DePaul University

Private · Moderately Selective · IL

Photo: Just (CC0)

School data & stats

TypePrivate

LocationIL · Midwest

SettingUrban

Undergrads14,090

Student:faculty17:1

Outcomes

4-yr grad rate55%

6-yr grad rate67.8%

Drop-out rate14.5%

Study abroad—

Cost

In-state tuition$46k

Out-of-state tuition$46k

Application fee—

Community

Racial diversity55.5%

Gender diversity55.1%

International4%

IdentityRoman Catholic

Overview

DePaul is the largest Catholic university in the country, rooted in the Vincentian tradition's emphasis on service, access, and educating underserved students. Spread across two Chicago campuses, Lincoln Park and the Loop, it functions less like a traditional enclosed campus and more like an institution woven directly into the city itself, with the two campuses serving fairly different populations of students and programs.

Academics

Theatre and film have an outsized national reputation for a school this size, with strong ties to Chicago's professional performing arts and improv comedy scene and alumni who go on to well-known stages and productions. Business, music, and computing are also well regarded, and the Loop campus in particular gives business and computing students direct proximity to downtown firms for internships and adjunct faculty drawn from working professionals rather than only career academics. The law school, also based downtown, adds to the Loop campus's professional character.

Campus & student life

Lincoln Park has a leafy, residential neighborhood feel with a more traditional campus rhythm, while the Loop campus is dense and urban and caters more to older, commuting, and professional-program students, so the two locations give students genuinely different day-to-day experiences depending on their program. Many students commute or live off campus in neighborhoods throughout the city, and the city itself substitutes for a conventional quad-centered social scene, with Chicago's public transit connecting the two campuses.

Getting in

DePaul's Catholic, Vincentian mission emphasizes access, and the university has a history of enrolling large numbers of first-generation and working students who might not consider themselves competitive for other private universities. Admissions reads holistically with attention to fit for specific programs, particularly the audition- or portfolio-based theatre, film, and music programs, where artistic merit weighs heavily alongside academic record.

After graduation

The theatre and film programs feed graduates into Chicago's and, from there, national entertainment, production, and comedy markets, aided by strong alumni presence in those industries. Business and computing graduates benefit from deep employer relationships built through the Loop campus's downtown location, and the alumni network is especially strong within Chicago itself, giving graduates in most fields a practical local advantage when job-hunting in the city.

Worth knowing

DePaul's two-campus structure means prospective students should think carefully about which campus their program is based on, since Lincoln Park and the Loop have meaningfully different social atmospheres. The university's size and mission mean generous need-based aid is a real part of its identity, though it is not a wealthy institution in the way some peer Catholic universities are.

depaul.edu ↗

Admissions

Acceptance rate75.9%

Enrolled mid-50%SAT 1140–1330 · ACT 25–31

Test policyoptional

Rec letters0

Deadlines (2026–27 cycle)

Early actionNov 15

Regular decisionFeb 1

Applying