A four-year undergraduate education at the University of Chicago is an investment that will pay off many times over throughout a student’s life. The Office of College Aid is committed to making this expense financially feasible for all families. We allocated approximately $49 million in need-based financial aid for the 2007-2008 academic year.
Need-blind admission and meeting financial need
Chicago's approach is simply this: We provide aid according to need, and we define need as the difference between your educational costs and the amount you and your family can afford to pay. Moreover, your application for financial aid has no bearing on whether you will be admitted to Chicago; in other words, our admissions process is completely need-blind for US citizens and permanent residents.
Odyssey Scholarships
Due to an extremely generous gift of $100 million from an anonymous alumnus, we are now able to offer an even more competitive financial aid package to many of our students. For students with family incomes below $60,000 a year, all of their student loan expectation will be replaced with Odyssey Scholarships. For students with family incomes between $60,000 and $75,000, half of their student loan expectation will be replaced with Odyssey Scholarships. Learn more about the Odyssey Scholarships.
Merit Scholarships
The University of Chicago offers a small number of its own merit scholarships to first-year applicants. These awards are announced by the Office of College Admissions after the regular notification admission cycle by April 1. We also support merit-based scholarships for National Merit Finalists.
