in higher education, have emerged from almost all parts of the university: college president and chancellorRebecca Chopp; current president ofMiddlebury CollegeLaurie L. Patton; master ofClare College, Cambridgeandvice-chancellorofUniversity of CambridgeLord Ashby; president ofPrinceton UniversityChristopher L. Eisgruber; former president ofMorehouse CollegeRobert M. Franklin, Jr.; president of theOpen University of IsraelJacob Metzer; and president ofShimer CollegeSusan Henking.SociologistHarold L. Sheppardreceived hismaster's degreeinsociologyfrom the University of Chicago in 1945 and hisPh.D.in sociology andanthropologyfrom theUniversity of Wisconsinin 1949.
In journalism, notable alumni includeNew York Timescolumnist and commentator onPBS News HourDavid Brooks,Washington PostcolumnistDavid Broder,Washington PostpublisherKatharine Graham, reporter and commentatorVirginia Graham, investigative journalist and political writerSeymour Hersh,The ProgressivecolumnistMilton Mayer, four-time Pulitzer Prize winning journalistRick Atkinson, baseball statisticianSarah Langs, statistical analyst andFiveThirtyEightfounder and creatorNate Silver, and ABC News correspondentRebecca Jarvis.
In literature, author of the New York Times bestsellerBefore I FallLauren Oliver,Pulitzer Prize-winning novelistPhilip Roth; Canadian-born Pulitzer Prize andNobel Prize for Literaturewinning writerSaul Bellow; political philosopher, literary critic and author of the New York Times bestsellerThe Closing of the American MindAllan Bloom; author ofThe Big CountryandMatt Helmspy novelsDonald Hamilton;The Good WarauthorStuds Terkel; writer, essayist, filmmaker, teacher, and political activistSusan Sontag;analytic philosopherandStanford Universityprofessor ofComparative literatureRichard Rorty; professor of government and author ofThe Rhetorical PresidencyJeffrey K. Tulis;cultural commentator, author, and president of St. Stephen's College (nowBard College)Bernard Iddings Bell; and novelist and satiristKurt Vonnegutare notable alumni.
In the arts and entertainment,minimalistcomposerPhilip Glass, dancer, choreographer and leader in the field ofdance anthropologyKatherine Dunham,Bungiefounder and developer of theHalovideo game seriesAlex Seropian,SerialhostSarah Koenig, actorEd Asner, actressAnna Chlumsky,Pulitzer Prize for Criticismwinning film critic and the subject of the 2014 documentary filmLife ItselfRoger Ebert, director, writer, and comedianMike Nichols, film director and screenwriterPhilip Kaufman, and photographer and writerCarl Van Vechten, photographer and writer, are graduates.
In science, alumni include astronomersCarl Sagan, a prominent contributor to the scientific research ofextraterrestrial life, andEdwin Hubble, known for "Hubble's law",NASAastronautJohn M. Grunsfeld, geneticistJames Watson, best known as one of the co-discoverers of the structure ofDNA, vaccinologistMaurice Hilleman, whose vaccines save nearly 8 million lives each year, experimental physicistLuis Alvarez, popular environmentalistDavid Suzuki, astronomerJ. Allen Hynek, nuclear physicist and researcherStanton T. Friedman, balloonistJeannette Piccard, biologistsErnest Everett JustandLynn Margulis, computer scientistRichard Hamming, the creator of theHamming Code,lithium-ion batterydeveloperJohn B. Goodenough, mathematician andFields MedalrecipientPaul Joseph Cohen, geochemistClair Cameron Patterson, who developed theuranium–lead datingmethod intolead–lead dating, geologist and geophysicistM. King Hubbert, known for theHubbert curveandHubbert peak theory, the main components ofpeak oil, and "Queen of Carbon"Mildred Dresselhaus.Ray Solomonoff, one of the founders of the field ofmachine learningas well asKolmogorov complexity, got a BS and MS in physics in 1951, studying underRudolf Carnap.
In economics, notableNobel Memorial Prize in Economic ScienceswinnersMilton Friedman(a major advisor to Republican U.S. presidentRonald Reagan, Conservative British prime ministerMargaret Thatcherand Chilean military dictatorAugusto Pinochet),George Stigler(Nobel laureate and proponent ofregulatory capturetheory)Herbert A. Simon(responsible for the modern interpretation of the concept of organizational decision-making)Paul Samuelson(the first American to win the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences) andEugene Fama(known for his work onportfolio theory,asset pricingand stock market behavior) are all graduates. Americaneconomist,social theorist,political philosopher, and authorThomas Sowellis also an alumnus. Brazil's minister of the economyPaulo Guedesreceived his Ph.D. from UChicago in 1978.
