University of Chicago

The University of Chicago is an urban research university that has driven new ways of thinking since 1890. Our commitment to free and open inquiry draws inspired scholars to our global campuses, where ideas are born that challenge and change the world.
We empower individuals to challenge conventional thinking in pursuit of original ideas. Students in the College develop critical, analytic, and writing skills in our rigorous, interdisciplinary core curriculum. Through graduate programs, students test their ideas with UChicago scholars and become the next generation of leaders in academia, industry, nonprofits, and government.
UChicago's research has led to such breakthroughs as discovering the link between cancer and genetics, establishing revolutionary theories of economics, and developing tools to produce reliably excellent urban schooling. We generate new insights for the benefit of present and future generations with our national and affiliated laboratories: Argonne National Laboratory, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, and the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts.
The University of Chicago is enriched by the city we call home. In partnership with our neighbors, we invest in Chicago's mid-South Side across such areas as health, education, economic growth, and the arts. Together with our medical center, we are the largest private employer on the South Side.
In all we do, we are driven to dig deeper, push further, and ask more critical questions—and to leverage our knowledge to enrich all human life. Our diverse and creative students and alumni drive innovation, lead international conversations, and make masterpieces. Alumni and faculty, lecturers, and postdocs become Nobel laureates, CEOs, university presidents, attorneys general, literary giants, and astronauts.
The University of Chicago welcomes students, faculty, other academic personnel, staff, and visitors with disabilities and works collaboratively to provide accommodations appropriate to need and circumstance.
Since its inception in 1890, UChicago has remained committed to educating extraordinary people regardless of race, gender, religion, or financial ability. More than $100 million in financial assistance and scholarships are awarded annually, and we are one of the few highly selective institutions to award both need-based and merit-based aid.
Approximately 6,306 students are enrolled in the College, renowned for its Core curriculum and small, discussion-style classes. In more than 100 programs across our graduate divisions and professional schools, students discover firsthand the power of ideas to make a difference in the world. UChicago offers a rich array of summer learning opportunities for current UChicago students, visiting college students, accomplished high school students, teachers, and many others. One of the first U.S. universities with continuing education, UChicago offers non-degree programs spanning business, public policy, and a wide range of professional and liberal arts. In many ways, online learning is an extension of the University of Chicago's longstanding commitment to free and open inquiry.
With a commitment to free and open inquiry, our scholars take an interdisciplinary approach to research that spans arts to engineering, medicine to education. Their work transforms the way we understand the world, advance study fields, and often create new ones. Generating new knowledge for the benefit of present and future generations, UChicago research has impacted the globe, leading to such breakthroughs as discovering the link between cancer and genetics, establishing revolutionary theories of economics, and developing tools to produce reliably excellent urban schooling.
Campus and Student Life is dedicated to helping students, staff, and faculty experience university life at its fullest. We have a profound commitment to our community's diversity and are focused on creating an environment where you can thrive. Through our wide array of programs and services, we provide opportunities and experiences that build community, help you grow personally and professionally, and create a place that you can call home now and throughout your life.
On July 9, 1890, the University's founders defined what they believed would build an enduring legacy: a commitment to rigorous academics for people of all backgrounds, including "opportunities for all departments of higher education to persons of both sexes on equal terms."
In 2006, current president Robert J. Zimmer said in his inaugural address, "If we take ourselves back to the University in its early years . . . many of us connected to the University feel that we might just as easily have been there "Why is this? The University of Chicago, from its very inception, has been driven by a singular focus on inquiry. Everything about the University of Chicago that we recognize as distinctive flows from this commitment."
Since 1890, the University of Chicago's singular focus on inquiry has made it a model for modern institutions of higher education and research.
Across numerous departments and disciplines and over 150 institutes and centers, the UChicago community advances ideas and innovations that enrich human life. The University's inquiry culture thrives on intellectual rigor, diverse perspectives, extensive civic and research partnerships, and ever-broadening global reach.
UChicago breakthroughs transform the way we live and the way we think. Members of our community have pioneered sociology scholarship, introduced hormonal cancer treatment, proposed the existence of black holes, discovered new dinosaur species, changed the face of economics, improved graduation rates in American cities, and the list goes on. Tracing such breakthroughs from decade to decade, the timeline above provides a sampling of how UChicago scholars have made a lasting impact on our world.