TheUniversity of Chicago (UChicago,Chicago,UChi, orU of C) is aprivateresearch university inChicago, Illinois, in the United States. Its main campus is in theHyde Park neighborhood.
The university is composed of anundergraduate college and four graduate research divisions: the Arts & Humanities Division, the Biological Sciences Division, the Physical Sciences Division, and the Social Sciences Division, all of which include various organized departments and institutes. In addition, the university operates seven professional schools in the fields ofbusiness,social work,theology,public policy,law,medicine, andmolecular engineering, and a school ofcontinuing studies. The university maintains satellite campuses and centers in London,Hong Kong, Paris, Beijing, Delhi, Luxor, and downtown Chicago.
Albert A. Michelson, professor of physics and the first American Nobel laureate, delivers the secondconvocation address in front of Goodspeed and Gates-Blake Halls, with PresidentWilliam Rainey Harper, professors, and trustees in attendance, July 1, 1894.[2]
The first University of Chicago was founded by a small group ofBaptist educators and incorporated in 1857 after a land endowment from SenatorStephen A. Douglas and a fundraising campaign directed by the first president of the institution,John C. Burroughs.[3]: 8–10 It closed in 1886 after decades of financial struggle, exacerbated by theGreat Chicago Fire and thePanic of 1873,[3]: 18 when the university's property was foreclosed on by its creditors.[3]: 8–10 In 1890, its trustees elected to change the university's name to the "Old University of Chicago" so that the new university could go by the name of the city; a year later, the new university voted to recognize the alumni of the old as alumni of the new.[3]: 59
William Rainey Harper became the university's president on July 1, 1891, and classes first began on October 1, 1892.[8] Harper offered large salaries to attract senior faculty,[3]: 78 and in two years had a faculty of 120, including eight former university or college presidents.[9] The undergraduate program was divided into two parts, with the first two years making up the Academic College, focusing on preparation for higher learning, and the last two years comprising the University College, with more advanced courses. The university operated on aquarter system, with 36 courses required to graduate.[3]: 82–84 Harper brought theBaptist seminary, which had historical ties to the Old University of Chicago, to the university. This became theDivinity School in 1891, the first graduate professional school at the University of Chicago.[10]: 20–22 Harper was a supporter of intercollegiate athletics, recruitingAmos Alonzo Stagg in 1892 to coach the football team and defending athletics from faculty opposition.[3]: 89 In 1894, the university adoptedmaroon as its official color after initially selectinggoldenrod. The Maroons became the university's nickname during the same year.[11] During this period, the university founded theuniversity extension, which offered evening courses for adults andcorrespondence courses, and theUniversity of Chicago Press.[3]: 74
Rockefeller continued to provide significant contributions to the university after its founding. Harper's efforts to finance faculty research projects, expand the campus, and support university initiatives caused significant deficits covered by Rockefeller donations, with annual deficits between 1894 and 1903 averaging $215,000. In 1898, the board of trustees made a commitment to use new gifts to eliminate the deficit rather than to further expand programs, but structural deficits remained until after Harper's presidency.[3]: 110–112
After Harper's death in 1906, the board of trustees namedHarry Pratt Judson, head of the Department of Political Science, acting president; in 1907, the appointment was made permanent.[3]: 149–150 Judson initiated a policy of financial austerity, which renewed Rockefeller's confidence in the university and resulted in a series of large gifts to the endowment between 1906 and 1910, including a final gift of $10 million in 1910 that balanced the university's budget.[3]: 113 In 1911, the university adopted a Latin motto ofCrescat scientia; vita excolatur, which translates to "Let knowledge grow from more and more; and so be human life enriched."[12][13] In 1912, Judson successfully encouraged the board to create a faculty pension fund.[3]: 150
DuringWorld War I, Judson, as well as faculty members such asAlbion Small andPaul Shorey, published works supporting the war. On the other hand, student reaction was mixed, with most not participating in newly formed voluntary military training programs such as theROTC. In 1918, the Student Army Training Corps program was announced by the War Department, which requisitioned the campus to be run by army officers for military training, but theNovember armistice soon ended the program.[3]: 154–162 After the war, the Oriental Institute, now theInstitute for the Study of Ancient Cultures, was founded by EgyptologistJames Henry Breasted to support and interpretarcheological work in what was then called theNear East.[14]
