2025 College Rankings

The University of Chicago was home for many years to Allan Bloom, one of the first intellectuals to criticize the decline of American higher education. Though the school these days has succumbed to some malignant trends, it stands out for its consistent commitment to open inquiry. Indeed, Chicago is one of the best schools for free expression. It was the first university to adopt the Chicago Principles, originally formulated in 2014 at the school in response to illiberal attempts to cancel controversial speakers. The administration’s commitment to free speech is palpable: half the students tell the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) that it is “extremely” or “very” clear that the administration protects speech on campus. Almost that same proportion also say that the administration would defend a speaker’s right to express his views in a controversy over offensive speech. FIRE gives the school a “green” speech code rating, meaning that its policies do not restrict speech.

That said, the administration does fall into some of the common pitfalls of university activism. It employs a sizable Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) bureaucracy, with about two DEI employees for every 1,000 students. The school filed a brief at the Supreme Court in the Students for Fair Admissions case supporting affirmative action, a dispiriting confirmation that the administration values diversity over merit in admissions. The administration also delayed its response to the wave of radical anti-Semitic protests that swept campuses in the 2023–24 academic year, allowing an encampment that violated university policy to dominate campus for nine days before calling in police to clear it out. Chicago, however, has a long-standing policy of institutional neutrality, which should limit administrative activism, even if the school occasionally seems to deviate from that policy.

The faculty at Chicago appears slightly more committed to intellectual pluralism than peer faculties. A significant number of Chicago professors belong to Heterodox Academy and Academic Freedom Alliance, two organizations that encourage free inquiry on campus. Among students, there are more than five liberals for every conservative. Many students feel the need to self-censor. About half tell FIRE that they do so at least once per month. In the past several years, student protesters have attempted several de-platformings of guest speakers, all concerning the speakers’ views on the war in Israel.

The curriculum at Chicago is better than that of many competitors. The American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA) gives the school a B 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. The school is famous for its core curriculum, which has changed many times since it was implemented in 1931. As it stands, Chicago does not require its students to take DEI-oriented courses to graduate—a plus—but it also does not mandate that they learn U.S. history or government—a shortcoming.

Chicago does not tend to serve its graduates particularly well economically. Median annual earnings ten years after initial enrollment underperform expectations by nearly $11,000, based on data from SAT scores and Pell Grant recipients. On average, it takes a little over two years to pay back the cost of the education, about on par with our 2.3-year overall average.