North Central College

Naperville, IL · Private nonprofit · 2,428 undergrads (small, city) · website ↗

United Methodist
Test-optional
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	$12,507
$30,000 – $48,000	$13,486
$48,000 – $75,000	$16,362
$75,000 – $110,000	$20,590
Over $110,000	$26,961
All incomes (average)	$21,044

Sticker tuition and fees: $45,726 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 North Central College'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	$15,316
Housing and meals, off campus (not with family)	$15,642
Books and supplies	$920
Other expenses, on campus	$3,606
Other expenses, off campus	$4,022

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

What the college reported for its full-time, first-time students (481 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%	$30,619
Federal Pell GrantNeed-based, from the federal government	22%	$5,131
The college's own grants and scholarshipsNeed- or merit-based, funded by the college	100%	$27,662
Federal student loansBorrowed by the student; repaid with interest. No Parent PLUS or private loans	58%	$5,315

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: 77%
Average SAT: 1213
Median ACT: 25
Students with Pell grants: 24%
Graduation rate (6yr): 64%
Freshman retention: 77%
Median earnings @ 10yr: $60,123
Median debt at graduation: $24,500
International undergrads: 99 (4.1%)

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: Test-optional
Application fee: None
Students per faculty member: 12 to 1
Faculty who are full-time: 57%
Open admission: No

Middle 50% of test scores, fall 2024

25th to 75th percentile of enrolled first-year students who submitted scores. A quarter scored below the first figure and a quarter above the second. Section ranges can't be added together into a total-score range.

SAT Reading and Writing: 530–650
SAT Math: 525–660
ACT composite: 24–29

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	Not considered
Recommendations	Considered if submitted
Formal demonstration of competencies (e.g. portfolio)	Not considered
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: 5,241
Admitted: 3,056
Enrolled: 516

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.

Business27%

Psychology10%

Kinesiology & Sports Science10%

Social Sciences8%

Visual & Performing Arts7%

Biology & Life Sciences6%

Health & Nursing5%

Computer Science5%

Engineering4%

Education4%

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 (27)

Field of study	Degrees awarded 2023–24	Earnings, 1 yr after	Earnings, 4 yrs after	Median federal debt
Psychology, General	71	$37,582	$52,062national $50,706	$20,500
Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods	46	$49,209	$49,224national $47,382	$24,750
Sports, Kinesiology, and Physical Education/Fitness	39	$38,305	$60,018national $54,562	$22,875
Marketing	39	$53,006	$71,123national $69,303	$20,000
Finance and Financial Management Services	38	$60,009	$81,562national $83,343	$21,500
Biology, General	26	—	—national $57,214	$25,000
Drama/Theatre Arts and Stagecraft	26	$30,884	$46,605national $39,775	$21,632
Health Services/Allied Health/Health Sciences, General	25	—	—national $61,296	$25,500
Accounting and Related Services	24	$62,533	$78,125national $76,194	$19,312
Computer Science	21	$75,621	$79,877national $107,009	$25,000
Business Administration, Management and Operations	21	$52,788	$65,992national $68,257	$19,749
Mechanical Engineering	20	—	—national $92,135	$21,500
Social Sciences, General	18	—	—national $53,366	$23,121
Journalism	13	—	—national $56,278	$27,000
Sociology	13	$36,442	$56,281national $52,657	$21,875
Neurobiology and Neurosciences	12	$38,496	—national $62,451	$26,091
Economics	11	$65,527	$80,494national $82,686	$23,250
Human Resources Management and Services	11	—	$71,555national $68,069	—
Design and Applied Arts	10	$44,178	$57,192national $51,490	$26,898
Music	9	—	$46,744national $42,892	—
Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Subject Areas	8	$50,460	$51,247national $51,389	—
Entrepreneurial and Small Business Operations	7	$58,417	$68,750national $61,027	—
Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods	5	—	$105,350national $86,176	—
Radio, Television, and Digital Communication	4	—	$45,838national $50,497	—
Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied Communication	4	—	$60,573national $63,560	—
East Asian Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics	4	—	$57,424national $51,642	—
Romance Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics	2	—	$51,018national $55,000	—

Master's degrees (5)

Field of study	Degrees awarded 2023–24	Earnings, 1 yr after	Earnings, 4 yrs after	Median federal debt
Rehabilitation and Therapeutic Professions	42	$69,847	—national $71,416	$70,684
Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions	37	—	—national $127,347	$134,929
Educational Administration and Supervision	28	$66,863	$89,044national $71,685	$32,500
Business Administration, Management and Operations	26	$68,463	$102,600national $103,485	$36,892
Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities	1	—	$65,846national $65,716	—

A dash means the Department of Education suppressed the figure because too few graduates were measured — not zero. 53 more programmes at this college have every figure suppressed and are not listed.

Contact and accreditation

Address: 30 N Brainard St, Naperville, IL 60540
Phone: (630) 637-5100
Institutional accreditor: Higher Learning Commission

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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.

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