Concordia University-Chicago

River Forest, IL · Private nonprofit · 1,323 undergrads (small, suburb) · website ↗

Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod
38% Hispanic undergrads
Test scores not considered
No application fee

What you'll actually pay

Average net price per year — tuition, fees, room & board minus grant and scholarship aid — for in-state students by household income.

Household income	Avg net price / year
Under $30,000	$16,795
$30,000 – $48,000	$16,397
$48,000 – $75,000	$15,768
$75,000 – $110,000	$20,046
Over $110,000	$23,907
All incomes (average)	$18,436

Sticker tuition and fees: $37,488 in-state — before aid, from the same earlier College Scorecard release as the net prices above.

These are averages. For an estimate for your family, use Concordia University-Chicago's own net price calculator — every college that takes federal student aid must publish one.

Net price calculator ↗

Other costs of attendance, 2025–26

The college's own estimate for a full-time undergraduate for the year, before aid, from the October 2026 College Scorecard. It is a newer year than the tuition and net prices above, so don't add the two together.

Housing and meals, on campus	$11,872
Housing and meals, off campus (not with family)	$11,750
Books and supplies	$1,200
Other expenses, on campus	$1,400
Other expenses, off campus	$1,700

Grants and loans for first-year students, 2022–23

What the college reported for its full-time, first-time students (267 of them) in 2022–23; 100% got some kind of aid, loans included. Each average is over the students who received that kind of aid, not over everyone. It is an older year than the 2025–26 costs above.

Type of aid	Students awarded	Average amount
Any grant or scholarshipFederal, state, local and the college's own	100%	$26,680
Federal Pell GrantNeed-based, from the federal government	57%	$5,407
The college's own grants and scholarshipsNeed- or merit-based, funded by the college	100%	$20,532
Federal student loansBorrowed by the student; repaid with interest. No Parent PLUS or private loans	67%	$5,073

IPEDS, U.S. Department of Education, Student Financial Aid 2022–23 (SFA2223, provisional release); full-time, first-time degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates; public domain.

Admissions & outcomes

Acceptance rate: 93%
Average SAT: —
Median ACT: —
Students with Pell grants: 46%
Graduation rate (6yr): 37%
Freshman retention: 61%
Median earnings @ 10yr: $54,089
Median debt at graduation: $23,000
International undergrads: 10 (0.7%)

For comparison, the median across all 1,596 four-year colleges on this site: graduation rate 56%, earnings ten years after entering $54,869, debt at graduation $23,250.

Admission policy, test scores and teaching

SAT/ACT policy: Not considered
Application fee: None
Students per faculty member: 13 to 1
Faculty who are full-time: 70%
Open admission: No

What the college considers in admission decisions, fall 2023

How the college said it used each item when deciding on first-time, degree- or certificate-seeking applicants for fall 2023. For SAT and ACT scores, see the fall 2024 policy above.

High school GPA	Required
High school class rank	Not considered
High school record	Required
Completion of a college-preparatory program	Considered if submitted
Recommendations	Considered if submitted
Formal demonstration of competencies (e.g. portfolio)	Considered if submitted
English proficiency test (for applicable students)	Required
Other test (Wonderlic, WISC-III, etc.)	Not considered
Work experience	Considered if submitted
Personal statement or essay	Considered if submitted
Legacy status	Considered if submitted

First-time applicants: 4,607
Admitted: 4,301
Enrolled: 327

Counts of first-time, degree- or certificate-seeking students, including early decision and early action. The acceptance rate higher up this page comes from a different College Scorecard release, so it may not match these counts.

IPEDS, U.S. Department of Education, Admissions 2023–24 (ADM2023, provisional release), fall 2023; open admission from IPEDS Institutional Characteristics 2023–24 (revised); public domain.

Most popular fields of study

Share of bachelor's degrees awarded.

Kinesiology & Sports Science37%

Business17%

Education12%

Health & Nursing7%

Social Sciences4%

Psychology4%

Computer Science3%

Biology & Life Sciences3%

Communications & Media2%

Visual & Performing Arts2%

Earnings and debt by field of study

Median annual earnings of graduates who received federal student aid and were working, not studying: one year after completing (graduates of 2020–21 and 2021–22) and four years after (2017–18 and 2018–19), measured in 2022 and 2023 and shown in 2024 dollars. Median debt is federal Direct and Grad PLUS loans borrowed at this college by 2022–23 and 2023–24 graduates; it leaves out Parent PLUS and private loans. “National” is the median for the same field and credential across all US colleges.