In 1923, senior scholarErnest D. Burton succeeded Judson as president.[3]: 163–164 Burton launched the first major fundraising campaign of the university to improve the research environment of the faculty as well as invest in residential halls for undergraduates, finding initial success despite faculty opposition to the perceived prioritization of undergraduate over graduate interests. Burton's sudden death in 1925 led to his replacement by physicistMax Mason, who ended the citywide fundraising drive early in favor of a quieter outreach among local businessmen.[3]: 167–182 During Burton's term, and later Mason's, theChicago Schools of thought began to emerge in the social sciences, with new organizations being established such as theSocial Science Research Council in 1923.[3]: 190–191
Some of the University of Chicago team who worked on the production of the world's first human-caused self-sustaining nuclear reaction, includingEnrico Fermi in the front row andLeó Szilárd in the second
In 1929, the 30-year-old dean ofYale Law School,Robert Maynard Hutchins, became president.[3]: 167–182 In 1930, Hutchins organized the graduate departments under four independent divisions and united the undergraduate colleges into one college.[3]: 222 In 1931, alongside dean of the collegeChauncey Boucher, Hutchins implemented a new two-year general education curriculum called the "New Plan", which formed the basis for the university's core curriculum.[3]: 231–233 Later in the 1930s, Hutchins became unsatisfied with departmental influence on the undergraduate curriculum and pushed for further expansion to the general education curriculum.[3]: 242–252 In 1942, Hutchins transferred jurisdiction of the BA degree from the graduate divisions to the college, thus removing divisional leverage to shape the curriculum. The same year, the college reformed the BA degree with four years of prescribed general education.[3]: 253–255
Budget shortfalls caused by the Great Depression led to significant austerity measures and staffing cuts, though Hutchins protected the salaries of those who remained. In 1933, Hutchins proposed a plan to alleviate the financial situation by merging the university withNorthwestern University, though it was ultimately abandoned.[3]: 287–289 Financial woes contributed to the decision to end the university's football program in 1939.[3]: 214 With substantial budget gaps remaining and support from theRockefeller Foundation having dried up, a second major fundraising campaign was launched between 1939 and 1941 to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the university's founding with mixed results.[3]: 290–299 Large deficits persisted afterWorld War II, leaving future presidents to balance the budget.[3]: 316
During the war, the university recruited a number of refugee scientists from Europe, includingEnrico Fermi,Rudolf Carnap, andJames Franck. The university'sMetallurgical Laboratory contributed to theManhattan Project, with Enrico Fermi engineering the firstself-sustaining nuclear chain reaction atStagg Field in 1942.[3]: 301–305 In 1945, Hutchins announced the formation of the Institute for Nuclear Studies and the Institute for the Study of Metals in order to continue work done during the war. These were later renamed theEnrico Fermi Institute and theJames Franck Institute, respectively.[3]: 286 The university came under public scrutiny before and after the war for alleged communist influence, with university leadership called to testify before theIllinois General Assembly on the loyalty of its student body and faculty in 1935 and 1949.[3]: 269–280
In 1951, vice president of developmentLawrence Kimpton succeeded Hutchins as chancellor,[3]: 323–324 a position created in 1945 replacing the president as head of the university.[3]: 310 The deficits left from Hutchins necessitated severe annual cuts in the operating budget, which was brought into balance by 1954. A fundraising campaign was launched the same year, which allowed for modest recovery,[3]: 338–343 but the financial situation worsened after a decline in undergraduate enrollments.[3]: 325–327 In 1957, to attract more students, Kimpton reduced the general education curriculum from four years to two years. Furthermore, the graduate divisional faculty with slowly merged with the previously independent college faculty via joint appointments.[3]: 328–330 To address safety concerns driven by increasing crime and poverty in the Hyde Park neighborhood, the university became a major sponsor of a controversialurban renewal project for Hyde Park. Between 1954 and 1960, the university worked with the South East Chicago Commission and MayorRichard J. Daley to clear approximately 925 acres of land, disproportionately affecting Black, low-income residents.[3]: 343–350