Other prominent alumni include anthropologistsDavid GraeberandDonald Johanson, who is best known for discovering the fossil of a female hominidaustralopithecineknown as "Lucy" in theAfar Triangleregion, psychologistJohn B. Watson, American psychologist who established thepsychological schoolofbehaviorism,communication theoristHarold Innis, political theoristAnne Norton, chess grandmasterSamuel Reshevsky, and conservative international relations scholar andWhite Housecoordinator of security planning for theNational Security CouncilSamuel P. Huntington.
American Civil Rights MovementleadersVernon Johns, considered by some to be the founder of the American Civil Rights Movement, American educator, socialist and cofounder of the Highlander Folk SchoolMyles Horton, civil rights attorney and chairman of theFair Employment Practices CommitteeEarl B. Dickerson,Tuskegee AirmencommanderBenjamin O. Davis, Jr., African-American history scholar and journalistCarter G. Woodson, and Nubian scholarSolange Ashbyare all alumni.
Three students from the university have been prosecuted in notable court cases: the infamous thrill killersNathan Leopold and Richard Loeband high school science teacherJohn T. Scopeswho was tried in theScopes Monkey Trialfor teachingevolution.
Notable faculty in economics includeFriedrich Hayek,Frank Knight,Milton Friedman,George Stigler,James Heckman,Gary Becker,Robert Fogel,Robert Lucas, Jr.,John A. List, andEugene Fama.Additionally, theJohn Bates Clark Medal, which is rewarded annually to the best economist under the age of 40, has also been awarded to 4 current members of the university faculty.
Notable faculty in physics have included the speed of light calculatorA. A. Michelson, elementary charge calculatorRobert A. Millikan, discoverer of theCompton EffectArthur H. Compton, the creator of the first nuclear reactorEnrico Fermi, "the father of thehydrogen bomb"Edward Teller, "one of the most brilliant and productive experimental physicists of the twentieth century"Luis Walter Alvarez,Murray Gell-Mannwho introduced thequark, second female Nobel laureateMaria Goeppert-Mayer, the youngest American winner of the Nobel PrizeTsung-Dao Lee, andastrophysicistSubrahmanyan Chandrasekhar.
In law, people that have served on the faculty include former U.S. presidentBarack Obama, the most cited legal scholar of the 20th centuryRichard Posner, Supreme Court justicesElena Kagan,Antonin Scalia, andJohn Paul Stevens, and Nobel laureate in economicsRonald Coase. Other distinguished scholars who have served on the faculty includeKarl Llewellyn,Edward Levi,Cass Sunstein, and legal historianStanley Nider Katz.
Philosophers who were members of the faculty includeNobel Prize-winning philosopherBertrand Russell,John Dewey(central figure inpragmatismand founder offunctional psychology), philosopher and political theoristHannah Arendt,George H. Mead(who is considered one of the founders ofsocial psychologyand the American sociological tradition), andLeo Strauss(prominent philosopher and the founder of the Straussian School in philosophy). Notable writersT.S. Eliot,Ralph Ellison,andJ. M. Coetzeehave all served on the faculty.
Past faculty have also included astronomerGerard Kuiper, biochemist andNational Women's Hall of FamememberFlorence B. Seibert, biologistSusan Lindquist, Nobel Prize winning chemistsGlenn T. Seaborg(the developer of theactinide concept),Henry Taube, andYuan T. Lee, egyptologistJames Henry Breasted, mathematicianAlberto Calderón,Friedrich Hayek(one of the leading figures of theAustrian School of Economicsand Nobel prize winner), meteorologistTed Fujita, linguistic anthropologistMichael Silverstein, Nobel Prize winning novelistSaul Bellow, American politics scholarHerbert Storing, political philosopher and authorAllan Bloom,conservativepolitical philosopher and historianRichard M. Weaver, cancer researchersCharles Brenton HugginsandJanet Rowley, one of the most important figures in the early development of the discipline of linguisticsEdward Sapir, the founder ofMcKinsey & Co.James O. McKinsey, and Nobel Prize-winning physicistJames Cronin.
Current faculty include the philosophersJean-Luc Marion,James F. Conant,Robert Pippin, andKyoto PrizewinnerMartha Nussbaum; political scientistsJohn MearsheimerandRobert Pape; anthropologistMarshall Sahlins; historiansDipesh Chakrabarty,David Nirenberg, andKenneth Pomeranz; paleontologistsNeil ShubinandPaul Sereno; evolutionary biologistJerry Coyne; Nobel Prize-winning economistsEugene Fama,James Heckman,Lars Peter Hansen,Roger Myerson,Richard Thaler, andDouglas Diamond;Freakonomicsauthor and noted economistSteven Levitt;Voltage Effectauthor and noted economistJohn List; former governor of India'scentral bankRaghuram Rajan; and former chairman of PresidentBarack Obama'sCouncil of Economic AdvisersAustan Goolsbee.