Concordia University-Chicago
Private College in River Forest, IL. Six-year graduation rate 36%. Median 10-year earnings $54,089.
Students who entered Concordia University-Chicago land at a median of $54,089 a decade later, close to what most four-year schools deliver. The six-year graduation rate is 37% — low enough that finishing cannot be treated as the default outcome. Median debt at graduation is $23,000, roughly typical for an undergraduate degree.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
- ! Mobility score 0.8 — limited economic uplift documented
Admissions
Admission is not the constraint here: 93% of applicants are accepted. 4,200 applications came in, enough to make the rates below reasonably stable year to year. Yield is low at 8%, so most admitted students do not end up enrolling.
Test score bands (middle 50% of submitters)
These bands describe the enrolled first-years who submitted a score, not the entering class. Where most students apply test-optional the submitters are a self-selected, higher-scoring group.
| Test | 25th–75th percentile | Submitted |
|---|---|---|
| SAT Evidence-Based Reading | — | — |
| SAT Math | — | |
| ACT Composite | — | — |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Concordia University-Chicago →Academics
A six-year graduation rate of 37% means finishing is closer to the exception than the rule. 61% of full-time first-years come back for year two, so about two in five are gone before sophomore year. Retention and graduation track closely, so most of the attrition shows up in the first year rather than after it. The 30% transfer-out rate is high enough that a large share of this school's students are really passing through. A 13:1 ratio points to small classes and accessible faculty.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 1,338 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Net price lands at $19,073 a year on average, neither cheap nor punishing. Income makes less difference than usual: $16,795 at $0–30k, $23,907 at $110k+. 81% of students receive grant aid, averaging $22,929 — common but not automatic. Most students borrow — 59% take federal loans to cover the gap.
Entering first-year students
A different, smaller group than the rates above: full-time students in their first year of college anywhere. The grant series here also excludes the "other sources" counted in the all-undergraduate figure, so the two are not comparable.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · 319 students
Net price by family income
The same students as the headline above, limited to those who received Title IV federal aid — a narrower group, with a lower overall average. IPEDS publishes no combined figure across these bands, so they should not be averaged into one.
| Family income band | Average net price |
|---|---|
| $0–30k | $16,795 |
| $30–48k | $16,397 |
| $48–75k | $15,768 |
| $75–110k | $20,046 |
| $110k+ | $23,907 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 784 of these 1,338 students, totalling $5,159,656 — an average of $6,581 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Cook County) — budget these against any cost-of-attendance housing estimate.
HUD Fair Market Rents (40th-percentile gross rent incl. utilities) · FY2026
Veterans & GI Bill
VA GI Bill Comparison Tool (Veterans Affairs GIDS)