Front page ofChicago Maroon breaking the news of the university's segregationist off-campus rental policies
In 1961,Caltech professorGeorge Beadle was elected chancellor, resuming the title of president later that year.[15][3]: 355–356 Beadle's tenure saw large investments in faculty and campus expansion to rebuild the university after Kimpton's austerity, funded in large part by a $25 million grant provided by theFord Foundation and an accompanying fundraising campaign.[3]: 359–365 In 1964, the undergraduate college was reorganized into five collegiate divisions, four paralleling the four graduate divisions and one interdisciplinary New Collegiate Division.[3]: 366
In 1967, provostEdward Levi became president. His tenure saw a number of sit-ins at the administrative building: in 1962, over the university's segregationist off-campus rental policies;[16] in 1966 and 1967, over the university providing the class rank of students who sought deferments to draft boards; and in 1969, over the sociology's department decision not to rehire the openly Marxist assistant professor Marlene Dixon.[17][3]: 371–375 In 1967, a university committee issued theKalven Report, maintaining the university's duty to uphold academic freedom and remain non-partisan.[3]: 497–499 The report has since been cited in university debates over divesting from South Africa and Sudan,[18] as well as in theChicago Principles on free speech,[3]: 500 which a number of other universities have since adopted.[19] By the 1970s, facing the end of the Ford Foundation's support, a reduction in enrollment due to insufficient student housing, flagging federal funding, and broader economicstagflation, the university faced more fiscal austerity.[3]: 379–387 In 1975, provost John Wilson was appointed president, balancing the budget once more through cuts.[3]: 391–393
In 1978, history scholar and provost ofYale,Hanna Holborn Gray, became president of the university. She was the first woman in the United States to be appointed to a full-term presidency of a major research university.[3]: 393 Still facing budgetary issues, Gray modernized the university's financial systems, increased the size and tuition of the undergraduate college, and paired campus expansion and renovation with administrative austerity. While budgetary equilibrium was reached through the mid-1980s, acute deficits soon re-emerged, exacerbated by the1990-1992 recession.[3]: 393–398 Gray also oversaw the implementation of a unified 21 course core curriculum across all collegiate divisions in 1985 and invested in student life through new food services, school festivals, and the reintroduction of varsity athletics.[3]: 403–405
In 1992, economistHugo F. Sonnenschein became president, facing projected deficits of $23 million for the 1995-96 budget and poor endowment growth.[3]: 407 The raising of $676 million in a fundraising campaign for the university's centennial throughout the early 1990s helped alleviate these problems.[3]: 418 In 1996, Sonnenschein proposed the expansion of the undergraduate college by 1,000 students to raise tuition revenue, and in 1997, backed a plan to reduce the number of required course in the core curriculum from 21 to 15–18 (depending on how a student met the language requirement). After intense debate, with the university becoming the focal point of a national debate on education, both reforms were approved.[3]: 409–417 In 2000,Cornell University provost Don Michael Randel became the twelfth president of the university. His tenure was marked by increased support for the arts on campus, stronger outreach to local civic and business leaders, investments in major campus facilities, and the launch of a new $2 billion capital campaign.[3]: 421
In 2006, mathematicianRobert J. Zimmer was appointed president, receiving board approval to take on large amounts of debt at low interest rates after the2008 recession in order to finance a number of major projects.[3]: 465–468 These included new buildings and pavilions, such asMansueto Library in 2011, a reading room and book storage facility;[20] the Logan Center for the Arts in 2012;[3]: 471 the Keller Center in 2019, home of theHarris School of Public Policy;[3]: 471 and Woodlawn Residential Commons in 2020, which houses 1,298 students.[21] Between 2008 and 2022, the university partnered with the city and outside businesses to launch three interventions along 53rd Street in an attempt to improve the neighborhood's economic condition.[3]: 473–477 As part of an effort to invest in its professional schools, the university formed theBecker Friedman Institute in 2011,[22] acquired theMarine Biological Laboratory in 2013,[3]: 491 repurposed theCrerar Library as the headquarters of the Department of Computer Science in 2018,[3]: 472 and established thePritzker School of Molecular Engineering in 2019.[23] The university also expanded its presence abroad, openingcampuses in Hong Kong in 2018,[24] in London in 2022,[3]: 507 and in Paris in 2024,[25] alongside centers in Beijing in 2010[26] and in Delhi in 2014.[27] Despite a $5.4 billion fundraising campaign started in 2014,[3]: 468 university debt has exceeded initial planning expectations, reaching $6.3 billion in 2025.[28]
