Northwestern University
Get to know Northwestern University
School Profile
Suburban campus setting
8,846 undergraduate students
13,955 graduate students
2,261 first-year students
15% first-generation students
Students hail from 50+ U.S. states and 110+ countries
Admissions
Academics
185 majors, minors, certificates and concentrations
Student-to-faculty ratio 6:1
75% of classes have fewer than 20 students
Introduction to Northwestern University
“We is our middle name.” At Northwestern, you’ll find an education tailored to you in a community powered by we. This culture of “we” is due in large part to Northwestern’s particular combination of six undergraduate schools (arts & sciences; engineering; communication; journalism; education & social policy; and music), 185 programs of study, 4,900+ undergraduate courses, and a quarter system that affords students three versus two academic terms to fulfill degree requirements and explore elective courses across schools.
Founded in 1851, Northwestern has strong traditions that unite students, faculty, staff, and alumni with a fierce spirit of Purple Pride. Northwestern is a member of the Big Ten conference, and the University community rallies behind the Division I Wildcats sports teams. Northwestern's setting in Evanston, IL, combines a beautiful lakeside campus with a vibrant surrounding college town and one of the world’s great cities, Chicago, just a few miles south. On campus, students engage in robust advising—including specialized programs for students interested in medical school or law school—and research. 95% of students participate in athletics or student organizations, and 90% of clubs do not have membership fees.
Northwestern's diverse community comes together in classrooms, labs, arenas, residential colleges, and various centers on campus. From The Garage, the incubator hub, to Student Enrichment Services, a dedicated office that partners with students from lower-income and/or first-generation backgrounds, Northwestern supports students in finding community and collaborating across schools, disciplines, and backgrounds.
Northwestern alumni have gone on to create new worlds on screen and in books, from George R. R. Martin (BSJ ‘70, MSJ ‘71- author of A Song of Ice and Fire series, which inspired Game of Thrones) to Mara Brock Akil (BSJ ’92 - creator of Forever TV show and Girlfriends TV series). They have hosted late-night shows like Stephen Colbert (BA ’86), Seth Meyers (BA ’96), and Robin Thede (BSJ ’01). And have ventured into space exploration like SpaceX COO and President Gwynne Shotwell (BS ’86, MS ’88). When you graduate from Northwestern, you’ll join a network of over 260,000 alumni.
of students have some kind of international experience, and about a third participate in traditional study abroad.
Northwestern offers several pre-enrollment programs to help first-generation, lower-income students get acclimated to campus before the fall quarter begins.
