Northwestern University
Private Research University in Evanston, IL. Six-year graduation rate 95%. Median 10-year earnings $89,363.
Ten-year median earnings of $89,363 are the headline number here, and they are strong ones. Completion is a strength: 95% of students finish within six years. Graduates leave owing a median of $15,000 — modest by four-year standards.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ Debt-to-income ratio 0.17 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ Graduation rate 95% — well above the national average
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
- ! Admit rate 8% — heavily selective, limited transfer slots
Admissions
An acceptance rate of 8% means admission is the exception — plan accordingly. With 49,474 applications received, this is a school operating at national scale. 55% of admitted students actually enroll, which is a high yield by national standards. Read the score bands below narrowly: only 46% of enrolled first-years submitted an SAT score, and test-optional applicants are not represented in them.
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 | 740–770 | 963 (46%) |
| SAT Math | 770–800 | |
| ACT Composite | 33–35 | 488 (23%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Northwestern University →Academics
Six-year completion runs to 95% — students who start here overwhelmingly finish here. First-year retention of 98% shows the cohort holds together through the hardest year. The 6:1 student-faculty ratio is small enough that seminar-sized classes are the norm. This is a private nonprofit four-year college, so read every rate on this page against that peer group specifically. The undergraduate population is 9,157 — big enough for a real range of programs, small enough to navigate.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 8,960 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Students pay an average of $26,830 annually once grants are applied. Net price swings hard on family income here, from $1,764 at the $0–30k band to $48,777 at $110k+. About 53% get grants averaging $59,150, so plan on the possibility of paying closer to full price. Federal borrowing is uncommon here at 17% of students.
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 · 2,111 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 | $1,764 |
| $30–48k | $6,099 |
| $48–75k | $7,898 |
| $75–110k | $18,282 |
| $110k+ | $48,777 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 1,564 of these 8,960 students, totalling $9,028,591 — an average of $5,773 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)