The main campus of the University of Chicago consists of 217 acres (87.8 ha) in the Chicago neighborhoods ofHyde Park andWoodlawn, approximately eight miles (13 km) south ofdowntown Chicago.[31] 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+Leisure listed the university as one of the most beautiful college campuses in the United States.[32]
Aerial shots from the University of Chicago campusView of university building from the Harper Quadrangle
The first buildings of the campus, which make up what are 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.[33] The Main Quadrangles consist of sixquadrangles, each surrounded by buildings, bordering one larger quadrangle.[10]: 221 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 Gothic andCollegiate Gothic styles, patterned on the colleges of theUniversity of Oxford.[33] Mitchell Tower, for example, is modeled after Oxford'sMagdalen Tower,[34] and the university Commons,Hutchinson Hall, replicatesChrist Church Hall.[35] In celebration of the 2018 Illinois Bicentennial, the University of Chicago Quadrangles were selected as one of the Illinois 200 Great Places by theAmerican Institute of Architects Illinois component.[36][37]
Many older buildings of the University of Chicago employCollegiate Gothic architecture like that of the University of Oxford. For example, Chicago's Mitchell Tower (left) was modeled after Oxford'sMagdalen Tower (right).
Adjacent to the campus inJackson Park is the home of theObama Presidential Center, the Presidential Library for the 44th president of the United States[51] with expected completion in 2026. The Obamas settled in the university's Hyde Park neighborhood, where they raised their children and whereBarack Obama began his political career.Michelle Obama served as an administrator at the university and founded the university's Community Service Center.[52]
Campus of the University of Chicago
Snell-Hitchcock, an undergraduate dormitory constructed in the early 20th century, is part of the Main Quadrangles.
The university shuttle program includes daytime and nighttime routes, most of which operate within Hyde Park.[60] In 2022, the university added a Downtown Campus Connector to its shuttle program, which connects the main Hyde Park campus to the Gleacher Center and downtown UChicago Medicine clinics.[61]
In 2024, the university introduced aVia ride-sharing program ahead of the 2024–2025 school year, which provides unlimited free rides on campus in shared vans.[62]
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.[63][64] These incidents prompted student protests and an open letter to university leadership signed by more than 300 faculty members.[65][66] In response, the university introduced measures including increased foot and vehicular patrols near campus, expanded coordination between theuniversity police department and theChicago Police Department, and greater use ofsecurity cameras andlicense plate readers.[67] The university continues to maintain one of the largest private police forces in the country.[68]
The university also maintains facilities apart from its main campus. The university'sBooth School of Business maintains campuses inHong Kong,London, and downtown Chicago.[69] The Center in Paris, a campus located on theleft bank of theSeine in Paris, hosts various undergraduate and graduate study programs.[70] The university also maintains the Chicago House, based inLuxor, which serves as the Egyptian headquarters for theInstitute for the Study of Ancient Cultures.[71] In fall 2010, the university opened a center inBeijing, nearRenmin University's campus inHaidian District. The most recent additions are a center inNew Delhi, India, which opened in 2014,[72] and a center in Hong Kong which opened in 2018.[73] In 2024, the university opened the John W. Boyer Center in Paris, designed by architectural firmStudio Gang and nearly tripling the size of the Center in Paris which had opened in 2003.[74]
The university runs on aquarter system in which the academic year is divided into four terms: Summer (June–August), Autumn (September–December), Winter (January–March), and Spring (March–June).[80] Full-time undergraduate students take three to four courses every quarter[81] for approximately ten weeks before their quarterly academic breaks. The school year typically begins in late September and ends in early June.[80]
Harper Memorial Library was dedicated in 1912, and its architecture takes inspiration from various colleges in England.
