“Private university in downtown Chicago named for Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, with a signature 32-story Wabash Building.”
Roosevelt University is a private, non-profit university in the heart of downtown Chicago, founded in 1945 by faculty and students who walked out of the Central YMCA College in protest of its plan to impose quotas on African American, Jewish, immigrant, and women students. Named for President Franklin D. Roosevelt and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, it became one of the first U.S. universities to admit students without regard to race, religion, or gender, and that founding ethos of access and social justice still shapes everything from its curriculum to its student body today. The university enrolls roughly 4,000 students from all 50 states and more than 40 countries, including a sizeable international community drawn to Chicago as both a classroom and a career launchpad. Academically, Roosevelt is organized into four schools: the Chicago College of Performing Arts (home to the nationally respected Music Conservatory and Theatre Conservatory), the College of Humanities, Education and Social Sciences, the College of Science, Health & Pharmacy, and the Heller College of Business. Psychology, biology, musical theatre, management, and pharmacy are among its most popular programs, and the university offers 83 undergraduate degrees plus more than 40 master's and doctoral programs. Signature strengths include performing arts (the theatre and music conservatories audition applicants nationally), pharmacy (through the College of Science, Health & Pharmacy), and business, with all programs benefiting from direct access to Chicago's arts, healthcare, and corporate ecosystems. The main campus is housed in two iconic Michigan Avenue buildings: the 1889 Auditorium Building, a Louis Sullivan- and Dankmar Adler-designed National Historic Landmark, and the 32-story Wabash Building completed in 2012, which is one of the tallest academic buildings in the United States. All residential students live in the Wabash Building's upper floors with sweeping views of Lake Michigan and the Loop, and classrooms, dining, fitness facilities, and student organization spaces all share the same vertical campus. A second campus in suburban Schaumburg serves commuter and graduate students. For international applicants especially, Roosevelt offers a non-selective, rolling-admission path into a major U.S. city, with F-1 advising handled by a dedicated International Student Services office.
Visa, OPT, H-1B alumni outcomes, and acceptance rates by country — sourced from FOIA, USCIS H-1B Hub, and DHS SEVIS.
International Student Enrollment (F-1)
DHS SEVIS by the Numbers (2024)
Test Optional — You can submit scores if they help your case, but they're not required.
Official SourceRolling Admission
Roosevelt uses rolling admission for most undergraduate programs — no fixed deadline.
BFA Musical Theatre Priority
Priority deadline for BFA Musical Theatre: Dance Concentration.
BFA Acting Priority
Priority deadline for BFA Acting applications.
The deep admissions playbook beyond the headline acceptance rate — round-by-round breakdowns, nationality data, requirements, and contact paths.
Tuition & Fees (All Students)
$21,315
/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.
4 years
One of the Midwest's premier musical theatre training programs, taught by working Chicago theatre professionals with performance opportunities at Roosevelt's Auditorium Theatre and off-campus partner venues. Priority application deadline Jan 15.
4 years
Four-year professional PharmD in the College of Science, Health & Pharmacy with rotations through Chicago-area hospital, retail, and specialty pharmacy sites.
4 years
Roosevelt's most popular major — a research- and clinical-exposure-focused psychology degree with direct pathways into the university's graduate and doctoral psychology programs.
Where alumni go after graduation — top industries, grad-school continuation, and the qualitative outcomes story.
Sticker price (annual, out-of-state): $21,315
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.
