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.

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.

Rank	Ranking Name	Share
#1	Best Science Technologies Master’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#1	Best Foreign Languages & Linguistics Master’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#3	Best Physical Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#3	Best Communication & Journalism Master’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#3	Best Engineering Technologies Master’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#4	Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Master’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#6	Best Education Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#6	Best Public & Social Service Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#9	Best Business, Management & Marketing Master’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#14	Best Health Professions Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It

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?

With an acceptance rate of 9%, Northwestern is one of the most selective schools in the country. If the admissions department requests additional materials, be sure to submit them promptly. This could be a sign that you're on the border line of being accepted or denied.

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.

Northwestern received ACT scores from 55% of accepted students. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, ACT English scores ranged between 34 and 36. Math scores were between 31 and 35. Composite scores were between 33 and 35.

Can I Afford Northwestern University?

The overall average net price of Northwestern is $56,529. The affordability of the school largely depends on your financial need since net price varies by income group.

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 8,559 undergraduate students at Northwestern, with 8,095 being full-time and 464 being part-time.

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

In 2019-2020, 329 students took at least one online class at the school.

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.

Major	Undergraduate Certificate	Bachelor’s	Graduate Certificate	Master’s	Doctor’s	TOTAL
General Business/Commerce	0	0	0	1,048	0	1,048
Management Sciences & Quantitative Methods	0	0	33	569	0	602
Economics	0	338	0	34	20	392
Business Administration & Management	0	0	0	325	0	325
Legal Research	0	0	21	267	0	288
Law	0	0	0	0	278	278
Journalism	0	151	0	120	0	271
Communication & Journalism (Other)	0	0	0	191	0	191
Clinical, Counseling & Applied Psychology	0	0	0	183	8	191
Communication & Media Studies	0	101	0	83	3	187
Computer Science	0	94	0	78	11	183
Neurobiology & Neurosciences	0	136	0	10	23	169
General Psychology	0	139	0	12	12	163
Music	0	97	0	53	9	159
Radio, Television & Digital Communication	0	102	6	41	6	155
Marketing	0	0	0	148	3	151
Political Science & Government	0	121	0	13	15	149
Medicine	0	0	0	0	147	147
Rehabilitation & Therapeutic Professions	0	0	0	47	88	135
Community Organization & Advocacy	0	73	12	47	0	132
Information Science	0	50	3	76	0	129
Mechanical Engineering	0	67	0	40	21	128
Drama & Theater Arts	0	93	0	21	4	118
Biomedical Engineering	0	62	0	39	16	117
Communication Sciences	0	15	0	59	42	116
General Biology	0	91	0	0	23	114
Industrial Engineering	0	87	0	15	10	112
Other Engineering	0	0	0	102	0	102
Engineering Technology (Other)	0	0	0	100	0	100
Legal Professions (Other)	0	0	0	98	0	98
Liberal Arts General Studies	11	3	73	2	0	89
Public Administration	0	0	3	85	0	88
Statistics	0	61	0	11	4	76
General English Literature	0	54	0	7	11	72
Public Health	0	37	0	35	0	72
Mathematics	0	65	0	2	3	70
Materials Engineering	0	14	0	22	33	69
Finance & Financial Management	37	0	0	27	4	68
Chemical Engineering	0	42	0	9	17	68
Public Policy	0	66	0	0	0	66
Civil Engineering	0	13	0	45	7	65
Chemistry	0	21	0	6	38	65
Arts & Media Management	0	0	0	58	0	58
