---
title: University of Chicago — cost, debt & earnings (College Scorecard)
location: Chicago, IL
control: Private nonprofit
source: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard (2026-06-10 release)
sourceUrl: https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/
---

# University of Chicago

Chicago, IL · Private nonprofit · Bachelor-granting

> Federal College Scorecard institution **medians** — not a prediction of any one student's outcome, and not a figure for any single program. Earnings/debt cover federally-aided students.

## The bottom line

| Figure | Value | Status |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Typical earnings, 10 yrs after entry | $91,885 | recorded |
| Earnings range (25th–75th pct) | $60,576 – $158,433 | recorded |
| Typical federal debt | $13,368 | recorded |
| Debt of students who withdrew | $6,500 | recorded |
| Completion rate | 96% | recorded |
| Average annual net cost | $90,360 | recorded |
| % earning above a $28k HS-grad wage | 86% | recorded |
| Debt ÷ a year's earnings | 0.14× | derived |
| Earnings premium vs $28k HS benchmark | $63,885 | derived |

**96% of students finish** — the loans are owed whether or not you graduate, so read every figure below next to this number.

Typical **federal** loan debt is $13,368 (≈ 14% of a year's typical earnings here). Note: this counts federal loans only — not private loans, Parent PLUS, or family savings — so true borrowing is usually higher; and because dropouts borrow less, low-completion schools can show a deceptively low debt figure.

## Earnings by major (the number that decides "worth it")

> **Different measure — read on its own terms.** These are median earnings **1 year after completing the program** (early career, graduates only) — NOT the 10-years-after-entry school-wide figure above. Do not compare a program figure to the school figure; compare majors to each other. The Dept. of Education omits programs with too few graduates.

By program, early-career pay ranges from $14,137 to $181,006 across 33 program(s).

| Major | Credential | Pay (1 yr out) | Median debt |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Law. | First Professional Degree | $181,006 | $188,691 |
| Business Administration, Management and Operations. | Master's Degree | $159,677 | $92,529 |
| Statistics. | Master's Degree | $119,416 | $48,437 |
| Computer Science. | Master's Degree | $108,094 | $80,205 |
| Applied Mathematics. | Master's Degree | $107,203 | not reported |
| Criminal Justice and Corrections. | Master's Degree | $99,684 | $59,772 |
| Computer Science. | Bachelor's Degree | $93,918 | not reported |
| Economics. | Bachelor's Degree | $82,564 | $13,395 |
| Mathematics. | Bachelor's Degree | $81,753 | $12,000 |
| Public Policy Analysis. | Master's Degree | $71,121 | $78,854 |
| Biomathematics, Bioinformatics, and Computational Biology. | Master's Degree | $69,811 | $46,851 |
| Medicine. | First Professional Degree | $59,645 | $141,166 |
| Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods. | Master's Degree | $53,408 | $66,107 |
| Physics. | Bachelor's Degree | $52,578 | not reported |
| Public Policy Analysis. | Bachelor's Degree | $51,165 | $17,492 |
| Political Science and Government. | Bachelor's Degree | $48,082 | $18,500 |
| Theological and Ministerial Studies. | Doctoral Degree | $47,950 | not reported |
| Social Work. | Master's Degree | $44,819 | $75,691 |
| International Relations and National Security Studies. | Master's Degree | $44,115 | $37,867 |
| Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities. | Bachelor's Degree | $43,324 | not reported |
| International Relations and National Security Studies. | Bachelor's Degree | $42,576 | not reported |
| History. | Bachelor's Degree | $40,346 | not reported |
| Research and Experimental Psychology. | Bachelor's Degree | $40,175 | $17,500 |
| Social Sciences, General. | Master's Degree | $39,749 | $43,505 |
| Theological and Ministerial Studies. | Master's Degree | $38,392 | $62,708 |
| Chemistry. | Bachelor's Degree | $36,403 | not reported |
| Area Studies. | Master's Degree | $35,643 | $62,295 |
| English Language and Literature, General. | Bachelor's Degree | $35,291 | not reported |
| Clinical, Counseling and Applied Psychology. | Bachelor's Degree | $35,220 | $12,000 |
| Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities. | Master's Degree | $32,813 | $64,299 |
| Philosophy. | Bachelor's Degree | $28,698 | $22,641 |
| Biology, General. | Bachelor's Degree | $24,335 | $13,500 |
| Linguistic, Comparative, and Related Language Studies and Services. | Bachelor's Degree | $14,137 | not reported |

## What this is — and is NOT

Institution-wide medians from the U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard. **Not** a prediction of what you would earn or owe, **not** a figure for any single program (a CS and a fine-arts graduate of the same school diverge enormously), **not** proof the school caused the outcome (selection, not causation), and **not** a "best college" ranking. Explore University of Chicago by field of study at the official Scorecard: https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/school/?144050

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Structured data (JSON-LD), each figure labeled by epistemic status: `/education/university-of-chicago-il.jsonld` · all schools: `/education`