Chatham University is a small, private university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with roots that run directly into the story of the modern environmental movement. Founded in 1869 as the Pennsylvania Female College — a time when higher education for women was vanishingly rare — Chatham educated generations of women leaders, including alumna Rachel Carson '29, whose 1962 book Silent Spring launched the environmental movement and forever shaped the university's identity. Chatham transitioned its undergraduate college to coeducation in 2015 while retaining deep institutional commitments to women's leadership, sustainability, and experiential learning. Today Chatham enrolls roughly 2,200 students across undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral programs. The university operates on two distinctive campuses. The historic 39-acre Shadyside campus — situated in one of Pittsburgh's most charming neighborhoods and adjacent to Carnegie Mellon and the University of Pittsburgh — houses most undergraduate programs, residence halls in renovated Gilded Age mansions (including the Mellon Building, Andrew Mellon's former home), and campus anchors like the graffiti-covered Rea Coffeehouse. The 388-acre Eden Hall Campus in Richland Township is one of the first fully sustainable academic campuses in the world, housing Chatham's Falk School of Sustainability & Environment — inspired directly by Rachel Carson's legacy and dedicated to food studies, sustainability, and environmental science. For international students, Chatham's proposition is a rare combination: a small, personalized residential college experience (student-faculty ratio ~11:1); world-class sustainability, environmental, and food-studies programs grounded in Rachel Carson's legacy; an ABA-accredited Physical Therapy DPT and strong nursing/health science offerings; and a location in Pittsburgh — one of America's most affordable and internationally famous healthcare/research cities, home to UPMC, Carnegie Mellon's robotics/AI ecosystem, and Duolingo's headquarters. The Office of Global Engagement handles F-1 advising, CPT/OPT authorization, and SEVIS reporting; the English Language Program offers conditional admission for students who need additional language preparation before beginning degree study.
Visa, OPT, H-1B alumni outcomes, and acceptance rates by country — sourced from FOIA, USCIS H-1B Hub, and DHS SEVIS.
Test Optional — You can submit scores if they help your case, but they're not required.
Official SourceThe deep admissions playbook beyond the headline acceptance rate — round-by-round breakdowns, nationality data, requirements, and contact paths.
Tuition & Fees (All Students)
$42,250 – $45,986
/yr
Beyond the sticker price — every named scholarship, the financial aid policy, need-aware notes, and a personalized net-cost estimate.
How life on campus actually feels — clubs, sports, traditions, housing realities, and how the school integrates with its city.
Inspired by alumna Rachel Carson '29, one of the earliest schools of its kind in the country. Offers degrees in sustainability, food studies, environmental science, and environmental studies with most coursework based at the 388-acre Eden Hall Campus — a fully sustainable academic campus.
Chatham's liberal arts and professional core, offering undergraduate programs in biology, psychology, business, creative writing, communications, and the arts. Strong pre-health advising.
Houses Chatham's nursing, physician assistant, physical therapy (DPT), occupational therapy (OTD), exercise science, and health sciences programs. Graduate health programs are nationally competitive.
Prepares K-12 teachers and educational leaders with an emphasis on inclusion, rural/urban teaching, and graduate educational doctorate (EdD) programs.
Chatham's signature women's-leadership institute, advancing research and programming on gender equity, leadership development, and women's studies across the university.
4 years
Interdisciplinary degree at the Falk School of Sustainability & Environment, taught largely at Eden Hall Campus. Students work in farm, forest, and stream ecosystems and connect with the Rachel Carson Visiting Scholars Program. STEM-CIP designated for 24-month OPT extension.
4 years
One of the earliest undergraduate sustainability programs in the US; prepares graduates for roles in corporate sustainability, nonprofits, urban planning, and policy.
6 years
Chatham's signature integrated pathway letting high-achieving first-year applicants secure a seat in the graduate Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, or Physician Assistant program at admission, removing the separate graduate-admissions competition later.
Where alumni go after graduation — top industries, grad-school continuation, and the qualitative outcomes story.
Sticker price (annual, out-of-state): $44,626
Net-cost estimate is US-resident-only — international applicants are typically excluded from need-based aid at most schools and should treat the sticker price as the planning baseline.