History	0	48	0	4	5	57
Applied Mathematics	0	36	0	14	5	55
Human Resource Management	0	19	26	4	5	54
Computer Engineering	0	24	0	19	11	54
Engineering-Related Fields	0	0	0	51	0	51
Public Relations & Advertising	0	0	0	50	0	50
Mental & Social Health Services	0	0	0	46	0	46
Business/Managerial Economics	38	0	0	5	2	45
Sociology	0	29	0	9	6	44
Electrical Engineering	0	10	0	20	11	41
Biotechnology	0	0	1	39	0	40
Anthropology	0	26	0	8	6	40
Health & Physical Education	0	0	1	38	0	39
Education Philosophy	0	0	0	38	0	38
Health Sciences & Services	0	0	0	37	0	37
International Relations & National Security	0	37	0	0	0	37
Allied Health Professions	2	0	0	34	0	36
Medical Illustration & Informatics	0	0	1	35	0	36
Medical Science	0	0	0	36	0	36
Other Psychology	0	33	0	0	0	33
Ethnic Studies	0	13	13	1	5	32
Educational Administration	0	0	3	26	0	29
Fine & Studio Arts	0	24	0	2	3	29
Manufacturing Engineering	0	26	0	0	0	26
Physics	0	11	0	10	5	26
Philosophy	0	21	0	1	3	25
Cell Biology & Anatomical Sciences	0	0	0	1	22	23
Romance Languages	0	19	0	2	2	23
Natural Resources Conservation	0	22	0	0	0	22
Non-Professional General Legal Studies	0	20	0	1	0	21
Mechanical Engineering Technology	0	0	0	20	0	20
Linguistics & Comparative Literature	0	10	0	1	9	20
Geological & Earth Sciences	0	10	0	6	3	19
Computer Information Systems	0	5	0	13	0	18
Child Development & Psychology	0	18	0	0	0	18
Other Science Technologies/Technicians	0	0	2	16	0	18
Biological & Biomedical Sciences (Other)	17	0	0	0	0	17
Biomathematics & Bioinformatics	0	0	0	16	0	16
Electromechanical Engineering Technology	0	0	0	15	0	15
Health & Medical Administrative Services	0	0	2	12	0	14
Cultural Studies & Analysis	0	0	14	0	0	14
Teacher Education Subject Specific	0	7	0	6	0	13
Area Studies	0	13	0	0	0	13
Film, Video & Photographic Arts	0	0	0	12	1	13
Teacher Education Grade Specific	0	12	0	0	0	12
Environmental Engineering	0	12	0	0	0	12
Bioethics/Medical Ethics	0	0	0	12	0	12
Astronomy & Astrophysics	0	0	0	5	7	12
Biological & Physical Science	0	11	0	0	0	11
Human Development & Family Studies	0	0	0	4	5	9
Systems Theory	0	0	5	1	3	9
East Asian Languages	0	8	0	0	0	8
Germanic Languages	0	7	0	0	1	8
Educational Assessment	0	7	0	0	0	7
Other Education	0	0	0	4	3	7
Classical Languages & Literature	0	6	1	0	0	7
Other Health Professions	1	0	0	0	6	7
Science, Technology & Society	0	7	0	0	0	7
Writing Studies	0	1	0	5	0	6
Health/Medical Prep Programs	6	0	0	0	0	6
International Studies	0	0	6	0	0	6
Religious Studies	0	4	0	0	2	6
Botany/Plant Biology	0	0	0	4	1	5
General Engineering	0	5	0	0	0	5
Slavic, Baltic & Albanian Languages	0	2	0	3	0	5
Dance	0	5	0	0	0	5
Cognitive Science	0	0	4	0	0	4
Engineering Physics	0	0	0	1	2	3
Interdisciplinary Studies	0	0	3	0	0	3
General Social Sciences	0	3	0	0	0	3
Design & Applied Arts	0	0	0	3	0	3
Accounting	0	0	0	1	1	2
Engineering Mechanics	0	0	0	1	1	2
Allied Health & Medical Assisting Services	2	0	0	0	0	2
Behavioral Science	0	0	2	0	0	2
Materials Sciences	0	2	0	0	0	2
Medieval Studies	0	0	1	0	0	1
Geography & Cartography	0	1	0	0	0	1
Architecture (Other)	0	0	0	0	0	0
Biochemistry, Biophysics & Molecular Biology	0	0	0	0	0	0
Ecology, Evolution & Systematics Biology	0	0	0	0	0	0
Other Business, Management & Marketing	0	0	0	0	0	0
Entrepreneurial Studies	0	0	0	0	0	0
International Business	0	0	0	0	0	0
Management Information Systems	0	0	0	0	0	0
Real Estate	0	0	0	0	0	0
Other Computer & Information Sciences	0	0	0	0	0	0
General Education	0	0	0	0	0	0
Special Education	0	0	0	0	0	0
Engineering Science	0	0	0	0	0	0
Middle Eastern Semitic Languages	0	0	0	0	0	0
Advanced Dentistry & Oral Sciences	0	0	0	0	0	0
Multicultural & Diversity Studies	0	0	0	0	0	0
Other Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies	0	0	0	0	0	0
Sustainability Science	0	0	0	0	0	0
Other Social Sciences	0	0	0	0	0	0
Urban Studies	0	0	0	0	0	0
Sacred Music	0	0	0	0	0	0
General Visual & Performing Arts	0	0	0	0	0	0
TOTAL	114	2,767	236	4,820	992	8,929

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.