DePaul University
Chicago, IL
DePaul University is a private, Catholic research university in Chicago, Illinois, a large city, with 14,090 undergraduates. The arts and communication are its signature fields: together they make up 25% of its bachelor's degrees, two and a half times their share across the colleges we cover. 68% of students finish within six years, and former students who are working earn a median of $68,751 ten years after starting.
DePaul University admitted 24,111 of 27,462 applicants for the fall 2025 entering class (87.8%).
- Acceptance rate
- 87.8%
- Fall 2025 class
- Tuition and fees
- $45,999
- 2024–25 school year
- Paid after aid
- $30,902
- Average, students with aid
- SAT, middle 50%
- 1150–1330
Every figure on this page is published by the college or a federal survey, compiled by GoodGoblin, and carries the source it came from. They describe the fall 2025 entering class, a read on the school, not a prediction about any one applicant.
What DePaul University is known for
Measured by the 3,214 bachelor's degrees it awarded in 2022–23, and what its graduates went on to earn.
The arts
15.1%
of its bachelor's degrees: about three times the 4.9% share across the colleges we cover.
Communication
9.7%
of its bachelor's degrees: about twice the 4.5% share across the colleges we cover.
- Finance and Financial Management Services2407.5% of degrees$93,719+12% vs $83,343 nationally
- Film/Video and Photographic Arts2397.4% of degrees$46,969+7% vs $43,765 nationally
- Psychology2086.5% of degrees$55,664+10% vs $50,706 nationally
- Business Administration, Management and Operations1645.1% of degrees$74,847+10% vs $68,257 nationally
- Accounting and Related Services1554.8% of degrees$93,592+23% vs $76,194 nationally
- Marketing1534.8% of degrees$78,164+13% vs $69,303 nationally
Source: the College Scorecard (U.S. Department of Education), field-of-study data. Degrees are bachelor's degrees awarded in 2022–23. Earnings are the median for 2017–18 and 2018–19 graduates, in 2024 dollars, working and not enrolled, four years after graduating. Shares across the colleges we cover count every bachelor's degree at the colleges with a page here.
The place
Where it is, how big it is, and how students live.
Setting
Large city
Chicago, IL
Undergraduates
14,090
Fall 2024
Type
Private, nonprofit
Doctoral university, high research activity
Living on campus
Under a quarter
of undergraduates live on campus
Students per faculty member
17 to 1
Fall 2024
International students
4%
of undergraduates, fall 2024
Source: the College Scorecard (U.S. Department of Education), including the Carnegie Classification and the federal locale code it publishes.
What stands out at DePaul University
Three things DePaul University published, ranked by how much each could change what you actually do, not by how impressive it looks. Every one describes a class that has already enrolled.
DePaul University files test scores under “very important”.
That is the school’s own placement on the grid it publishes every year. 30% of the enrolled class sent an SAT.
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2025
148 admitted from a waitlist of 658.
239 students accepted a place on that list, and 148 were admitted from it, 61.9% of the students who waited. A waitlist offer here is not a near-miss anyone can plan around.
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2025
30% of the enrolled class sent an SAT.
The SAT band on this page describes that share of the class, not all of it. Another 11% sent an ACT. DePaul University files test scores under “very important”.
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2025
Every figure, in full
The same measured fields on every one of these pages. Nothing is filled in where the school published nothing.
Acceptance rate
87.8%
24,111 admitted of 27,462 applicants
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2025
SAT, middle 50%
1150–1330
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2025
ACT, middle 50%
26–31
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2025
Average GPA of admitted students
3.77
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2025
Enrolled students who sent an SAT
30%
Counted per test: a student may send both.
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2025
Enrolled students who sent an ACT
11%
Counted per test: a student may send both.
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2025
Where do you actually stand at DePaul University?
The figures on this page describe a class that already enrolled. GoodGoblin reads them against your own transcript, scores, activities and budget, then builds the balanced list, the essay plan and the deadline calendar around what it finds.
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What DePaul University costs
The published price first, then what students who received aid actually paid, by family income.
Tuition and fees for 2024–25 were $45,999, and the full cost of attendance, with housing, food and books, was $63,052. After grants and scholarships, students who received financial aid paid $30,902 a year on average.
Tuition and fees
$45,999
2024–25 school year
Full cost of attendance
$63,052
Tuition, fees, housing, food and books
Paid after aid
$30,902
Average, students who received aid
What students paid, by family income
Each bar is that figure as a share of the $63,052 full cost.
- Under $30k$27,359Typical public university: $10,013
- $30k–$48k$25,950Typical public university: $10,847
- $48k–$75k$28,687Typical public university: $13,703
- $75k–$110k$31,057Typical public university: $17,979
- Over $110k$37,092Typical public university: $22,475
Source: the federal College Scorecard. Tuition and cost of attendance are for the 2024–25 school year; colleges usually raise them each year. What students paid is the average net price for first-year students who received federal financial aid. Typical public university: the median across the 338 public universities on GoodGoblin, for in-state students, compiled by GoodGoblin from the same federal data.
Where it leads
Who finishes, who stays, and what they earn and owe afterwards.
Finish within six years
68%
Our colleges' median: 63%
Return for a second year
86%
Our colleges' median: 79%
Earnings after 10 years
$68,751
Our colleges' median: $57,440
Median debt at graduation
$23,168
Our colleges' median: $23,725
Source: the College Scorecard (U.S. Department of Education). Six-year completion describes students who started in fall 2018; second-year return describes students who started in fall 2023; earnings describe students who started in 2009–10 and 2010–11, measured in 2020 and 2021, in 2022 dollars; debt describes federal loans of students who graduated in fiscal years 2020 and 2021. Medians are across the 1,034 colleges with a page here.
What DePaul University says it weighs
The school's own words, from the form it fills in every year. Ranked as it ranks them.
- Course rigorvery important
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2025
- GPAvery important
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2025
- Test scoresvery important
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2025
- Recommendationsimportant
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2025
- Class rankimportant
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2025
- Essayconsidered
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2025
The waitlist, as the school reported it
Published counts, including the ones schools rarely lead with.
- Offered a waitlist place
- 658
- Accepted the place
- 239
- Admitted from the waitlist
- 148
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2025
Published deadlines
Each date is read from the college's own materials and re-checked on a schedule.
More colleges on the record
Each of these pages carries the same measured figures and sources.
Other colleges in Illinois
Closest acceptance rates in the same state.
Colleges with a similar acceptance rate
Closest acceptance rates anywhere in the country.
The GoodGoblin College Data Report: five findings counted across 1,034 colleges ›
Build the list this school belongs on.
The figures on this page describe a class that already enrolled. GoodGoblin reads them against your own transcript, scores, activities and budget, then builds the balanced list, the essay plan and the deadline calendar around what it finds.
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