Roosevelt University

Roosevelt's academic structure spans four colleges, offering more than 120 undergraduate majors and minors. The curriculum is broad and career-oriented, with notable strength in the arts, business, and sciences. Popular majors, based on recent graduate counts, include Psychology, Biology, Management Sciences and Information Systems, and Performing Arts. The university also provides a range of graduate and professional programs, from Accounting and Actuarial Science to Artificial Intelligence and a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting. This wide array of programs supports its mission of serving a diverse student population with varied professional goals. The academic experience is described as rigorous, and the institution promotes itself as being "diverse, tolerant, and academically rigorous" in the classroom.

Student life at Roosevelt is deeply shaped by its urban Chicago setting and its commuter-heavy population. The downtown campus is centered in the modern, 32-story Wabash Building, which houses not just classrooms but also residence halls, dining, fitness facilities, and student organization spaces—all with panoramic city views. This vertical campus creates a self-contained community in the sky. The university also operates a Schaumburg campus in the suburbs, which students praise for its convenience, community feel, support, flexible scheduling, accessible study spaces, easy parking, and proximity to internships. Campus life includes clubs, social fairs, and job fairs, which are common avenues for networking and socializing. The Office of Student Affairs strives to create an inclusive, welcoming, and supportive environment that empowers students to succeed both academically and personally. While dorm life in the Wabash Building is appreciated, some reviews suggest it could benefit from more vibrant programming to foster community among residents.

Outcomes for Roosevelt graduates show a mixed picture, reflecting its open-access mission and the challenges some students face in persisting to graduation. The six-year graduation rate is reported at 58%, with a four-year rate of 54%. There is a gender gap in these rates: male students graduate at a rate of 37%, while female students graduate at a 45% rate. For those who do graduate, early career earnings are modest. One source reports average early-career earnings of about $40,000, which is described as "about what might be expected given the mix of majors." More specific data shows earnings one year after graduation at $36,427, rising to $55,619 five years after graduation. The first-year retention rate is 62%, indicating a significant portion of the incoming class does not return for a second year.

Roosevelt University is a private institution with a significant commitment to financial aid, which substantially reduces the net price for most students. A striking 96% of full-time beginning undergraduates receive grant or scholarship aid. This aid is a combination of Roosevelt merit scholarships and university, federal, and state awards. For new students, full-time merit awards range from $740 up to a maximum of $7,395 per year. The result is that the average net price—the cost after aid and scholarships are applied—is significantly lower than the sticker tuition. The university provides a net price calculator to help prospective students estimate their individual cost. To maintain eligibility for most financial aid programs, undergraduate students must be degree-seeking and enrolled at least half-time (6 credit hours). There is no indication from the provided sources that Roosevelt has a "no-loan" policy or commits to meeting 100% of demonstrated financial need without loans.

Roosevelt University stands out for its unwavering commitment to its founding principles of social justice and inclusion, manifesting not in elite exclusivity but in radical accessibility. It is an institution built for the striver: the first-generation student, the working adult, the commuter seeking a career-focused degree in the heart of a major city. Its identity is physically embodied in the vertical Wabash Building—a academic village stacked against the Chicago skyline—and in the practical, suburban Schaumburg campus. Unlike universities that compete on selectivity, Roosevelt competes on opportunity, offering a wide array of programs and wrapping nearly every student in financial aid. The trade-off is visible in its retention and graduation metrics, which speak to the very real challenges its student body navigates. This is not a curated, cloistered college experience; it's a pragmatic, urban engine for upward mobility, providing a supportive, no-frills path to a degree for those who might otherwise be shut out of private higher education.