2025 College Rankings

Northwestern University, the oldest chartered university in Illinois, has long been a cornerstone of midwestern higher education. In recent years, however, it has not been immune to some of the more troubling trends in American academia.

Northwestern ranks among the worst schools for free speech. Only 14 percent of students surveyed by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) believe that it is “extremely” or “very” likely that the administration would defend a speaker’s right to express controversial views. The university employs a bias-response system designed to monitor and discourage speech that may be deemed offensive. FIRE gives Northwestern a “red” speech code rating, indicating that its policies explicitly restrict free expression.

Administrative activism at Northwestern is not as pervasive as at some peer institutions, and the university has formally committed to institutional neutrality—a promising sign that it aims to stay focused on its educational mission. Even so, the administration has struggled to manage student activism. In 2024, radical anti-Semitic protesters set up an unauthorized encampment on campus, in violation of university policy. The protest lasted four days and ended only after the administration reached a settlement with the demonstrators—an outcome that reflected poor leadership. To its credit, Northwestern has, in recent years, issued statements rejecting calls to join the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel—a form of campus activism that has taken root at many other institutions.

Students at Northwestern tend not to be tolerant of views outside the prevailing liberal consensus. There are four liberal students for every conservative, and students report being far more willing to ban right-leaning speakers from campus than left-leaning ones. That said, student activists have disrupted both conservative and liberal speakers whose views diverge from left-wing orthodoxy. In 2023, activists attempted to disinvite conservative commentator James Lindsay over his political views; and in 2020, they targeted Democratic Chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot for her support of police during the 2020 riots. In both cases, the events went forward despite the protests.

Northwestern’s curriculum does not perform particularly well on our metrics. The American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA) gives the school a C in its What Will They Learn? ratings, which assign letter grades based on how many of seven core subjects are required in the core curriculum or general education program. Notably, the university does not require students to study U.S. history or government in order to graduate.

On the whole, Northwestern provides good value to its students. Graduation and retention rates are significantly higher than expected, based on SAT scores and Pell Grant data. The six-year graduation rate stands at 97 percent—three points above projections—while the retention rate is 98 percent, two points higher than expected. However, median annual earnings ten years after enrollment fall about $1,300 short of projections. Students take an average of 2.2 years to repay the cost of their education, roughly in line with the national average of 2.3 years.