Northwestern University operates as a private nonprofit institution located in Evanston, Illinois (city: small), with a total reported enrollment of 9,201 students of which 10,421 are undergraduates. Institution-level records in the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) classify each school by Carnegie category, ownership sector, and urban/rural locale, which is how this profile’s peer group and cost cohort are determined. Northwestern University is categorized as “15” under the Carnegie classification system, a meaningful signal when comparing like-to-like institutions.

Selectivity and financial signals give context to what applicants can expect. The reported admission rate is 7.7%, drawn from the most recent IPEDS Fall enrollment survey, with an average SAT of 1,533 and an ACT midpoint of 35. The average net price after grants and scholarships is $29,167, with published in-state tuition of $68,322 and a Pell grant recipient share of 18.6%. Median federal student debt at graduation is $15,000, drawn from the U.S. Treasury-matched College Scorecard file.

Outcomes reveal whether the investment pays back. The 4-year completion rate is 95.5%, and the first-year retention rate is 98.1%. Graduates earn a median of $89,363 ten years after enrolling, compared with $76,844 six years post-enrollment. Within three years of entering repayment, 204100.0% of borrowers are making progress on their federal loans, and 84.8% of graduates earn above the high-school threshold. Treating these numbers as a single snapshot alongside the cost cohort is the standard approach for evaluating ROI under the College Scorecard methodology.