Elite private research university pioneering nuclear science, economics, and interdisciplinary scholarship since 1890.
The University of Chicago comprises an undergraduate college and four graduate research divisions spanning arts, humanities, biological sciences, physical sciences, and social sciences. The university operates seven professional schools in business, social work, theology, public policy, law, medicine, and molecular engineering, plus a school of continuing studies. The university is renowned for establishing Chicago Schools of thought in economics, law, literary criticism, mathematics, physics, religion, sociology, and political science. A unified 21-course core curriculum was implemented in 1985 across all collegiate divisions.
The university's Metallurgical Laboratory produced the world's first human-made, self-sustaining nuclear reaction in 1942 beneath Stagg Field. The university operates and administers major research institutions including Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, Argonne National Laboratory, and Marine Biological Laboratory. Advances in chemistry led to the radiocarbon revolution in carbon-14 dating. The University of Chicago Press is the largest university press in North America.
The main campus spans 217 acres in the Hyde Park community area of Chicago. The university maintains satellite campuses and centers in London, Hong Kong, Paris, Beijing, Delhi, Luxor, and downtown Chicago. Student life includes numerous organizations, fraternities and sororities, and residential halls. The university's athletic teams, the Maroons, compete in NCAA Division III and the University Athletic Association (UAA). The student newspaper is The Chicago Maroon.
As of 2025, the university enrolls 18,732 students, including 7,496 undergraduates and 11,195 postgraduates, with 408 non-degree-seeking students. The university was incorporated as a coeducational institution in 1890. Faculty numbers 3,418 as of 2023, with 23,217 administrative staff.