The College of the University of Chicago grantsBachelor of Arts andBachelor of Science degrees in 51 undergraduate courses of study[82] (since 2005 known asmajors) and 33 secondary courses of study, now known as minors.[83] The college's academics are divided into four divisions: the Biological Sciences Collegiate Division, the Physical Sciences Collegiate Division, the Social Sciences Collegiate Division, and the Humanities Collegiate Division. Each division is affiliated with the corresponding graduate division of the university.[84]
The college introduced a now-widespread model of the liberal arts undergraduate program which featured theSocratic method in undergraduate contexts, theGreat Books program, and thecore curriculum.[85][86][87] Since the 1999–2000 school year, 15 courses across seven subjects and demonstrated proficiency in a foreign language are required under the core curriculum.[88]
Eckhart Hall houses the university's math department.
The university graduate schools and committees are divided into four divisions (biological sciences, humanities, physical sciences, and social sciences), seven professional schools, and theGraham School.[89] 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).[90]
Aerial view ofFermilab, a science research laboratory co-managed by the University of Chicago
According to theNational Science Foundation, the University of Chicago spent $423.9 million on research and development in 2018, ranking it 60th in the nation.[92] It isclassified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity".[93] It is a founding member of theAssociation of American Universities, and was a member of the Committee on Institutional Cooperation between 1946 and 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 continues to be a collaborator.[94][95]
TheBooth School of Business was founded in 1898 as the College of Commerce and Politics and received business school accreditation in 1916.[112][113] In 2008, the then-called Graduate School of Business was renamed following a $300 million donation from alumnus David Booth.[114] It was ranked fourth out of 133 American business schools by U.S. News in 2025.[115]
TheCrown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice was first established in 1908 as the Chicago School of Civics and Philanthropy and received its first dean,Edith Abbott, who became the first female dean of any graduate school in the United States in 1924. It was renamed in 2021 in recognition of a $75 million donation fromJames and Paula Crown and the Crown family.[118][119]
ThePritzker School of Medicine matriculated its first class of medical students in 1927 and was renamed to the Pritzker School of Medicine in 1968 in recognition of support from thePritzker family.[120] It has been accredited by theLiaison Committee on Medical Education since 1942.[111] In 2023, the school declined to continue submitting data to U.S. News to help the publication rank the institution, joining medical schools including those at Harvard, Stanford, and Columbia in doing so.[121]
TheHarris School of Public Policy was established in 1988 as the Graduate School of Public Policy Studies. In 1990, it was renamed in recognition ofIrving Harris' financial support of the program during its inception.[122] The school offers six graduate degree programs as well as joint degree and non-degree programs.[123]
ThePritzker School of Molecular Engineering was founded in 2019 following an expansion of the Institute of Molecular Engineering, which was established in 2011. The Pritzker Foundation provided a $75 million donation to help establish the school, which occupies the William Eckhardt Research Center.[124]
TheGraham School of Continuing Liberal and Professional Studies, originally known as the university-Extension program, was established in 1892.[125] The school offers various non-degree courses and certificates as well as degree programs.[126] In 1997, it was renamed to the William B. and Catherine V. Graham School of General Studies in honor of a $10 million donation from William and Catherine Graham made in the same year.[127]
From 1928 to 1989, theUniversity of Chicago Graduate Library School was the graduate-level librarianship school at the University of Chicago. It was established in 1928 to develop a program for the graduate education of librarians with a focus on research.[128] Housed for a time in theJoseph Regenstein Library, the Graduate Library School closed in 1989 when the University of Chicago decided to promote information studies instead of professional education.[129][130]
The University of Chicago Laboratory Schools, a private day school run by the university
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 school forK-12 students andday care),[131] and a publiccharter school with three campuses on theSouth Side of Chicago administered by the university's Urban Education Institute.[132] In addition, the Hyde Park Day School, a school for students with learning disabilities,[133] and theSonia Shankman Orthogenic School, a residential treatment program for those with behavioral and emotional problems,[134] 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.[135] The university runs a program called the Council on Advanced Studies, which administers interdisciplinary workshops to provide a forum for graduate students, faculty, and visiting scholars to present scholarly work in progress.[136] The university also operates theUniversity of Chicago Press, the largestuniversity press in North America.[137]
