Chatham University

Private · Moderately Selective · PA

Photo: Daderot (Public domain)

School data & stats

TypePrivate

LocationPA · Northeast

SettingUrban

Undergrads1,232

Student:faculty10:1

Outcomes

4-yr grad rate51.9%

6-yr grad rate63.1%

Drop-out rate22.2%

Study abroad—

Cost

In-state tuition$45k

Out-of-state tuition$45k

Application fee—

Community

Racial diversity23.6%

Gender diversity67.3%

International2.8%

Identity—

Overview

Chatham University is a private university in Pittsburgh built on a sustainability identity that runs unusually deep for a school of its size. It was a women's college for over a century — Rachel Carson, author of Silent Spring, is its most famous alumna — before going fully coeducational.

Academics

Sustainability runs through the curriculum well beyond a single program, most visibly at the Eden Hall campus, built specifically for sustainable-living and food-systems education and considered one of the first campuses in the world designed for that purpose. Health sciences are a strong practical complement, and the creative writing program, including its MFA, has a solid regional and national reputation.

Campus & student life

The main Shadyside campus functions as a wooded arboretum inside the city, giving students a green, quiet setting despite being fully embedded in Pittsburgh, while Eden Hall's working farm and sustainable buildings offer an entirely different, rural counterpart a short distance away.

Worth knowing

Eden Hall is a genuinely distinctive asset — a campus purpose-built around sustainable food systems and living, not retrofitted for the mission — and Rachel Carson's legacy gives the university's environmental identity real historical weight beyond marketing.

chatham.edu ↗

Admissions

Acceptance rate62%

Enrolled mid-50%SAT 1070–1295 · ACT 21–30

Test policyoptional

Rec letters0

Deadlines (2026–27 cycle)

AdmissionRolling

Applying