Northwestern University Overview
Northwestern University is a private not-for-profit institution located in Evanston, Illinois. The city atmosphere of Evanston makes it a great place for students who enjoy having lots of educational and entertainment options.
What Is Northwestern University Known For?
- Northwestern has an impressive student to faculty ratio of 6 to 1.
- Students at Northwestern have an easier time paying back their loans. The school's student loan default rate is only 1%, compared to the national rate of 10.1%.
- The doctor's degree is the highest award offered at Northwestern.
- In 2017-2018, 83% of the faculty were full-time.
- A student who earns a bachelor's degree from Northwestern makes roughly $69,000 a year. This is 69% more than their peers from other colleges and universities.
- The average Northwestern student graduates in 4.1 years. That's better than the national average of 4.4 years.
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Northwestern University Rankings
According to our 2022 analysis, Northwestern is ranked #16 out of 2,587 schools in the nation that were analyzed for overall quality. This puts it in the top 1% of all schools in the nation! Northwestern also holds the #2 spot on the Best Colleges in Illinois ranking.
These rankings may look different from those published by other outlets, because we use an outcomes-based approach rather than a subjective one. We get our data from a number of places, including the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) and the College Scorecard. For more information, check out our rankings and methodology page.
Northwestern has also been awarded the following overall awards by our latest rankings.
Rank | Ranking Name | Share |
---|---|---|
#2 | Best Undergraduate Certificate Schools | Tweet It - Post It |
#6 | Best Graduate Certificate Schools | Tweet It - Post It |
#6 | Best Doctor’s Degree Schools | Tweet It - Post It |
#10 | Best Master’s Degree Schools | Tweet It - Post It |
#24 | Best Bachelor’s Degree Schools | Tweet It - Post It |
Program Level Awards
These are highlights of some of the most noteworthy awards granted to specific programs at Northwestern.
Awards From Around the Web
The following table lists some notable awards Northwestern has earned from around the web.
Rank | Ranking Name | Source |
---|---|---|
#1 | Best Science Technologies / Technicians Schools | College Factual |
#3 | Best Engineering Technologies Schools | College Factual |
#5 | Best Teaching Schools | Teaching Degree Search |
#5 | Best Communication & Journalism Schools | College Factual |
#7 | Best Business, Management & Marketing Schools | College Factual |
#15 | Best Health Professions Schools | College Factual |
Where Is Northwestern University?

Contact details for Northwestern are given below.
Contact Details | |
---|---|
Address: | 633 Clark St, Evanston, IL 60208 |
Phone: | 847-491-3741 |
Facebook: | http://www.facebook.com/NorthwesternU |
Twitter: | http://www.twitter.com/northwesternu |
How Do I Get Into Northwestern?
You can apply to Northwestern online at: www.northwestern.edu/admissions/
Admission Requirements for Northwestern
Submission | Required? |
---|---|
High School GPA | required |
High School Rank | recommended |
High School Transcript | required |
College Prep Program | required |
Recommendations | required |
SAT or ACT Scores | required |
TOEFL | required |
How Hard Is It To Get Into Northwestern?
Approximately 46% of accepted students are men and 54% are women. The acceptance rate for men is 9%, and the acceptance rate for women is 10%.
Average Test Scores
About 58% of students accepted to Northwestern submitted their SAT scores. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing scores ranged between 700 and 760. Math scores were between 730 and 790.
Can I Afford Northwestern University?
The net price is calculated by adding tuition, room, board and other costs and subtracting financial aid.
Student Loan Debt
It's not uncommon for college students to take out loans to pay for school. In fact, almost 66% of students nationwide depend at least partially on loans. At Northwestern, approximately 23% of students took out student loans averaging $5,696 a year. That adds up to $22,784 over four years for those students.
The student loan default rate at Northwestern is 0.8%. This is significantly lower than the national default rate of 10.1%, which is a good sign that you'll be able to pay back your student loans.
Northwestern University Undergraduate Student Diversity

There are also 14,044 graduate students at the school.
Gender Diversity
Of the 8,095 full-time undergraduates at Northwestern, 48% are male and 52% are female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity
The racial-ethnic breakdown of Northwestern University students is as follows.

Race/Ethnicity | Number of Grads |
---|---|
Asian | 1,581 |
Black or African American | 485 |
Hispanic or Latino | 1,050 |
White | 3,332 |
International Students | 823 |
Other Races/Ethnicities | 824 |
Geographic Diversity
Illinois students aren't the only ones who study at Northwestern University. At this time, 48 states are represented by the student population at the school.
Over 116 countries are represented at Northwestern. The most popular countries sending students to the school are China, India, and South Korea.
Online Learning at Northwestern University
The following chart shows how the online learning population at Northwestern has changed over the last few years.

This school is the 29th most popular in Illinois for online learning according to the online graduations recorded by the Department of Education for the academic year 2019-2020.
Online Affordability Rankings of Northwestern
The following table shows how Northwestern is ranked for affordability for both in-state and out-of-state students among colleges and universities that are not mostly online.
Major | Tuition for In-State Students | Tuition for Out-of-State Students |
---|---|---|
Communication & Journalism (Other) | #10 | #10 |
Health Sciences & Services | #22 | #22 |
Medical Illustration & Informatics | #46 | #46 |
Management Sciences & Quantitative Methods | #53 | #53 |
Online Growth Rankings of Northwestern
The average growth rate over the last four years of online students at Northwestern University was -28.5%. This is the #2,081 largest growth rate of all schools that are only partially online. This refers to all students at Northwestern regardless of major.
The following table shows the 1-year growth rate of Northwestern majors that offer at least one online course. This table only includes majors with positive growth.
Major | 1-Year Growth Rate |
---|---|
Business, Management & Marketing | 3% |
Computer & Information Sciences | 13% |
Health Professions | 4% |
Management Sciences & Quantitative Methods | 39% |
Medical Illustration & Informatics | 6% |
Public Administration | 36% |
Public Administration & Social Service | 23% |
The table below shows how the average growth rate over 4 years at Northwestern ranks compared to all other partially online schools that offer a specific major. Note that the majors may or may not be offered online at Northwestern.
Major | Growth Rate Rank | |
---|---|---|
Medical Illustration & Informatics | #101 | |
Information Science | #126 | |
Management Sciences & Quantitative Methods | #153 | |
Public Administration | #236 |
When we speak of partially online, we are referring to schools whose online population is less than 50% of its total student body. Mostly online refers to those with online populations greater than or equal to 50%.
Northwestern University Undergraduate Concentrations
The table below shows the number of awards for each concentration.
References
*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.
- College Factual
- National Center for Education Statistics
- Image Credit: By Madcoverboy at en.wikipedia under License
More about our data sources and methodologies.
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