Bachelor's degrees (9)

Field of study	Degrees awarded 2023–24	Earnings, 1 yr after	Earnings, 4 yrs after	Median federal debt
Sports, Kinesiology, and Physical Education/Fitness	89	$39,995	$55,309national $54,562	$20,830
Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods	26	$45,723	$45,532national $47,382	$26,000
Health and Medical Administrative Services	26	$69,376	$73,256national $58,716	$14,000
Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Subject Areas	19	$49,060	$55,212national $51,389	$23,031
Psychology, General	17	$35,672	$46,590national $50,706	$22,751
Human Resources Management and Services	15	$62,672	$72,050national $68,069	$25,582
Communication and Media Studies	12	—	$43,071national $56,359	—
Business Administration, Management and Operations	10	$50,003	$54,533national $68,257	$23,750
Criminology	3	—	$50,897national $55,556	—

Master's degrees (12)

Field of study	Degrees awarded 2023–24	Earnings, 1 yr after	Earnings, 4 yrs after	Median federal debt
Sports, Kinesiology, and Physical Education/Fitness	239	$57,619	$66,304national $62,033	$31,108
Educational Administration and Supervision	224	$75,839	$82,000national $71,685	$27,435
Curriculum and Instruction	131	$61,087	$68,826national $63,399	$18,044
Business Administration, Management and Operations	85	$70,395	$82,060national $103,485	$38,495
Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Subject Areas	56	$59,333	$61,264national $63,707	$33,554
Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods	51	$58,171	$62,613national $59,916	$23,966
Educational/Instructional Media Design	37	$62,621	$74,446national $70,644	$16,884
Special Education and Teaching	30	$63,368	$67,237national $64,397	$25,199
Student Counseling and Personnel Services	27	$68,365	$84,318national $60,111	$48,500
Clinical, Counseling and Applied Psychology	17	$55,944	$69,536national $65,184	$66,070
Human Services, General	2	—	$56,757national $57,050	—
Teaching English or French as a Second or Foreign Language	—	—	$57,111national $65,767	—

Doctoral degrees (4)

Field of study	Degrees awarded 2023–24	Earnings, 1 yr after	Earnings, 4 yrs after	Median federal debt
Educational Administration and Supervision	63	$108,199	$123,623national $100,573	$45,639
Business Administration, Management and Operations	37	$94,490	—national $113,566	$58,598
Sports, Kinesiology, and Physical Education/Fitness	35	$83,542	—national $81,993	$70,287
Curriculum and Instruction	15	—	—national $83,031	$56,263

Graduate certificates (1)

Field of study	Degrees awarded 2023–24	Earnings, 1 yr after	Earnings, 4 yrs after	Median federal debt
Educational Administration and Supervision	39	$105,267	$110,620national $86,288	$29,606

A dash means the Department of Education suppressed the figure because too few graduates were measured — not zero. 85 more programmes at this college have every figure suppressed and are not listed.

Contact and accreditation

Address: 7400 Augusta, River Forest, IL 60305-1499
Phone: (708) 771-8300
Institutional accreditor: Higher Learning Commission

Is Concordia University-Chicago a reach, target, or safety for you?

Take the 5-minute quiz and see how it stacks up against 1,595 other colleges — ranked by fit and by what your family would actually pay.

Find my matches →

Sources: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard (most recent cohorts) and IPEDS Fall Enrolment for international student counts. College Scorecard, October 2026 release: net price calculator link, mission flags and religious affiliation (2025–26), enrolment shares, test policy, SAT/ACT ranges and student-to-faculty ratio (fall 2024), cost-of-attendance components (2025–26), and earnings and debt by field of study. IPEDS Institutional Characteristics 2023–24 for the application fee and the IPEDS 2024 directory for the phone number. IPEDS Admissions 2023–24 (ADM2023, provisional release) for admission requirements and first-time applicants, admits and enrolments (fall 2023). IPEDS Student Financial Aid 2022–23 (SFA2223, provisional release) for grants and loans to full-time, first-time students. All are U.S. Department of Education data in the public domain. Verify current costs and requirements with the school.

Similar colleges in the United States

Picked by control, selectivity, mix of majors, location and size, from the same data as this page — not a judgement of quality.