TheUniversity of Chicago Library system encompasses six libraries that contain a total of 11 million volumes, the 9th most among library systems in the United States.[138] The university's primary library is theRegenstein Library, which contains over 4.5 million print volumes on a variety of subjects and is the largest on campus.[139][140] TheJoe and Rika Mansueto Library, built in 2011, houses a large study space and an automated book storage and retrieval system.[141] TheJohn Crerar Library contains 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.[142] 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.[143][144] The Harper Memorial Library, the first library of the university, is now a reading and study room.[145]
The Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts, opened in 2012
The University of Chicago Arts program joins academic departments in the Division of the Arts & Humanities and the undergraduate College, student art programs, and professional organizations including theCourt Theatre, theInstitute for the Study of Ancient Cultures, theSmart Museum of Art, and theRenaissance Society.[146] The university offers graduate degrees in music, cinema and media studies, visual arts, and the humanities, among other subjects.[147][148] It also offers bachelor's degree programs in visual arts, music, art history, cinema and media studies, and theater and performance studies.[149] Several thousand major and non-major undergraduates enroll annually in creative and performing arts classes.[150]
The university was home to the improvisationalCompass Players student comedy troupe, which evolved intoThe Second City in 1959.[151][152] The university has an artist-in-residence program, which has supported over 32 individual artists as of May 2025.[153] The Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts opened in 2012. It was financed by a $35 million gift from alumnus David Logan and his wife Reva, the single largest cash gift to the arts in the city of Chicago as of 2025. The center includes spaces for exhibitions, performances, classes, and media production.[154]
The university'slaw andbusiness schools consistently rank among the top three professional schools in the United States. In 2025, the business school was placed in second out of 77 American schools byBloomberg,[169] fourth in the US byUS News & World Report,[170] and second byFortune.[171] In the same year, it was placed fifteenth in the world byQS World University Rankings and seventeenth by theFinancial Times.[172][173] In 2025, the law school was ranked third in the United States byUS News & World Report and second byAbove the Law.[174][175] In the same year, it was ranked 11th globally byQS World University Rankings.[176]
The university is governed by a board of trustees. The board oversees the long-term development and plans of the university and manages fundraising efforts, and is composed of 55 members including theuniversity president.[177] Directly beneath the president are the provost, fourteen vice presidents, including the chief financial officer andchief investment officer, and twelve deans.[178] The current chair of the board of trustees isDavid Rubenstein, who has occupied the position since May 2022.[179] The current provost isKatherine Baicker, who was appointed in March 2023.[180][181] The current president of the University of Chicago is chemistPaul Alivisatos, who assumed the role on September 1, 2021.[182]
The university's endowment was the 21st largest among American educational institutions and state university systems in 2024, valued at roughly $10.1 billion.[183] Since 2016, the university's board of trustees has resisted pressure from students and faculty to divest its investments from fossil fuel companies.[184] As of 2024[update], such investments remain a part of the university's endowment.[185]
In fall 2023, the university employed 3,418 academic staff and 23,217 administrative staff, including those from themedical center.[186] In 2024, the university's combined annual budget, including the university proper, the medical center, and the marine biological laboratory, stood at $5.2 billion, with the university's operations making up an additional $2.6 billion.[187] In the same year, the university's total assets were valued at $20.3 billion.[188]
Part of the financial plan for the university by former university presidentRobert Zimmer was an increase in accumulation of debt to finance large building projects.[189] This drew both support and criticism from many in the university community.[190] In 2024, the university budget deficit stood at $288 million despite liquidating assets to cover the gap; the administration announced plans in November of that year to close the deficit over the next four years.[191][192] The financial strain has caused the university to increase its student-faculty ratio, reduce the proportion of classes taught by research faculty, and spend an unusually high percentage of undergraduate tuition on servicing debt.[192][193]
