What You'll Actually Pay
Price after grants
$28,663 to $42,346 a year, depending on income.
College Scorecard 2024 estimate
See the price at your income ↑Sticker price
Full cost before aid: $67,408 a year. Average need-based aid package: $45,989.Aid and debt
58%
receive need-based grants
$42,570
average debt at graduation
4,139
students got merit aid
about 33% of undergraduates
$24,260
average merit award
Getting In
Key dates
Test scores
SAT, middle 50% of those who submitted: 1220–1390 · 39% of the class submitted
ACT, middle 50% of those who submitted: 26–31 · 15% of the class submitted
37.3% were in the top 10% of their high school class.
What they value
- Very important
- Course rigor (AP/IB)
- GPA
- Considered
- Class rank
- SAT/ACT scores
- Special talent
- First-gen status
- Legacy status
- Demonstrated interest
- Not considered
- Where you're from
- In-state residency
What this means for you
Loyola Chicago rates course rigor as Very Important.
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Rigor means AP, IB, and dual enrollment carry real weight — make sure your mix of AP or IB courses is strong.
Loyola Chicago rates demonstrated interest 'Considered' — it can tip a close decision, without being decisive.
Source: Common Data Set 2025–26, Section C7 (admissions factors)
Loyola Chicago just showed you what it values in an application. Use that to write a Why-Loyola Chicago essay that's actually about you — not a template.
Get sourced starting points for your essayStudent Life
37.1% of Loyola Chicago classes have fewer than 20 students.
37.1%
under 20 students
59.5%
20 to 49
3.4%
50 or more
Every class section counts, labs and seminars included; first-year courses tend to be larger. Loyola Chicago CDS 2025–26, I-3.
13:1
student:faculty ratio
Campus life
44.9%
first-years from out of state
42%
live on campus
5%
of men in fraternities
9%
of women in sororities
Who attends
- White43.3%
- Hispanic23.3%
- Asian12.3%
- Black8%
- Unknown / other5.9%
- Multiracial4.9%
Enrolled undergraduates; international students are counted separately and not included. Loyola Chicago CDS 2025–26, B2.
Popular majors
Will They Graduate?
66.5% of Loyola Chicago students graduate in 4 years.
66.5%
finish in 4 years
Entered fall 2019
73.6%
finish in 6 years
Entered fall 2019
84.9%
return after first year
Finishing late means paying for extra semesters, so the 4-year rate is the one that shows the cost.
Students with Pell Grants
63.7% finish in 6 years, against 73.6% of all students.
A 9.9-point gap: Pell Grant students finish less often than students overall.
City & Culture
Beyond the data — what it's actually like to spend four years in Chicago.
Loyola's Lake Shore Campus sits directly on Lake Michigan in the Rogers Park and Edgewater neighborhoods, about seven miles north of downtown Chicago and served by its own CTA Red Line stop.
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The campus is compact and residential-feeling, but the Loop's employers, museums and lakefront trail are a short train ride away rather than a drive.
The City
Major city
Chicago, IL
Best For
Notable alumni
Notable Alumni
Michael R. Quinlan
Former Chairman and CEO of McDonald's Corporation; earned his bachelor's (1967) and MBA (1970) at Loyola, and the university's business school was renamed in his honor after his 2012 gift
Class of 1967
Bob Newhart
Emmy-winning comedian and actor (The Bob Newhart Show, The Big Bang Theory); earned a bachelor's degree in commerce/business from Loyola in 1952
Class of 1952
Sandra Cisneros
Award-winning author of The House on Mango Street; earned her BA in English from Loyola in 1976
Class of 1976
Jennifer Morrison
Actress known for House and Once Upon a Time; studied theatre with a minor in English at Loyola, graduating in 2000
Class of 2000
Alumni selected for name recognition and range of fields. Not from the Common Data Set.
Traditions
Traditions
Loyolapalooza
Loyola's end-of-year outdoor concert and carnival, styled after Chicago's own Lollapalooza, with a headlining artist, food and games timed to the last week before finals.
Founders' Dinner
An annual celebration of Loyola's 1870 founding as St. Ignatius College, revived in 2001 after a 1990s hiatus; the university presents several of its highest honors, including the President's Medal and the Spirit of Loyola award, at the dinner.
Weekend escapes from Chicago
Weekend Escapes
Within driving distance from Chicago
Indiana Dunes National Park
1 hourLake Michigan beaches and dune trails on the Indiana shoreline, the closest real nature escape from campus.
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
1 hour 30 minutesA straight shot up I-94 for a lakefront city with its own museum and brewery scene.
Harbor Country, Michigan
1 hour 30 minutesLake Michigan's eastern shore towns (New Buffalo, Union Pier) that Chicagoans treat as their weekend beach getaway.
Getting there and game days
Getting There & Game Days
Nearest airport
Chicago O'Hare International (ORD)
30 minutes from campus
Flies international — you can start a trip abroad from here.
Pro sports nearby
- Chicago Cubs MLB
- Chicago White Sox MLB
- Chicago Bulls NBA
- Chicago Bears NFL
- Chicago Blackhawks NHL
Internships and jobs nearby
Career Proximity
Chicago's downtown Loop and its health-care, finance and nonprofit employers are a Red Line ride from Loyola's own campus, and the university's Quinlan School of Business and health-sciences programs lean on that access directly.
Top Industries Nearby
Major Employers
- Loyola Medicine
- Northern Trust
- McDonald's Corporation
- Advocate Health Care
- JPMorgan Chase
The Loop, downtown Chicago, about 30 minutes by CTA Red Line
Who thrives here
Who Thrives Here
Loyola Chicago admits 75.1% of applicants, a wide-open door relative to many schools in this catalog, so the fit question here is less ‘can I get in’ and more ‘is this the kind of place I want.’ The Lake Shore Campus sits directly on Lake Michigan in Rogers Park, about seven miles north of downtown Chicago and reachable by its own CTA Red Line stop — a real city commute, not a suburban shuttle. Only 42% of undergraduates live on campus and Greek life is small (5% of men, 9% of women), so campus life runs through the city and through Loyola's Jesuit, service-oriented identity — Campus Ministries is one of the university's active student organizations — rather than a fraternity or sorority scene. Business and marketing is the largest major at 22% of degrees conferred, and biological sciences plus health professions together account for another 27%, reflecting a pull toward Chicago's health-care and finance employers. The trade-off to weigh: 84.9% of first-years return for sophomore year and 73.6% graduate within six years, but only 66.5% finish in four — a meaningful gap that should factor into any four-year cost plan. Loyola meets 82.5% of demonstrated need on average, and students who borrow graduate with $42,570 in average debt. At $58,510 in tuition and fees, the aid package, not the sticker price, will decide affordability for most families.