In fall 2024, the university enrolled 7,569 undergraduate students, 10,968 graduate students, and 750 non-degree students.[196] The college class of 2025 is composed of 53% male 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.[197] The university isneed-blind for domestic applicants.[198]
Admission 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.[199][200][201] Between 1996 and 2023, the acceptance rate of the college fell from 71% to 4.7%.[202]
The middle 50% band ofSAT scores for the undergraduate class of 2025 was 1510–1570 (98th–99th percentiles),[197] the averageMCAT score for students entering the Pritzker School of Medicine class of 2024 was 519 (97th percentile),[203] the medianGMAT score for students entering the full-time Booth MBA program class of 2023 was 740 (97th percentile),[204] and the medianLSAT score for students entering the Law School class of 2021 was 172 (99th percentile).[205]
In 2018, the University of Chicago attracted national headlines by becoming the first major research university to no longer require SAT or ACT scores from college applicants.[206]
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.[207] The Maroons compete in theNCAA Division III as members of theUniversity Athletic Association (UAA).[208] Their mascot is Phil the Phoenix.[11]
The university was a founding member of theBig Ten Conference and participated in the NCAA Division I men's basketball and football.[209] In 1935, the University of Chicago reached the Sweet Sixteen.[207] In 1935,Chicago Maroons football playerJay Berwanger became the first winner of theHeisman Trophy.[210] However, the university chose to withdraw from the Big Ten Conference in 1946 after University presidentRobert Maynard Hutchins de-emphasized varsity athletics in 1939 and dropped football.[211] In 1969, Chicago reinstated football as a Division III team, resuming play at the newStagg Field.[212]
The University of Chicago is home to the University of Chicago Rugby Football Club (UCRFC).[213] Since 2022, men's rugby competes in the Division II GreatMidwest Conference (MWC) underNational Collegiate Rugby, having previously competed underUSA Rugby. It was 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 7s circuit 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.[214] A women's club also exists at the university.[215]
Students at the University of Chicago operate more than 400 clubs and organizations known as Recognized Student Organizations (RSOs).[218] These include cultural and religious groups, academic clubs and teams, and common-interest organizations.[219] Among notable student organizations are the nation's longest continuously running student film societyDoc Films,[220][221] the organizing committee for theUniversity of Chicago Scavenger Hunt, and the weekly student newspaperThe Chicago Maroon.[222]
The university's Reynolds Club, the student center
All recognized student organizations are funded by theUniversity of Chicago Student Government. Student Government consists of graduate and undergraduate students elected to represent members from their respective academic units.[223] 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) who are elected together as a slate by the student body each spring. As of 2025[update], the Undergraduate Student Government annual budget was greater than $2.5 million.[224]
As of 2019[update], there were more than 20Greek organizations operating on campus.[225] According to a 2016Maroon article, 19.6% of undergraduates were members of fraternities or sororities.[226]
On-campus undergraduate students at the University of Chicago participate in ahouse system in which each student is assigned to one of the university's sevenresidence hall buildings and to a smaller community within their residence hall called a "house". There are 48 houses, with an average of 80 students in each house.[227] The houses are named after former professors and other historical figures in the university community, such asEugene Fama.[228]
Students are required to live in on-campus housing for the first six quarters of enrollment.[229] As of the 2024–2025 school year, 58% of undergraduate students live on campus.[230]
The university owns and manages more than 300 residential units near campus for graduate students.[231]
Every May since 1987, the University of Chicago has held theUniversity of Chicago Scavenger Hunt, in which teams of students compete to obtain notoriously esoteric items from a list.[232] Every January, the university holds a week-long winter festival, Kuviasungnerk/Kangeiko (Kuvia), which includes early morning exercise routines and fitness workshops.[233] The university also annually holds a carnival and concert called Summer Breeze,[234] which hosts outside musicians and is home toDoc Films, a student film society founded in 1932 that screens films nightly at the university.[235] Since 1946, the university has organized theLatke-Hamantash Debate, which involves humorous discussions about the relative merits and meanings oflatkes andhamantashen.[236] Since 2002, the Ida Noyes Pub has hostedTrivia Nights for university affiliates each Tuesday.[237]
^Hilliard, Celia (2010). "The Prime Mover: Charles L. Hutchinson and the Making of The Art Institute of Chicago".Art Institute of Chicago Museum Studies.31 (1). Chicago: The Art Institute of Chicago: 51.ISSN0069-3235.JSTORi40072154.
^"A Brief History of the Oriental Institute".University of Chicago. Archived fromthe original on March 21, 2009. RetrievedSeptember 8, 2009.Since its establishment in 1919, the Oriental Institute (now known as the Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures, West Asia & North Africa) has sponsored archaeological and survey expeditions in every country of the Near East.
^Adler, Mortimer Jerome; Van Doren, Geraldine (1990).Reforming education: the opening of the American mind (1st Collier Books ed.). New York: Collier Books.ISBN978-0-02-030175-2.
^Kimball, Bruce A., ed. (2010).The liberal arts tradition: a documentary history. Lanham, Md.: University Press of America.ISBN978-0-7618-5132-5.
^Kasper, Sherryl (2002)The Revival of Laissez-Faire in American Macroeconomic Theory: A Case Study of Its Pioneers. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing.ISBN1-84064-606-3
^Cox, John D. (2005).Climate crash: abrupt climate change and what it means for our future. National Academies Press. p. 27.ISBN978-0-309-09312-5.Archived from the original on March 8, 2023. RetrievedSeptember 9, 2009.In 1947, at the University of Chicago, chemist Willard F. Libby discovered a powerful new technology known as radiocarbon dating. Libby would win the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1960 for developing this geological clock.
^Association of American Library Schools.New Frontiers in Librarianship; Proceedings of the Special Meeting of the Association of American Library Schools and the Board of Education for Librarianship of the American Library Association in Honor of the University of Chicago and the Graduate Library School, December 30, 1940. [Chicago]: The Graduate library school, the University of Chicago, 1941.
^"Chicago GLS to close".Library Journal.114: 111. February 15, 1989.
^Stieg, Margaret F. (1991). "The Closing of Library Schools: Darwinism at the University".The Library Quarterly.61 (3):266–272.doi:10.1086/602365.S2CID144038790.
Cole, Jonathan R. (2009).The Great American University: Its Rise to Preeminence, Its Indispensable National Role, Why It Must Be Protected. PublicAffairs Hachette. pp. 32–33.ISBN9781586484088.[in] the ranks of America's leading research universities
"University of Chicago".Britannica. April 15, 2023.one of the United States' most outstanding universities
^McNeill, William Hardy (1991).Hutchins' University: A Memoir of the University of Chicago, 1929–1950.Chicago: University of Chicago Press.ISBN0-226-56170-4.
^"Film News".Educational Film Library Association, American Film Center.11–13. Film News Co.: 628 1950.At the University of Chicago the Documentary Film Group, probably the oldest US film society, has been operating continuously...since 1932.
Boyer, John (2015).The University of Chicago: A History. University of Chicago Press.
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Dunn, William N. (2019).Pragmatism and the origins of the policy sciences: rediscovering Lasswell and the Chicago school. Cambridge University Press.
Stigler, Stephen M. (2013). "University of Chicago Department of Statistics". In Agresti, A.; Meng, X. L. (eds.).Strength in Numbers: The Rising of Academic Statistics Departments in the U.S.
Storr, Richard J. (1966).Harper's University: The Beginnings. (a major scholarly history)
Veith, Ilza; McLean, Franklin C. (1952).The University of Chicago Clinics and Clinical Departments, 1927–1952: A Brief Outline of the Origins, the Formative Years, and the Present State of Medicine at the University of Chicago.
Vermeulen, Cornelius W. (1977).For the Greatest Good to the Largest Number: A History of the Medical Center, the University of Chicago, 1927–1977.
Webber, Henry S. (2005). "The University of Chicago and Its Neighbors: A Case Study in Community Development". In Perry, David C.; Wiewel, Wim (eds.).The University as Urban Developer: Case Studies and Analysis.
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![The Henry Hinds Laboratory for Geophysical Sciences was built in 1969.[53]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aHenry_Hinds_Laboratory_at_University_of_Chicago5.jpg)
![The Gerald Ratner Athletics Center, opened in 2003 and designed by Cesar Pelli, houses the volleyball, wrestling, swimming, and basketball teams.[54]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aRatner_Athletic_Center.jpg)
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